Since the retirement of Scarborough Town Planner Joe Ziepniewski in May, Dan Bacon, who moved up from assistant town planner, has been heading the department on his own, until now. Last month, Jay Chace joined the town team as the new assistant planner. Former Harpswell town planner, Chace, 32, lives in Brunswick with his wife, Julia, and two young daughters. Last week, he sat down with The Current to talk about his old job, his new job and his ability to get people to compromise.

Q: How long have you lived in Maine?

A: I’m originally from Rhode Island, but I’ve lived in Maine for about seven or eight years. My wife’s family is from South Portland. We were on Cape Cod for a couple of years before we started having kids and needed to find a house. We have two girls. They’re 3 and 1 1/2, Eliza and Eve.

Q: What’s your background in planning?

A: I have a master’s degree from the Muskie School at the University of Southern Maine. For the past three years, I’ve been working as the planner in Harpswell.

Q: What was happening in Harpswell?

A: We were trying to implement the comprehensive plan. We adopted that in 2005. I was also working on open space and affordable housing ordinances – a bit different from here, where my focus, at least for now, is working with the planning board on development review. Dan (Bacon) will work on more long-range planning, and I’ll be doing more of the prep work.

Q: What made you want to come to Scarborough?

A: I want to apply my trade in a community that’s fast growing, and Scarborough definitely fits that mold in Maine. It’s one of the fastest-growing, if not the fast-growing community. It’s also one of the larger communities.

Q: After a month on the job, what do you think is important to the planning department in Scarborough?

A: There are certainly challenges around transportation. You’ve got Route 1, which is Maine’s original highway, cutting right through the town, and then the new highway, too. The amount of both commercial and residential growth in the community is also unique. In most towns, you tend to see one or the other. There aren’t many communities where you see both sectors growing at such a pace.

Q: Are there any projects you’re particularly looking forward to working on?

A: Continuing to work on the Gateway (development project) – seeing what develops and what happens there. Scarborough Gallery presents some interesting features for big-box development. Harpswell had a lot of residential and small commercial growth, fishermen building a wharf or someone putting in a small restaurant.

Q: If you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be?

A: I’m thinking a blender. One of my strong suits and skills is bringing people together and getting at underlying issues. I think I have an innate ability to pull people closer to, if not a complete agreement, something they can be comfortable with. And also at home, it’s crazy with the girls running around. I feel like my brain’s swimming sometimes. So, it works on both levels.

Jay Chace is Scarborough’s new assistant town planner. Former Harpswell Planner, Chace is looking forward to working in a more fast-paced community.