Susan Erickson has spent her retirement honing her gardening skills. And, she said Wednesday, she’ll bring a green eye to her new role on the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission.

“I hope to bring some green space,” she said. “I believe in a healthy environment. I believe that’s one of the best legacies we can leave future generations.”

Mayor Mike Rundle’s appointment of Erickson to the Planning Commission was confirmed Tuesday by the Lawrence City Commission. She replaces Myles Schachter, who left the commission after one three-year term, during which he was one of the most vocal and influential members.

“I think Sue is equally hard-working, diligent and should do a great job,” Rundle said this week.

Schachter came to the commission after having served as a Lawrence city planner. Erickson, by contrast, said she had a lot to learn.

That learning extends to Horizon 2020, the city-county comprehensive plan that forms the basis for planning decisions.

“I think it should be fairly closely adhered to,” she said. “I can’t say strictly adhered to, because I haven’t read the whole thing. Honestly, I have a lot to learn.”

Erickson and her husband, Jon, moved to Lawrence in January 1994 from San Francisco. The couple had tired of the commute across the sprawling area and looked to settle in the Midwest. The deal was sealed when Jon Erickson’s son visited Kansas University. He didn’t end up attending KU, but the Ericksons liked the city.

Lawrence, with its vital downtown, compared well to their favorite parts of the Bay Area — only in a much more compact version.

“It was the best of the things we liked, without the worst,” Erickson said.

Name: Susan EricksonAge: 56Home: 2210 New Hampshire, in the Barker Neighborhood.Job: Retired from managing typesetting companies in San Francisco. She held a similar job prior to that in Fort Worth.Family: Husband Jon Erickson, works for CMP Media; stepson Asher Erickson, works for Douglas County Court Services.Community involvement: Volunteers with the master gardner program at Douglas County extension.Educational background: BBA in accounting from North Texas State University in Denton, Texas.Hometown: Fort Worth.Planning qualifications: Has followed Lawrence planning issues “from a distance.”

And she praised the efforts of city and planning officials to preserve downtown.

“I think the fact they’re doing all they can to keep downtown vital is one of the best decisions they’ve made,” she said. “Downtown is like a mantra to a lot of people.”

Erickson said she couldn’t pinpoint a particular Planning Commission decision for criticism. But when asked about the most controversial planning item facing the city — Wal-Mart’s plan, so far rejected, to build a store at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive — she had an opinion.

“I think Wal-Mart should not have been given permission to build there to begin with,” she said, referring to earlier zoning that allowed for a 132,000-square-foot store to be built at the site. “That’s where the initial problem started.”

Erickson formally takes her seat at next month’s Planning Commission meeting, June 23.