Manuel De La Rosa, the city of Kyle's new director of planning, began his new job on July 7. De La Rosa, who has about 28 years experience in municipal governments, last worked for the city of Jonestown as its city manager. De La Rosa is replacing former Planning Director Sofia Nelson, who resigned from the position earlier this year. He said he is looking forward to addressing the city's planning issues and believes Kyle has a lot to look forward to when it comes to its growth. Community Impact Newspaper sat down with De La Rosa on July 16.

What brought you to Kyle?

I was trying to stay in the area. I was looking at city manager positions. Then I saw that the planning position was here, and I was familiar with the commuter rail line that is being proposed. I read the articles in the Community Impact paper that is online. I was born in San Antonio, so I'm familiar with the I-35 corridor, so I said, 'You know what? This is a good opportunity for me to get in with a fast-growing community.' I think I can offer something that will benefit Kyle, and it helps me stay in the region. For both personal and professional reasons this was just a golden opportunity for me.

What are your first orders of business?

I've already attended the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last week. I'm currently reviewing our landscaping ordinance. I'm strategizing with the assistant city manager and the city attorney. The commission has been looking at revising its landscaping ordinance. For large developments, are we asking too much with the water issues that are facing this region? Should we consider amending our ordinance so that it is a little more workable with less water so we don't create an impact that we are utilizing our potable water on watering plants? At the same time, we don't want rock gardens. So there is a balance. We want to be mindful of our water resources. For that reason, I think it's good that we're revisiting that. At the same time, we want to make sure it's not unfair to the development community.

What is the biggest challenge facing Kyle from a planning perspective?

They have done an admirable job of keeping up with the growth. We are currently a bedroom community, both to Austin and our neighbors to the south. We are within a commute that is reasonable for anybody. Whether we stay a bedroom community or whether we attract more commercial [development], with the interstate going right up the center of the community, I think we are going to experience some of that commercial growth also. I need to get an idea as to exactly what all the board and commissions, including the City Council, ... want Kyle to look like in the future.

What is the most exciting thing this city has to look forward to?

All the committees will be very busy at reviewing their plans. As we grow, we are all visiting the same issues. How are we going to manage this growth? I don't think it's pie-in-the-sky; I think [growth] is coming, so we need to be prepared for it. So the one thing we are going to be mindful of is quality of life issues.

Have you gotten to look into annexation at all?

I reviewed the 2013 annexation plan that they had. I'm familiar with some of the issues that came up when they stopped some of those annexations regarding notifications. It is my intent to at least propose a future municipal annexation plan. I propose it, it'll go up through the chain of command, and if the council deems it appropriate, they'll adopt a municipal annexation plan. I'm here to serve the citizens through our City Council. I think municipal annexation plan are inevitable because as growing communities are, they certainly want to plan that growth, and certain areas will develop faster. Plus, if we have the utilities and the public infrastructure to be able to extend it, then we should annex those areas that we are proposing to extend it to so the city can recoup its investment that possibly our citizens are paying for. I think it's going to be fairly high on my list. I can't say it's going to be weeks, but it'll certainly be within months that we'll probably have some type of plan together.