By Anna Herod

Following the lead of surrounding municipalities, Kyle City Council unanimously adopted a beautification plan brought forward by city staff at an earlier meeting.  

Erin Smith, a city intern who spearheaded the drafting of the plan, said its purpose is to beautify the community, along with increase desirability of real estate and encourage investment in landscaping. 

The beautification plan consists of seven initiatives including corridor beautification, revitalization of downtown, attractive signage and code compliance. 

The code compliance initiative is aimed to identify and abate code violations to improve the quality of life for the general citizenry, Smith said. 

Both City Manager Scott Sellers and Smith said Kyle’s new beautification plan mostly formalizes steps the city has already been taking to make the community more attractive. 

“And I think we’re allowing that documented priority to guide future policies and future projects in a more informed capacity moving forward,” Smith said. 

Sellers said officials hired two more code enforcement officers this year, which is “big” for the community. He said the city has only had one code enforcement officer position in its history.  

“That will help us beautify the city,” Sellers said. “These things are really starting to evolve kind of naturally, but we wanted to make sure there was a plan that we all follow so we all have a shared vision of what Kyle needs to look like moving forward.”

Although the city is not closing the door on the possibility of charging residents a beautification fee in the future, Sellers said that for now he is very content with the plan as drafted, without a fee. However, the plan that was adopted by Kyle City Council does not include any type of fee to be paid by citizens.

San Marcos and Austin pay a monthly beautification fee to help make their initiatives a reality. 

While residents would like the city to focus on image, Sellers said they haven’t seen requests for more art or “expensive type beatification initiatives.” 

He said the city will “evolve (the plan) over time” and see what the “citizenry wants and expects here in Kyle.” 

“A good amount of initiatives that are outlined are actually already budgeted for,” Smith said. “There are a number of initiatives that do not come with a cost, which is great. I would say that, with respect to next steps, it’s really doing some of the leg work of identifying additional costs – should they arrive – but for the most part avoiding them at all costs and utilizing the resources that we already have available.”

Sellers said making Kyle more attractive would help citizens have a greater pride in their city, and make them want to stay in it while also drawing in newcomers.

“Businesses, when they look to relocate, they look at whether or not the city is attractive, how their employees will feel,” he said.

Sellers said the adoption of the plan will help make beautification efforts more precise, since there is now a supporting document. He said it’s part of a “larger holistic effort” to bring the community “where it ultimately needs to be.” 

“Absent the plan we won’t have dollars targeted to our beautification effort, it would just continue to be haphazard,” Sellers said. 

Smith and Sellers hope the adoption of the plan will lead to greater community involvement, as citizens will have opportunities to maintain the city through the implementation of the beautification initiatives. 

“We’re very pleased to have the approval of city council and the adoption of this plan,” Smith said. “We’re looking forward to where it leads both the city and communities in Kyle in terms of making things even brighter and more beautiful than they already are.”

The goals of this program are to:

• Improve the attractiveness and utility of commercial buildings or property, in the designated downtown area.

• Promote the economic vitality of the designated downtown area.

• Support and promote start-up efforts of new and/or developing businesses within the designated downtown area.

• Promote the restoration and continued maintenance of historic commercial buildings in the designated downtown area.