New director of Planning and Development announced

Allison Lukacsy-Love moves up from prior position as community projects manager

Allison Lukacsy-Love has served as Euclid’s community projects manager since 2016, but she will now be expanding her role.

Lukacsy-Love has been promoted to become the new director of the Planning and Development Department. She originally joined the city from a background working in the private sector as a licensed architect, where she worked for architecture firms based locally and internationally. She is also a certified city planner.

She said many of her prior projects as an architect allowed her to work in tandem with communities and municipalities, which peaked her interest in what she might be able to accomplish if she were to move into the public sector.

“I had those touchpoints with government, and really started to think for myself, well, what if I was sitting on the other side of the table?,” Lukacsy-Love recalled. “And then I could have what felt to me like a more meaningful impact on the work that I really wanted to do for community and the place-based work that I liked to do.

“Because on the private side, your client is your client. Particularly in architecture, you’re very restricted to whatever property they own.”

She said that joining the city was a little intimidating at first given the much larger domain of possible projects and responsibilities, but it has been “a fun challenge.”

One of Lukacsy-Love’s primary responsibilities over the years has been Euclid’s waterfront improvement project, the highlights of which include shoreline stabilization, a public access lakefront trail and more green space for the city.

She said the timing of her promotion to director has lined up well with the timeline of the waterfront improvement project, which is currently on track to reach completion in December.

“It’s really good timing for me, it is a project that I’ve taken with me into this new director’s role,” she said.

Lukacsy-Love said she also looks forward to bringing on additional staff to Planning and Development to build on its capabilities and further diversify the department in her new role.

“This is an opportunity for me to really envision what the department could and should be doing,” she said. “I have divided up the department into four different sections. There’s a zoning section, a community development section, an economic development section and a planning section.

“We plan on hiring three additional members to really fill those positions and be able to fulfill our responsibility to the community.”

Additionally, she said she is excited to be involved in the “top of the tank” project, which is an opportunity for a new 2-acre park on top of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, where there has been continuous construction for several years.

The treatment plant is located in Euclid’s downtown area, which Lukacsy-Love said offers an opportunity to create a space that would be an asset to the community with modern amenities. “There’s really the potential there for that park to become Euclid’s public square,” she said.

The park should be inclusive for all ages and abilities, and have updated equipment, Lukacsy-Love said, adding that she looks forward to hearing from residents on what they might like to see the “top of the tank” park look like in the future.

“My overall philosophy always is that I want to be planning with the community and not for the community,” she said.

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