KNOWING THEIR LIMITS: CAPE GIRARDEAU OFFICIALS CALL THE CITY'S GROWTH 'REASONABLE'; CITY MANAGER SAYS THERE'S NO REAL LONG-TERM GROWTH PLAN

For a few years, city planner Kent Bratton has been working on a map that methodically charts the historical growth of Cape Girardeau, beginning with the small, unincorporated trading post of 1808 to its present-day boundaries.

While the map shows steady expansion from 1808 to 1967, growth slows dramatically after that.

Bratton estimates that in 24 years, five square miles have been brought into the city limits. That's roughly 3,200 acres of annexed land.

"The annexation laws are somewhat restrictive," Bratton said. "It can be quite difficult, especially if the neighbors don't want to be brought in."

City manager Michael Miller said the expansion is reasonable, and most of the city's "real growth" has come from development of existing city land.

"People who used to live here come back and say they can't believe how much Cape has grown," Miller said. "They're mostly talking about subdivisions and businesses that are sitting where open fields used to be."

That aside, Miller points to a list of 40 individual annexations that have occurred since 1987. They include Jaycee Municipal Golf Course, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Lowe's Home Center, Twin Lakes subdivision, Southeast Missouri State University Foundation property, the new Notre Dame High School and Deer Creek Christian Academy.

"So you can't say there hasn't been growth in Cape," Miller said.

No long-term growth plan

Miller said there is no long-term plan that shows areas where Cape Girardeau might be expected to expand, and for that he does not apologize. Miller said when lines are drawn that don't exist, people outside the city limits protest as if they are already in the city. They complain they do not want higher taxes and other city influences to disturb their country settings, he said.

"But there comes a day when most people come to realize they want the things only a city can do," Miller said.

The city sells itself, he said. The attractions to landowners lie in city water, electricity, trash pickup and emergency services, and especially sewers since most rural dwellers have septic tanks.

Cape Girardeau has an annexation policy set forth by a staff committee. There are also long-term street and sewer plans that give a glimpse of where the city may be heading in the next 10 to 20 years.

"We can't go east because of the river, and we can't go south," Bratton said. "What's left? North and west. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out."

Cape Girardeau's major street plan shows new streets to the north and west of the city limits. It also shows new sewer projects in those directions.

"We're extending services to the areas that we expect to grow," Miller said. "I don't want people to think we're not anticipating growth, because we are. We just don't have a written growth plan."

Twin Lakes

The biggest involuntary annexation in at least 14 years shows the advantages and drawbacks of annexation.

Twin Lakes is off Hopper Road just west of Interstate 55. There are about 90 homes in the subdivision. In the early 1990s, many homeowners in the 155-acre subdivision wanted to annex so they could have city water and sewers, and get rid of wells and septic tanks.

But not all wanted to join the city, and voluntary annexations require 100 percent agreement from a subdivision. They soon realized that an involuntary annexation was the only route.

An involuntary annexation involves an election on the question, which must pass in the subdivision itself as well as the city. Citywide, the annexation issue was approved by a vote of 1,584 to 302, a margin of 83-16 percent. Twin Lakes voters approved the measure 94 to 37, or 72-28 percent.

But not everyone -- including those who wanted to annex -- were happy with the way the city handled it.

"We were really looking forward to it at first," said Homer Huskey, 44, who lives at 66 E. Lake Drive. "We wanted to hook onto the city's sewer and water, and the city promised us a whole lot. As far as I'm concerned, they lied to us."

Huskey said he can't mow parts of his lawn because of dirt work, and concrete drains that ran into a lake were cut by a city contractor. He said his above-ground swimming pool was hit by a bulldozer and no one bothered to tell him.

"The contractor did it, but I signed an agreement that the city would make sure everything was taken care of, and they've never taken care of their end of the bargain of it," he said. "It wasn't even worth it if you have to deal with the city."

Truman Waldrup, who lives at 107 E. Lake Drive, is the vice president of Twin Lakes Property Owners Association. While he admits there were some problems with the $1.5 million in sewer- and water-line work -- half of which was paid by the city and half by the residents -- it was money well spent.

At the time, it cost each resident $10,000 or more, he said, depending on the size of the lot. He has papers that show the cost at $6,000 an acre for sewers and $1,700 an acre for water. That doesn't include the $750 hook-up fee he paid.

Waldrup said the water pressure is better and they no longer have to deal with a septic tank.

"People have told me it wasn't worth it, but it was to me," he said. "There were problems, but we've liked being in the city."

The Jackson connection

While Cape Girardeau has grown five square miles since 1967, Jackson has grown 8.3 square miles or 5,312 acres since 1962.

"We're seeing our share of growth, that's for sure," said Rodney Bollinger, Jackson's building and planning superintendent.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson seem to draw closer each year, but Miller said there is an understood line in the sand.

"It's never been spoken, but I-55 is the agreed upon line," Miller said. "There's still some competition there, but that's never really been an issue."

Bratton said there is no way to estimate how much annexation has cost the city or how much it costs to extend sewer and water lines.

"It's site specific," he said. "Costs would vary widely, depending on the proximity of the service, whether it's water or sewer. If they're close to the sewer lines, it costs less."