SNOW HILL – Ed Tudor, longtime director of the Worcester County Department of Development Review and Permitting, stepped down last week after nearly three decades in the role.
Tudor, head of the county’s zoning department, retired Friday after 28 years with Worcester County.
“It was just time,” Tudor said in an interview this week.
Tudor was in the contracting business in the early 1990s, also serving as a member of a county board, when he was advised there was a vacancy in the zoning office.
“I thought I’d give it a shot,” he said.
He had little idea he’d spend decades there. Initially, Tudor was tasked with issuing permits. It wasn’t long, however, before Gerry Mason, who was then the county’s chief administrative officer, asked for his thoughts on the department. Tudor soon found himself leading it. At the time, the county was still adjusting to the building code and the comprehensive rezoning of 1992.
“A lot of things changed really quickly,” Tudor said.
In the ensuing years, Tudor worked with Phyllis Wimbrow, his longtime deputy, to review text amendments, draft language to address new zoning issues and rewrite the zoning code. Tudor drafted the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area program, an adult entertainment ordinance, body piercing legislation and language governing under-21 clubs.
“They were new things totally from scratch,” he said. “You had to study and learn about a topic before you attempted to do the work.”
The most challenging aspect of the job for Tudor was dealing with politics. He enjoyed the intricacies of drafting new language for the code, however.
“You have to be precise,” he said.
Much of the language he and Wimbrow drafted was done at the instruction of the county’s planning commission or the Worcester County Commissioners.
“Even if we didn’t support it we always felt it was necessary to do the best we could because if it did pass, we wanted it to be consistent,” Tudor said.
While he’s looking forward to retirement, Tudor says he will miss his co-workers.
“The staff—not just in my office but all the county staff,” he said. “I always felt it was a big family.”
He’s confident he’s leaving the Department of Development Review and Permitting in capable hands, as Jennifer Keener, who has served as deputy director since last year, is taking over.
Nevertheless, Chief Administrative Officer Harold Higgins—who is also set to retire this year—says Tudor will be missed.
“It’s hard to put into a few words what Ed Tudor meant to me as well as to the county,” he said. “I talk about the Worcester way—honor, integrity and hard work. Ed Tudor was one of those directors that lived it and breathed it.”
Higgins, who noted that he grew up within minutes of Tudor and former Public Works Director John Tustin on the other side of the Bay Bridge but never met them until he came to Worcester County close to 30 years ago, said Tudor was one of his go-to people within county government. He praised Tudor for his ability to enforce the zoning code in a professional manner.
“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Higgins said.
Keener too offered praise of Tudor’s dedication to the department.
“Ed was involved in every significant piece of legislation that occurred over the past thirty years, and was always willing to assist other county agencies in any way he could,” she said. “He taught me not only about process, but about the mechanics of writing law. As a leader, Ed was the type of person who provided positive guidance and encouragement to his team to help them achieve their goals.”
