Friday is the first day of the rest our planning lives in Anacortes.

Absent from City Hall will be Ian Munce, the city’s first full-time planning director, who’s leaving the city after 27 years.

It’s a huge loss on several fronts, and we can only hope the search currently under way for a new planning director goes well.

In his three decades of service to our community, Munce has been in the middle of battles big and small — community-defining issues such as the fate of the Sidney ferry run and the MJB property, and the everyday decisions on who can build what where and what a subdivision should look like.

Not all had happy endings, or endings at all. The MJB property remains vacant and the head-scratching continues on future retail development here.

But through it all Munce has been an effective, articulate and open public leader who has done so much, in concert with others he’d be the first to admit, to steer Anacortes toward the place it is today: a strong small town that’s handling its inevitable growth in a fashion that suits most residents.

In his 27 years Munce has become arguably the most influential person in town, what with his role as city attorney as well and his tenure that spans three administrations. He has handled that responsibility well, and been inclusive in the planning process and open with public information.

Munce’s departure creates a huge void in the city’s institutional memory.

Perspectives gained over 27 years will be missed, and those remaining at City Hall won’t be able to fall back on his knowledge regarding past decisions and the details that have driven council and planning commission action.

On the plus side, there’s been a flurry of planning activity in recent months, and Anacortes is well-positioned to make the change. The house is in order.

Now the challenge is find the right person who can be part of the team that continues to move Anacortes forward.

Ian Munce will be sorely missed, but we should focus now on how best to build on all that he has helped the city accomplish.