Middleton-Pratt arrived with years of government and private-sector experience, most recently serving as an assistant city manager in Buda. Community Impact spoke with her in late June about the work of the new department and Austin's planning outlook. This interview has been edited for length, style and clarity.
What drew you to this role?
As a planner, we always love to see the fruits of our labor when it comes to planning efforts.
My dad went to [Huston-Tillotson University] back in the ’60s, and ... my husband, Brandon, and I decided that Austin was going to be the place that we raised our two boys. And so having an opportunity to lead planning efforts in the place where I’m growing my family and raising my family, it was a no-brainer.
How would you describe your role and the work of the Austin Planning Department?
When people hear about single-family homes versus industrial zones or where can you have blue-collar jobs, where’s the best place to put new schools, that’s all zoning. So we focus a lot on the zoning and rezoning of our area.
Then there are the long-range planning efforts, planning for tomorrow. Not only planning for what we are currently facing today—economic downturn, the pandemic, the inflation, and trying to help the development community help us develop Austin as it is today—but then preparing for what we will be in 10, 20, 50 years from now.
Why does Austin need a dedicated planning department?
[For] Austinites, the future of Austin, the development community and residents that live and breathe and work and play in this community that is ever growing, it’s necessary and very important that we commit resources to two very important and expansive efforts: having efforts going specifically to housing and having efforts going specifically to the planning efforts.
When they established the comprehensive plan so many years ago, ... the city looked and felt a lot different. And so it’s a bonus to have planners and experts dedicated to the planning efforts. And so it’s a win-win for everyone.
What's happening with the many land development code updates requested by council?
There were approximately 12 code amendments that were already in the works. ... Then, there are approximately six code amendments that ... we can just kind of get those through the implementation process before the end of the year. The balance of the amendments will take a more comprehensive approach.
It’s going to take more time than six months to implement, engage with the community in the right way. It’s a heavy lift.
What I like to say is we want to be quick. We just don’t want to be in a hurry; we don’t want to be sloppy with it. We want to make sure that we do it right. We want to make sure that we’re communicating with the community at the right cadence at the right time and meeting the needs where they are. They can’t always come to City Hall; they may not have access to a computer, and so how do we engage everyone that will be impacted?
What's happening with the department’s broader planning work?
Staff has proposed to [city management] that we need resources—resources being dollars—to fund a comprehensive plan update. And so if we can do that and augment the work that staff has already done on our district plans, we might be able to get through a comprehensive plan update a little quicker.
We’re not going to get it done in six months; we’re not going to get it done in 12 months, but if we can add the work and the effort that staff has done on district planning and add it to creating a new FLUM—future land use map—with the efforts that they’ve done, I could see us coming out of that comprehensive update understanding where we’re going, how we can create an Austin that everybody can be proud of, and provide real direction for City Council and for staff.
Is there a single thing you're working on that will make the biggest difference for Austinites?
I wish. And that’s the beauty of having a planning department because there’s no one thing that will fix ... that one or two or three or 100 complex issues that just can’t be resolved overnight. And so we will rely on the efforts of all of these amendments to just put a dent in that comprehensive plan update that needs to happen.
How has short-staffing impacted the department, and what are you doing to staff up?
I currently have over a 30% vacancy rate, and some of that is staff that has left, and some of it is due to the decoupling of the department.
The good news: Over the past two weeks, we have been doing a series of interviews. We’ll be looking to bring on at least six new planners and continuously filling that vacancy rate.
What I’ve asked [city management] and council is, ‘Give me six months. Give me six months to just fill the vacancies, get in the unmet needs, and then let’s reassess and see where we are because we might find out that we still need more staff’ But I’m hopeful that once we can fill current vacancies and get those unmet needs met, we should be in a good place.
What are your top priorities going forward?
Recruit and retain. I’ve got to get staff, and I’ve got to retain them.
In the next few months, staff will be required to come back to the office. ... We want to make sure that it’s equitable and that everyone feels like they’ve been heard. ... I want staff to feel like they’re doing their best work, and so hopefully with everybody in the office we can create that vibe.
After that, I really want to get my department more engaged in the community. ... The community and residents, they feel a lack of transparency because the only time they hear from staff is a public hearing or when there is a requirement for a public meeting.
How can folks follow the department’s work?
I’m working on it. As part of the decoupling, I lost critical communications staff. And so we’ve asked to fill that need. And hopefully with that, working with the corporate public information office, we can get some social media attention, update and really create our own planning department website page. That will get the community the access that they need to us. They can always email us and call us, but in 2023 people like to hop online and scroll and see what’s going on.
In the next few months, we should finalize our move to the [Permitting and Development Center], and there we’ll be able to engage with the public. They can come and schedule meetings, and we can have one-on-ones.
