COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED AT JACKSON

JACKSON -- Only two issues that arose at a public hearing last month for the new Jackson Comprehensive Plan need to be settled before the city's Planning and Zoning Commission votes on whether to adopt the plan.

The commission will discuss the matters, both of which concern the routing of streets, at a study session beginning at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

The commission is expected to vote on whether to adopt the plan at its meeting Dec. 9.

Landowners have complained about a part of Fruitland Avenue and a section of North Shawnee Boulevard. If the Comprehensive Plan is accepted as it currently reads, the roads would run through their properties.

P&Z Commission Chairwoman Barbara Lohr is confident that the problems can be solved and said she is "basically very happy" with the plan.

The city's last Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1981, which means the city basically has been working without one.

"Some decisions we make, we couldn't really have a clarification that we were going in the right direction," Lohr said.

"The plan will give us a focal point and a direction in which to plan."

City Planning and Zoning Official Rodney Bollinger said the lack of complaints about the plan has been a pleasant surprise. "It shows we put a lot of hard work into the plan and overall it was acceptable."

Lohr said P&Z has been trying to get a comprehensive plan in place for some time, especially since the city began its rapid expansion.

"When you're one of those people trying to look at the direction it should expand in an orderly fashion it becomes difficult," she said.