Sofia Nelson took over the role as Georgetown Planning Director full time Aug. 24 after beginning as interim planning director in January.[/caption]Sofia Nelson, a graduate of Texas State University with a degree in urban and original planning, came to Georgetown as the interim planning director in January. She initially worked a few days a week on a contract basis before becoming the city’s full-time planning director Aug. 24. Prior to working in Georgetown, Nelson worked as planning director for the city of San Marcos for five years and the city of Kyle for three years. Overall, Nelson has been working in city planning for more than 10 years, she said.
As planning director, Nelson’s job is to ensure the city’s vision outlined in the comprehensive master plan continues to be implemented through codes and ordinances, she said. Nelson works with other departments to implement the city’s vision and oversees the planning department’s operations, which includes rezoning cases, subdivision platting and site planning.
She said her interest in city planning began in college.
“I love working for communities,” she said. “My interest in planning came from seeing how communities are laid out and how we can do a better job of really making places special and something people want to return back to.”
After working in Georgetown on a contractual basis, Nelson said she fell in love with the community, including how it was laid out, the investment in downtown and the continued development in the community.
What do you think are Georgetown’s biggest assets and challenges?
Our assets right now are definitely the core of our city, how well it has been laid out in the past, incrementally building on what has been set up for us. Our location on I-35—it’s a huge corridor—that’s what has contributed to making us the second fastest-growing city in the United States. In terms of challenges, [we need to] continue to ensure that we’re keeping our vision alive—this is what we said is our vision, is it still our vision, and how will we implement that vision. I think that’s a challenge in most cities, but in Georgetown, I think to retain the character that I continue to hear that people have moved to this city for, and quite frankly what I moved to this city for, is how to continue to build on the things that make Georgetown special. How do we build on them, how do we replicate them, and how do we continue to preserve them?
Where do you see the city going in 20 years?
We’re really looking at how our demographics are changing. Is the population that we had 20 years ago still the one we’ll have in 20 years? And if we’re moving toward a younger segment of our population, how do we continue to provide; how do we plan for those needs? Housing, transportation options—what is the demographic going to be of the people that are going to be living here in Georgetown, and how do we plan for them? It’s really looking at housing types, how do we get people in and out of Georgetown. Whether it’s an automobile, walking and other transit options; how do we provide options not just planning on one segment type [of the population]; how do we plan for the community at large? The poorest of the poor and everybody above that, too, how do we continue to provide the services and level of service now with a different population?
How is Georgetown handling growth in the region?
I think the city has been doing a pretty good job of looking at where utilities are laid out. I think that from an aesthetic quality of looking at the quality of development, I think Georgetown has always set the bar high and had the ability to retain that value. I think we’ve done a good job of separating ourselves from what you see on I-35 up and down the corridor. I think investing in our downtown area has been a huge asset to our community; it’s bringing people in and is the crown jewel of our community. Our city investing money so that we can continue to see a value in our community and prioritizing downtown with public investments continues to be one of the things you don’t see in every community, and I think the city of Georgetown has handled it amazingly.
What new projects are on the horizon?
Right now we’re working through our unified development code revisions. There are process improvements that we’re working on. ... We continue to go back to the city’s comprehensive plan and say do these codes and ordinances implement the type of growth that we want to see in our community?
We will be working on getting City Council’s direction on an annexation policy, and next year, going back and revisiting the comprehensive master plan to build the vision that we want to aspire to.
