Familiar Face Tapped As New East Hampton Planning Director

EAST HAMPTON, NY — The East Hampton town board has appointed a new planning director.

Jeremy Samuelson will take the helm on Jan. 3; he fills the spot vacated by JoAnne Pahwul, who retired in June, officials said.

Samuelson was a longtime resident of East Hampton, where he served as president and executive director of Concerned Citizens of Montauk from 2012 to 2017. Most recently, he has lived and worked on Shelter Island, as director of the Mashomack Preserve for the Nature Conservancy. He previously served as a senior environmental advocate at the Group for the East End, a release said.

Samuelson has also served as a member of East Hampton Town’s business committee and as chair of the town’s coastal adaptation and resiliency planning committee, as well as on the Shelter Island Town deer and tick committee, the Suffolk County tick control advisory committee, and as co-chair of the East Hampton Environmental Coalition.

The board said they chose Samuelson based on his knowledge of East Hampton as well as for his vision

“We look forward to the knowledge and enthusiasm that Jeremy Samuelson will bring to our town planning department,” said East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc.