COUNTY ZONING ISSUE WON'T DIE

Planning and zoning in Cape Girardeau County would protect property owners from unwanted and unregulated development, supporters say. But critics see it as an unwarranted government intrusion into their lives.

The outcome of the latest debate rests with the county's voters, who will decide April 4 whether to establish countywide planning and zoning.

The county has operated without countywide planning since 1992 when voters rejected a proposal to impose zoning and tossed out planning as well. Voters defeated the issue by a margin of 14,971 to 10,589.

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.

All that could change if voters approve planning and zoning this April.

Approval by a simple majority would allow the Cape Girardeau County Commission to implement subdivision, mobile-home and zoning regulations that have been drafted by a planning commission. County commissioners appointed the 10-member planning group in December 1996 to draw up a new zoning plan to be submitted to the voters.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said at the time that regulations are needed for orderly growth.

After three years of work, the planning commission has completed work on the new zoning plan.

At the advisory group's request, the County Commission voted last month to put the issue on the ballot. Commissioners said they don't believe they have the authority to order in county planning and zoning without voter approval. "Even if we could, I want it voted on," said Commissioner Max Stovall.

The proposal would establish five zoning categories: agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, recreational and conservation. Most of the land would be zoned agricultural, county officials said.

Existing land uses that don't conform with the zoning categories would be allowed to continue under a "grandfather clause," said Roger Arnzen, who directs the county's mapping and appraisal office and has assisted the planning commission.

Architect John Dudley of Burfordville chairs the planning commission. He said the zoning plan is designed to address residential and business development in the county's unincorporated areas.

"We are not trying to regulate an incorporated area," he said. "We are trying to protect property values and people's rights," said Dudley, who believes the zoning plan won't be a burden for farmers and others living in the county.

Dudley said the plan won't keep people from being able to develop their properties. But residential subdivisions, mobile-home parks and business developments would have to meet regulations dealing with everything from street widths to storm drainage.

Critics like Burfordville area resident Bob Flannery insist that the county doesn't need planning and zoning regulations.

Voters rejected planning and zoning eight years ago. Flannery said the County Commission shouldn't have put the issue back on the ballot. "All they are doing is cramming it down our throats."

Flannery, who operates a cowhide and deerhide business, said planning and zoning will mean added costs for new businesses and other developments in the county in terms of permits and regulatory red tape.

David Allen of Jackson said the County Commission needs to delay the election until November to give voters more time to study the issue.

On the surface, Allen doesn't like the idea of planning and zoning in the county. "I don't like the County Commission having that much power."

If voters approve planning and zoning, rezoning or special-use permit requests would come before a planning and zoning commission. The advisory board would make recommendations to the County Commission, which would have the final say.

"It is just more regulations, inconvenient regulations is what I call them," said Allen, who operates a towboat repair business near Whitewater.

While his business would be allowed to remain under the "grandfather clause," Allen said someone who wanted to open a towboat repair business on agricultural-zoned land in the future would have to meet zoning regulations if voters approve the April measure.

In that case, Arnzen said, the individual would have to get the land rezoned or obtain a special-use permit.

Allen said farmers today often operate non-agricultural businesses on the side to make ends meet. The proposed zoning regulations would make such operations more difficult, he said.

Arnzen said building permits would be needed for new construction and major renovations. The County Commission would establish the fees, which likely would be minimal, Arnzen said.

Planning and zoning are often used interchangeably. But planning can exist without zoning. Zoning, however, can't exist without planning, officials said.

Planning is designed to help direct the orderly growth of the county through a county master plan.

Cape Girardeau is one of 15 first-class counties in the state. Of those 15, 12 have planning and zoning. A 13th county, Cole County, has planning only. Jasper and Cape Girardeau counties are the only first-class counties in Missouri that don't have county planning or zoning, Arnzen said.

City officials in Cape Girardeau and Jackson would like to see countywide planning and zoning because it would regulate business and residential development in the unincorporated areas bordering the cities, Dudley said.

Only development requirements and state and county regulations for sewage disposal currently govern development in unincorporated areas of the county.

Dudley said planning and zoning would protect county residents and property owners by requiring a public hearing be held before land could be rezoned or a special use permit obtained. Neighboring property owners would be notified of such hearings.

That would be far better than the current situation, he said. "People who build in the county have no control over what goes in next to them."

Dudley and Arnzen said public hearings on the ballot issue will be held in each of the county's 10 townships, beginning Feb. 24 and running through March 16.

Arnzen said copies of the proposed planning and zoning regulations are available to the general public at a cost of $5 per set.