Planning chief Jon Brindle, who has helped shape many of Escondido's housing subdivisions and business districts, will retire Thursday after nearly 30 years with the city.

Brindle, who was hired in June 1980, was hailed Monday as a "true professional," a "problem solver," the city's "go-to guy" for development questions and someone who applied "common sense" to complex issues.

"We're all going to have to adjust to life without him," said Dave Ferguson, a leading land-use attorney. "Even before he was head of planning, he was the guy you went to when you wanted to know how things really work."

Jerry Harmon, who served on the City Council from 1974 to 1998, and Sam Abed, who has served on the council since 2004, said Brindle deserved enormous credit for tackling many complex projects and helping the city cope with a population increase from 64,000 to 142,000 during his tenure.

Key projects of the Brindle era include City Hall, the performing arts center, North County Fair, multiple power plants, the new Palomar Medical Center, Daley Ranch nature preserve and the Sprinter rail line.

"Jon applied common sense to complex issues and gray areas," said Abed, who worked with Brindle on zoning changes for East Valley Parkway in the 1990s.

Brindle also had to cope with wild fluctuations in the City Council's approach toward growth. He began with an extremely pro-growth council, faced a staunchly anti-growth council from 1988 until the turn of the century, and finished with another pro-growth council.

"I never heard him criticized by either the pro-growth or the slow-growth people," Harmon said.

Jerry Backoff, planning director in San Marcos, said Brindle was cooperative and a good problem solver.

Brindle said keys to his success were providing the public as much information as possible about a project, weighing all the factors involved and steering clear of considering himself a visionary.

"It's all about trying to make complicated things easy to understand," said Brindle, who became a planning manager in 1985 and was appointed head of the department in 2005.

Dealing with competing points of view made his job fun and rewarding, said Brindle, speculating that he would not have enjoyed a law career because attorneys are forced to advocate for only one position.

Brindle, 55, began his planning career in Del Mar after receiving a master's degree in city planning from San Diego State and a bachelor's degree in urban studies from UC San Diego. Brindle moved to San Diego County from Los Angeles at age 12, and graduated from San Marcos High School.

He left Del Mar after 14 months because he wanted to work in a bigger city with greater potential for growth and a wider variety of challenges, Brindle said.

"The variety of things that go on in Escondido rivals just about anywhere," said Brindle. "It's been a great place to work."

Brindle said he was proud of the city's evolution during his tenure.

Escondido was poised for great things before the recession, said Brindle, who predicted that momentum behind several projects planned for downtown would return when the economy rebounds.

"There was a lot of interest in Escondido before the recession, and I think that will return," Brindle said.

His final major accomplishment has been setting up revisions of the city's development blueprint, which has not been updated since 1990. The new blueprint, which is called a general plan, won't be approved by voters until 2012. But Brindle has led numerous community meetings in 2009 and 2010 to get the ball rolling.

On retirement, Brindle said he plans to spend time with his wife, Patti, a longtime planner in Poway who also retired recently, his in-laws, and his father, who lives in Lake San Marcos. Brindle said he also plans to more aggressively pursue his hobbies, which include kayaking, surfing and golf.

Call staff writer David Garrick at 760-740-5468.