Longtime Edgartown building inspector Leonard Jason Jr. is set to hang up his hard hat after three decades on the job, according to a letter of resignation submitted to the Edgartown selectmen earlier this month.

Mr. Jason, who has served as the town’s inspector of buildings for 33 years, submitted a letter on Oct. 11, saying that he plans to leave his post no later than Nov. 30 of this year.

“Please accept my letter of resignation,” Mr. Jason’s letter reads in part. “It has been both a pleasure and an honor to serve the town since 1986. My decisions have not always been popular, but I can honestly say that I believe them to have been fair and in the best interest of the community.”

Town administrator James Hagerty said that while Mr. Jason technically submitted a letter of resignation, Mr. Jason plans to retire and will receive a full pension. He said he believed Mr. Jason would stay in his post as the Chilmark building inspector. Mr. Jason also serves part time as the Aquinnah town building inspector and as the interim building inspector for West Tisbury.

Reached later by telephone Monday, Mr. Jason said he is retiring because the time is right.

“I’m 75,” he said. “I don’t move as fast as I used to.”

He had words of praise for both the town and the job. “I really enjoyed working here. I always had support of the selectmen, from the first board that hired me to this board, and that makes the job a lot easier,” Mr. Jason said. “I don’t know if I’ll miss it. I’ve only been doing it since I’ve been 18. It’s time for somebody else to do it.”

Mr. Hagerty said Mr. Jason’s position would be posted within the next two weeks and that the town would conduct interviews shortly thereafter. He said the local building inspector, Reade Milne, is a strong in-house candidate for the position.

During his tenure as building inspector, Mr. Jason has overseen the construction of thousands of homes and buildings in Edgartown, as well as hundreds more throughout the Island.

In a 2012 interview with the Gazette, he said he never memorized zoning bylaws even though he spent the greater portion of 30-plus years poring over them. That way, Mr. Jason said, he would always have to look them up if there was a question, ensuring that he never get one wrong.

“The only thing I asked for were no doors on my offices,” Mr. Jason said in the interview. “I wanted everyone to know that anyone can come and sit and listen to and watch what I do.”

Asked Monday what makes a good building inspector, he said: “In my view, using some common sense.”