
Charles E. Shoemaker traces its roots back to the early 1900s and has plan records from the firms of William T. Muldrew, Haggerty and Hagan, Inc., Weir and Associates as well as their own. The current corporate structure of the organization has been in place since 1971. All the present shareholders have been employed by the firm since 1981 and have been company officers since 1986.
The firm employs engineering graduates from many nationally recognized colleges and universities. The staff is active members in professional organizations such as the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors. Charles E. Shoemaker, Inc. encourages continuing education of their employees and encourages their employees to attend professional conferences and seminars.
Typical engineering projects include:
- Land development designs for office parks, commercial buildings, institutional complexes, athletic facilities, and commercial retail centers
- Residential Subdivisions
- Stormwater Management Retrofits
- Residential Building Permit Plans
They also offer a wide variety of land surveying options:
- Property retracement
- Property subdivisions
- Topographic surveys
- Elevation certificates
- ALTA \ ACSM surveys
- Construction stakeout
- Aerial Control
Our People:

Richard A. Stoneback, PE, PLS
President
Rick is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and has over 40 years of diversified civil engineering experience for both municipal and private clients. Design experience is concentrated on-site engineering for residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional projects. Municipal experience includes 30 years of service as Municipal Engineer for Rockledge Borough, Montgomery County, where he is responsible for the review of development proposals and the design of municipal roadway and utility projects. Prior experience includes the design and construction management of major highway, sewage, and water public works improvement projects for Pennsylvania municipalities and authorities. Experience also includes a broad spectrum of civil engineering disciplines including stormwater management, watershed hydrology, flood plain – bridge hydraulics, sanitary sewage collection – pumping stations, surveying, erosion control, water distribution, and highway engineering. Administrative experience includes supervisor of design and drafting personnel in small, medium, and large-size consulting firms.
He has been a Charles E. Shoemaker, Inc. corporate officer since 1986 and has been the President of the firm for over 20 years. His professional affiliations include:
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- American Water Resources Association
- Water Pollution Control Federation
- Pennsylvania Water Pollution Control Association

Gary A. Tilford, PLS
Vice President
Gary is a graduate of Roger Williams College in Bristol, RI (1976) with a major in Architectural Engineering Technology and Drexel University (1983) in Civil Engineering. He has been licensed to practice land surveying in the State of Pennsylvania since 1984.
His professional experience began in 1976 working with property surveys and land development issues related to design and submission to local municipalities primarily in Montgomery and Bucks Counties. These responsibilities include representation before Township Planning and Governing Boards as well as Zoning Hearing testimony.
Professional responsibilities include land boundary surveys, topographic surveys, ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys, and as-built drawings, subdivision, and land development plans for residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional uses. He also has served as Project Manager for many site designs which include residential subdivisions, retail and office buildings, manufacturing and warehouse facilities, and various institutional facilities. Specific design services include roadways, parking facilities, site grading, erosion control facilities, storm sewer, and stormwater management facilities, sanitary sewer, water, and other utility services.
He has been a corporate officer of Charles E. Shoemaker, Inc., since 1986 and vice president of the firm since 1997 and helps manage the day-to-day operations of the firm.

Bruce Houser, PLS
Survey Manager
Bruce has over 40 years of diverse surveying experience. He has been employed with Charles E. Shoemaker, Inc. since 1975 and licensed as a Professional Land Surveyor in 1997.
Mr. Houser’s field experience includes residential, institutional, and commercial boundary and layout surveys of shopping centers and subdivisions – buildings, roads, and storm and sanitary sewers. His office experience includes managing crews, boundary decisions, legal descriptions, FEMA elevation certificates, and calculations for layout by field crews.
Bruce continues his education at survey conferences and seminars and formerly served on the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors as a director and treasurer.

Chad W. Brensinger, PE, LEED AP
Senior Project Manager
Chad graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering with his studies focused on hydrology. Under the direct supervision and mentorship of Richard A. Stoneback PE, PLS, Chad has been with Charles E. Shoemaker since graduating in 2002 and obtained his Pennsylvania Professional Engineer’s License in 2007 and his NJ and DE licenses in 2016. He has also successfully completed his LEED Professional Accreditation through the U.S. Green Building Certification Institute in June of 2009.
Typical projects include retail shopping centers, small residential subdivisions, industrial parks, hotels, office buildings, and institutional complexes. He is familiar with local municipal requirements and permitting and approvals through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection such as General Wetland Permits, Sewage Facilities Planning Modules, and NPDES Permits. His experience includes all aspects of site civil engineering including layout, grading, storm sewer, erosion control, and sanitary sewer design. However, Chad specializes in stormwater management and erosion control design. Over the years, he has attended countless seminars and training sessions presented by local conservation districts, the PA DEP, and professional peers to stay current with today’s demanding stormwater management design and permitting requirements where water quality, rates, volumes, and environmental sustainability are critical. Much is his experience pertains to managing stormwater runoff on challenging sites such as retail complexes and other similar projects where space is very limited and designing an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally conscious stormwater management system is paramount in the life of the project.

Keith Houser, PLS
Chief of Field Survey
Keith is a second-generation land surveyor and has been with the company for 27 years as field staff and party chief. Recently he has begun to manage the field survey corps day-to-day operations, as well as assisting in boundary decisions and various survey tasks. In November 2022, he successfully completed his licensure requirements and is now a Professional Land Surveyor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

April P. Griet, EIT
Ms. Harris is a graduate of Temple University and has over 15 years of design experience on various types of site engineering projects. She specializes in erosion control, storm drainage, and site grading. Project engineering duties are performed on commercial, institutional, and residential developments. General Wetland, PennDOT, and NPDES permit application procedures are a large part of her normal duties. She is also experienced in the varied and complex municipal approval processes. Recent projects include restaurant pads at shopping centers, hotel sites, medium size single-family subdivisions, religious facilities, and office complexes.