Round Rock and Pflugerville Planning Directors

Round Rock and Pflugerville Planning Directors

Wednesday, 07 March 2007

Jim Stendebach, Planning Director, Round Rock

Jim Stendebach enjoys his position as planning director for the city of Round Rock. His favorite part is the problem-solving aspect.

“I like obtaining the balance between public and private interests, and coming up with a solution that is good for all involved, including the city,” Stendebach said.

He believes making Round Rock a destination for retail is important to the city’s growth.

“IKEA and the outlet development are major tax producers that bring retail to the community. They bring people in from hundreds of miles away to spend money that wouldn’t have been spent here,” Stendebach said.

Q. What are your duties and responsibilities as planning director?

A. As director of the department, the personnel aspect involves ensuring that I have a competent staff who can do the job. I have an exceptional staff. There is a policy recommendation aspect, too. I recommend policies to council to improve development.

Another portion is dealing with developers to define a balance between the public and private interests. We deal with the general public; conducting hearings which are meetings with neighbors to discuss implications of particular developments. I also work with other directors with items that affect land development. I work with the transportation, parks and utilities departments on a regular basis.

Q. What are your primary concerns when planning for the city?

A. To provide orderly and economic development so that it benefits the city as a whole. It is costly to provide services, both hard (sewer, water and road) and soft (police and fire protection). These are the basics we have to keep in mind all the time.

Q. What are the greatest challenges as planning director?

A. Getting people to try to work together for the common goal. Instead of seeing how they differ, they have to see common ground and work together to come to a conclusion. Working with unreasonable people is difficult.

Q. How has Round Rock changed since you started working here?

A. Astronomically. The population was 12,000 when I came here and City Hall was just a portion of the new library. It was the tail end of the 1980s boom, when people thought it would go on forever. There were very few employment opportunities. Since then, Dell came, which was a major milestone. Then, retail development entered, including the Boardwalk, La Frontera and the college. It is like night and day. Round Rock was a small suburban community distant from Austin, and it has become a large suburban community with significant employment opportunities. Round Rock used to be the place to come to buy the most affordable homes, now it has moved out towards Hutto and Taylor. We have become a more urban and intense development, and have to accept the fact that we have moved to a different market.

Q. Describe how you envision Round Rock in five years.

A. I see it starting to build up. There will be key areas with both mid- and high-rise buildings (six-story to 12-story). Austin is building up from 20-story to 40-story buildings. We will be doing the same thing but on a smaller scale.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Planning, University of Waterloo in Ontario

Family: Two adult sons

Contact Information: 218-5428 , jstendebach@round-rock.tx.us

Trey Fletcher, Planning Director, Pflugerville

Trey Fletcher has 11 years of experience as a planning director. He has worked in Lake Charles, Louisiana, College Station, Texas and now, Pflugerville.

“I have had many mentors,” Fletcher said, “who enabled me to gain a broad range of planning experience, from floodplain management to economic development,”

He is passionate about building a future for Pflugerville.

“My favorite part of my job is being able to lead a staff who is committed to implementing the community’s vision for Pflugerville’s future,” Fletcher said, “and getting to know the community, which is the real keeper of the vision for Pflugerville.”

Q. What are your duties and responsibilities as planning director?

A. As Planning Director, my fundamental responsibility is to serve the City Manager, City Council and other boards by providing policy recommendations related to planning issues; specifically maintaining and implementing the Comprehensive Plan through the subdivision, zoning and site development codes that dictate how the city is developed and will look in the future.

Q. What are your primary concerns when planning for the city?

A. There are two basic considerations for me. The first is helping people understand that Pflugerville is at a historic crossroads with the recent opening of Toll 130 and Toll 45, and our community will be confronted with many challenges. While IH 35 is nearby, Toll 130 will be the spine of the city. The second consideration is the notion that population growth and commercial development pressures and realities will occur, and quickly. The victory is not to try to stop or slow it, but to encourage and embrace quality development that will overcome short-term fiscal and planning challenges, and strengthen our city for many years to come.

Q. What are the greatest challenges as planning director?

A. Prioritizing for a community that has experienced an estimated 60 percent increase in population since 2000. With such rapid population growth, and regional migration trends, it’s difficult to put your finger on exactly what our citizens envision our city to be in five, 10, much less 20 years from now.

Q. Describe how you envision Pflugerville in five years.

A. They will be busy. The world, inclusive of Central Texas, is rapidly changing. The city limits now stretch into Williamson County and in the next five years, or so, Pflugerville could be land locked by other cities’ jurisdictions. Even so, I believe Pflugerville is well positioned with the new corridors, proximity of numerous high-tech facilities and soon-to-be easy access to Austin Bergstrom International Airport, to become a leading employment center in the region. But, it’s not my vision - we as a community must be visionary for what our role is in the region, and own it.

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Geography, Texas A&M University
• Family: Wife, Becky, daughter, 5 and son, 3
• Contact Information: 990-4370, treyf@cityofpflugerville.com