Overseeing some of Mountain View’s most ambitious development plans, Assistant City Manager and Community Development Director Aarti Shrivastava announced on Monday that she plans to retire in early February.

Shrivastava has served the city of Mountain View for 10 years, first as a city planner from 2004-2009 before taking on the position of assistant city manager and community development director in 2019, after working for the cities of San Mateo and Cupertino.

On her watch, Shrivastava has seen many of the land use initiatives that she worked on as a city planner lay the foundation for what will become complete neighborhoods in the next few decades.

“Mountain View has always been forward thinking, outlining where change areas would be with its General Plan,” Shrivastava said. “North Bayshore and East Whisman are the culmination of that work,” she added, referring to the city’s recent adoption of Google’s mixed-use development projects – the Middlefield Park Master Plan in East Whisman and North Bayshore Master Plan.

When built, the two developments will add 8,900 residential units to the city’s housing stock, along with offices and commercial space as well as over 28 acres of parks and open space, according to a city press release.

Shrivastava described the city as “punching higher for its size” and serving as a role model for other cities, noting that it has done a particularly good job of working collaboratively with the community. Shrivastava pointed to the city’s success in getting its Housing Element, a plan for housing growth, certified by the state early on – something that other cities in the region have struggled with, in part, because of fractured community support.

Shrivastava’s work with the city also coincided with the COVID pandemic; she led the city’s transition from paper to online permit plans and implemented other technological improvements to facilitate better response times for the review of planning applications. Shrivastava also helped coordinate the partial closure of Castro Street, from the 100 to 300 blocks, to support downtown businesses.

Shrivastava’s dual role as assistant city manager and community development director meant she had a large workload with a lot of responsibilities. But Shrivastava also noted the advantages of aligning the two positions. It provided her with the opportunity to view issues from a more holistic perspective, she said, adding that it also was “an opportunity to move the ball forward.” The support of city leaders and staff also made her job easier, Shrivastava said.

With her retirement, Shrivastava plans to take up hobbies that she did not have as much time for before, such as reading, traveling and painting. She also would like to continue helping cities, although not full-time, she laughed.

Recruitment for a new community development director will begin early next year, the city said.