GROWTH FACTORS VIEWED; CITY STAYS POISED TO OFFER SERVICES

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Although preliminary 1990 census figures show growth in Cape Girardeau apparently was stunted during the 1980s, officials here say the city's population likely will rebound and swell during the next decade.

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said Monday the infrastructure is in place to allow for "orderly" growth that won't overburden the city's tax base and available services for streets, sewers and other utilities.

Also, Cape Girardeau's Fire Chief, Gene Hindman, said the fire and police departments have sufficient facilities and equipment to serve areas where growth is expected to the north and west of current city limits.

Preliminary 1990 census figures show Cape Girardeau's population declined during the 1980s from 34,361 to 34,167.

Fischer and Hindman said it's difficult to correlate Cape Girardeau's apparent lack of growth in the past decade with any specific factor.

Fischer said the lack of growth might be attributed to a population swell in rural areas outside the city limits. He said if the city wanted to increase its population through annexation, there are many subdivisions and population groupings just to the north and west of city limits.

"Cape Girardeau County, I think has a population of about 66,000," Fischer said. "If we wanted to annex for population, there's a pretty good-sized population out there."

But Fischer said cities that annex large tracts of land to increase their population often are faced with financial difficulties trying to provide services to those areas.

"Often what happens with those types of annexations is you start expanding your expenses and your income just doesn't offset it," he said. "If you try to reach out too far, too fast, then your costs for that start outweighing your benefits."

Hindman said Jonesboro, Ark., is an example of a city that annexed large tracts of land. The annexation resulted in a population hike but also a need to expand services.

Jonesboro Mayor Hubert Brodell said preliminary U.S. Census Bureau counts this year showed the city had grown from 31,530 in 1980 to 50,287.

But Brodell said "10,000-11,000" people were added last year when Jonesboro annexed about 45 square miles of land. The city covered about 30 square miles before the annexation. But despite the population boost last year, Brodell said the city also was growing prior to the annexation.

"We've had a lot of growth," Brodell said. "We've had a lot of industrial expansion, our medical centers have really expanded and the university, Arkansas State, also is growing."

But Brodell said that with the expansion, the city has suffered some growing pains.

"We've had to spend quite a bit of money to do this, and we won't be getting an increase in county property tax dollars until the census is finalized," he said. "Jonesboro had to make a tremendous commitment on roads, fire and police."

Brodell said that Arkansas law requires that a city must provide within three years whatever it proposes to voters in an area to be annexed. He said Jonesboro promised to provide voters city water and electricity, but not sewer service or paved roads.

In Missouri, sewer, water and electricity must be provided in annexed area within three years. Brodell said there was "no way possible" Jonesboro could have annexed the 45 square miles if sewer systems to the area would have been required.

"They have to pay for their own sewers," he said. "Also, we never promised them paved roads."

Brodell said the key to Jonesboro's growth has been the "spirit of cooperation" among the city's residents, developers and officials.

"There's no mayor that could have had the cooperation that I've had," he said. "There's a tremendous community spirit. It's just unbelievable."

But in Cape Girardeau, some developers have criticized City Hall for factors they say have contributed to the city's stymied growth.

The factors include dogmatic enforcement of city construction codes and high building costs and high costs assessed to property owners for sewer and street construction.

But Fischer said many of those complaints don't appear to be warranted. He said the city's construction codes were updated this year when the City Council adopted the 1990 BOCA Codes.

He said the codes are used to maintain minimum safety and health standards, not restrict new construction.

"I really believe right now in the code enforcement, we have as good a consistency as ever," he said.

Fischer said the high cost for property available for development likely has hindered growth as much as anything.

"I would think land cost in Jackson and other cities, if it's lower than in Cape, would affect construction more than the codes," he added.

Fischer said the city now has a Board of Appeals made up of contractors who rule on requests for variances from the city codes. If a contractor feels part of the code is unfair or unnecessary, he can request a variance from a board of peers in the construction trades.

"We rarely have complaints (about code enforcement) from people doing the building," Fischer said. "They know the code and comply with it.

"I think it's something some people use when they want to look for a reason to criticize the community and the city staff."

Fischer said assessing property owners for construction of new sewers and streets is necessary to provide the infrastructure needed for the city's orderly growth. He said there are many areas of the city that now are prime development areas because of upgraded sewers and better access.

There also are many areas within the city limits that could be developed without annexation, he said. Property north of Bertling Street on the city's northeast side and the area south of Bloomfield Road are some of the likely areas of development because of sewer and road improvements.

Other areas north of the city soon will have sewers and will be logical areas to annex later, he said.

"I think this is one time in the history of Cape Girardeau that we have some of the infrastructure out in front of the growth and development," Fischer said.