But he’s saying little about the reasons or about his plans.

“I’m not renewing my contract,” John Zoellner said Tuesday.

Zoellner, who’s been the county’s director of planning and zoning for the past 7 1/2 years, said his last day at work will be April 28.

“I don’t really have any comments,” he said.

When asked whether it was his idea to leave the county job, he said, “I don’t even want to go into it.”

A year ago, Zoellner shortened his work week, to three days. At that time, he said he’d considered resigning.

In 2004, Zoellner cited wanting to spend more time with his family as the reason for contemplating resignation. And he said then that the outcome of last November’s county elections would influence his decision whether to go back to full-time work with the county — or even to continue in the job after his contract expires.

In May 2004, Zoellner told The Mirror: “We’ll see what happens next year in the election. There are going to be two new people. It just depends on how important planning is to the new people. It should be an important function for a county that’s growing as fast as this one is, but I don’t know.”

County Commissioner Dean Oroke said he couldn’t comment on the issues behind Zoellner’s resignation.

Oroke said a search for Zoellner’s replacement has begun. He said he’s hopeful the county can hire a new planning and zoning director soon.