Bedford County is looking for a director of community development to help manage the large locality's range of growth issues.

The county has a population of about 60,000 residents and 754 square miles of land, and it has been one of the largest and fastest growing localities outside of Northern Virginia for years.

With its rolling farmland and woodland located between the region's two largest cities -- Roanoke and Lynchburg -- Bedford County faces two big challenges. One is handling a growing stream of newcomers seeking a home in the suburbs while preserving the county's picturesque open spaces. The other challenge is attracting economic development to relieve some of the tax burden from homeowners to help pay the increasing costs for public services.

According to census statistics released in April, Bedford County, where the population rose 5.7 percent between 2000 and 2004, was the only area in Western Virginia whose population increased more than the statewide rate of 5.4 percent.

There has been rapid residential and commercial growth in Forest, a bedroom community of Lynchburg in the eastern end of the county. Smith Mountain Lake, which borders the county's southern boundary, has attracted a wide range of residential and tourism growth and has been the focus recently for a number of commercial and residential developments, as well as a surge in short-term rental condominiums.

By the end of next year, the county's Public Service Authority hopes to put the final touches on a sewage treatment plant being built in Moneta to serve the Virginia 122 area. The project already has attracted a handful of commercial and residential developers who plan to hook up to the plant when it goes into service.

The treatment plant is part of an overall plan to construct water and sewer lines that will ultimately serve the county's most populated residential and commercial areas along Virginia 122 and U.S. 460.

Long-range plans call for recreation parks in Moneta, New London and near the city of Bedford.

All of these projects are included in a comprehensive plan being developed that specifies where various types of growth will occur, and where open land will be preserved.

"That's one of the intentions of this position is to shepherd that finalized document through the various phases of implementation," said Frank Rogers, the county's assistant county administrator.

According to the county's job description, the director of community development will oversee activities in the county's planning, zoning, natural resources and Geographic Information Systems departments.

"What we're hoping to accomplish with this position is systematic coordination of the various departments that affect or play a role in community development," Rogers said.

Qualified applicants should have a degree in urban planning, geography or a related field, experience in professional planning, and knowledge of community development, economics and municipal finance.

"That's not uncommon for a locality that's undergoing some revision to its comp plan to hire someone to assist them in that process," said Bob de Voursney, director of government and public policy at the Charlottesville-based Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. "Because of its physical locality, Bedford is going to undergo growth pressures, and how they manage it, of course, is I guess what's at issue here."

A salary range for the position has not been specified.

An application and job description are available on the county's Web site: www.co.bedford.va.us.