Stonington — The town announced Friday that former Director of Planning Jason Vincent is returning to his old job.

Vincent, who is the vice president of the Norwich Community Development Corp., fills a position that has been vacant since the death of Bill Haase in 2012.

Haase replaced Vincent when Vincent stepped down in 2007 to take a job with Planimetrics in Avon, where he rose to the position of vice president.

First Selectman Rob Simmons, who has been in office for a month, had made it a priority of his new administration to fill the vacancy.

A previous search under former First Selectman George Crouse failed to identify a candidate. The new search began under Crouse before Simmons took office.

Simmons said Vincent, who was the town planner here from 2002 to 2003 and then director of planning until 2007, will begin work next month.

He called Vincent’s hiring the most important one of the year for the town.

Not only has the town been without a planning director for more than 3½ years, but Simmons said the town recently approved an update of its plan of conservation and development that now has to be implemented.

The plan is designed to guide the future development and preservation of the town’s character over the next decade.

“We need a director to supervise and coordinate those activities,” he said. “From the first day I started thinking about running for first selectman, I said we have to fill this job.

Simmons said the search was a very robust one, with 30 applications coming from as far away as Arizona.

A professional search firm forwarded 15 names to the town search committee, which selected seven people to interview.

Simmons said the three finalists were very impressive but Vincent was the committee’s unanimous choice.

He said several factors figured in the choice of Vincent.

These included that, since leaving the town, he has worked in two significant planning positions that have increased his capabilities, he knows the people in the planning department and is as familiar with the town “as the back of his hand.”

He added Vincent, who lives in Griswold, previously was involved with the Mystic and Pawcatuck streetscapes, Donahue Park, Coogan Boulevard and the Town Dock project.

“There will be almost no period of adjustment,” Simmons said.

He said Vincent is also very knowledgeable about the rehabilitation of old mill buildings, something Simmons has made a priority in Pawcatuck.

“Stonington has just completed its Plan of Conservation and Development and I am eager to get to work with the land use commissions and Selectmen to oversee implementation of that critical document,” said Vincent in a news release from the town that announcing his hiring.

Vincent’s hiring is subject to the successful completion of both a background check and drug testing.

Norwich Community Development Corp. President Robert Mills said “it was pretty well known” that Vincent was not planning to remain at NCDC beyond about a five-year period.

He was hired in 2012 at the quasi-public corporation that serves as the city's economic development agency.

“Our loss is Stonington's gain,” Mills said. “Jason's happy, and that's the important thing.”

Mills said the move could benefit the entire region by having someone with Vincent's experience in economic development as the planner for the shoreline town.

He said it could foster better regional communication as well.

Vincent is expected to work at NCDC through mid-January.

Mills said since Norwich is also in the midst of a major transition — with the hiring of a new city manager and a new city planner pending — he plans to work with city leaders on what “skill sets” NCDC should be considering in a new vice president.

Day staff writer Claire Bessette contributed to this report.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas