Cape's peripheral planning put on hold

Cape Girardeau's peripheral planning initiative is on hold.

During a daylong retreat for the city council, Charlie Haubold, chairman of the city's planning and zoning board, suggested suspending the effort. The city council informally agreed.

City officials have said they want to see stricter rules for developers who build subdivisions with the intent of having the neighborhoods annexed.

Mayor Jay Knudtson said peripheral planning is "an attempt to be proactive, to have control and orderly growth."

State law allows cities as large as Cape Girardeau in first-class counties to establish external planning and zoning up to two miles from the municipal borders. But the measure must have the approval of county commissioners, who cannot approve a plan without holding a public hearing. The city has been developing a proposal -- a cornerstone for the city's comprehensive plan -- to present to the county for months. The proposal was intended to make subdivision developers meet city standards for water, sewer and electric lines, as well as street construction.

Haubold cited negative feedback from property owners in unincorporated areas as well as turmoil among commissioners as reasons for stalling the plan. He offered an alternative.

"There is an annexation policy that was dated Sept. 15, 1994," Haubold said. "We need to revisit the policy ... and see if we can change and fix it to correspond to peripheral planning."

The 1994 policy requires property owners to pay tapping and connection fees as well as agree to rules for voluntary annexation. It does not cover street standards.

The city also faced the possibility that some county residents would try to press the issue of instituting zoning in county areas near the city. This week, property owners living near a proposed quarry on County Road 318 appealed to Cape Girardeau County Commissioners to help stop the project. The commissioners referred the people to the city's planning and zoning board, suggesting that zoning could be incorporated into the peripheral planning proposal. The property owners showed up in force at city planning and zoning board study session Wednesday but were referred to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Haubold said the group's appeal did not influence his board's decision to recommend mothballing the planning proposal.

Jonathan Randol, a mason contractor who lives near the proposed quarry site, called the city's decision "disheartening."

"If the city ever takes over that [area], aren't they going to have to take over all those roads? How does that not apply? How does that make any sense?" he said.

Chuck Denson, a retired firefighter for the city, lives a half-mile from the proposed quarry site. He said he voted against a proposal to institute countywide planning and zoning "and as I told my neighbors, it's coming around to bite us."

Knudtson said the city must move forward on peripheral planning at some point but not during the turmoil at the county level, in the wake of a lawsuit filed by 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell against the county commission and the prosecuting attorney's request for Missouri's attorney general to investigate Purcell.

"I'm not real confident in the process [peripheral planning approval] has to go through" at the county level, he said, adding that he had "deep concern over their ability to conduct business."

Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr agreed with Knudtson. Jackson requires property owners to first meet city standards before asking for annexation. Lohr said the ordinance has not yet been tested.

She said it would be "wise to wait until there's a little more stability in the county commission."

Rick Vines, a county property owner who has attended many city and county meetings to challenge peripheral planning, sees the city's decision to pause as an opportunity. He said the decision will allow county property owners time to contact their state representatives and read Section 89.145 of Missouri statutes, the law outlining the rules and scope of peripheral planning and zoning. Vines said he hoped people would "take the time to familiarize themselves with Cape's comprehensive plan, so they know what Cape's agenda is."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

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