CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY WANTS TO IMPLEMENT ZONING

The Cape Girardeau County Commission wants to implement zoning regulations in the unincorporated areas of the county.

For that to happen, voters first must approve county planning. The issue is on the Nov. 7 ballot with a simple majority needed for passage.

Supporters say planning and zoning is needed to protect property owners from unwanted and unregulated development. Critics see it as unwarranted government intrusion.

While the proposed regulations would apply only to unincorporated areas, the ballot issue will be decided by voters countywide, including those living in the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Doug Flannery of Whitewater is opposed to county planning and zoning. Flannery, the Democratic candidate for First District commissioner, doesn't think city voters should be able to decide the fate of regulations that will only apply to unincorporated areas.

Flannery predicted the county's rural voters will reject the planning measure. Passage could hinge on the measure winning approval from voters in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

John Dudley chairs the county's temporary planning commission. The planning commission has drafted proposed zoning and subdivision and mobile home park development regulations that would be implemented if voters approve the ballot measure.

Dudley said his group hopes to convince city residents to vote on the ballot issue.

City voters, he said, are residents of the county and pay county taxes too. They have every right to vote on the ballot issue, he said. Legally, the issue must be voted on countywide.

The temporary planning commission has scheduled five public hearings to educate residents about the November ballot issue. The meetings will be held in September and early October at various sites around the county. A sixth meeting may be added to the list.

Flannery said county planning and zoning would make it more difficult for residents to start businesses in rural Cape Girardeau County.

"We live in the country because we want the lifestyle," he said. Rural residents don't want government "looking down the back of their necks."

The commission initially put it on the April ballot, but subsequently withdrew the measure and put it on the November ballot.

Commissioners said in February that putting the issue on the November ballot would allow officials more time to educate the voters and provide an opportunity for concerned county residents to have input into the planning and zoning process.

The April ballot would have asked voters to approve county planning and zoning. The November ballot will simply ask voters to approve planning.

The change in ballot wording was made because state law provides that first-class counties only have to seek voter approval of county planning, said Roger Arnzen, who directs the county's mapping and appraisal office and has assisted the temporary planning commission in drafting proposed planning and zoning regulations.

If voters approve planning, the county commission plans to establish zoning districts and enact zoning regulations. The commission also would implement a county master plan and subdivision and mobile home park development regulations.

Passage of the November ballot measure would authorize the county commission to establish a permanent planning commission.

The planning commission would have eight members, including one of the county commissioners and the county highway engineer. The other six must be rural residents living in the unincorporated area in the county.

Voter approval of the ballot measure also would create the office of planning director. State law says the director would be appointed by the planing commission with approval of the county commission.

Arnzen said the county commission would have the final say in hiring the planning director.

Building permits would be required for construction of new homes and businesses and installation of mobile homes. Farm buildings would be exempt from permit requirements.

The county has operated without countywide planning since 1992 when voters rejected a proposal to impose zoning and tossed out planning as well.

Countywide planning was approved by voters in 1972 and remained in force until voted out 20 years later.

The 1992 vote also threw out the county's subdivision and mobile-home regulations that had been adopted by the county commission in 1975. It also voided the county's master plan, adopted in 1997 and used to guide development in unincorporated areas.

The county's temporary planning commission was appointed by county commissioners in December 1996 to draw up a new zoning plan to be submitted to the voters. The advisory group has 10 members from throughout the county.

Under the current plan, most of the unincorporated areas of the county would be zoned for agricultural uses. There also would be areas zoned industrial, commercial, residential and recreation/conservation.

The industrial areas would be where there is a concentration of existing industry, along Nash Road and in the area of the Procter and Gamble plant. Likewise, residential and commercial areas would be situated in areas where there is already such use, essentially in the rural areas around the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

But the county's Arnzen said industrial, commercial and residential zones are expected to grow as the county's population grows and more development occurs.

"The county is going to grow," he said.

ting schedule

Public meetings on the Cape Girardeau County planning ballot measure

All the meetings will be held at 7 p.m.

Sept. 19, Millersville School

Sept. 21, Cape Girardeau County Administrative Building meeting room in Jackson

Sept. 26, Cape Girardeau, at a place still to be determined.

Sept. 28, Delta High School cafeteria

Oct. 3, Oak Ridge High School gymnasium