Little-used state law would let Cape zone outside city limits

Cape Girardeau has found a little-used Missouri statute that makes it possible to zone land outside of its limits, and the city may decide to take advantage of it.

"We're in the process of annexing more ground to the city of Cape Girardeau than we ever have before," said Mayor Jay Knudtson. "As our boundaries grow, the responsible thing to do is make sure we're taking new territory that meets certain minimum standards to sustain long-term growth and long-term maintenance."

According to Missouri Revised Statute 89.145, a constitutional charter city (like Cape Girardeau) with a population greater than 35,000 people (like Cape Girardeau) can enforce regulations governing the zoning, planning and subdivision building on land up to two miles outside its city limits.

That means the city can control what is built outside its boundaries.

That power could be particularly helpful in controlling development outside of the city's northern border. However, in other directions, zoning power would not apply because the two-mile extension would cross into Scott County or Jackson.

Cape Girardeau officials will have regular dialogue with Cape Girardeau County commissioners in upcoming months to decide how best to use the statute for its needs. A public hearing will be held on the issue, but that may be a few months off, Knudtson said. The zoning decision ultimately lies with county commissioners

Some on the commission are weary of the topic of county zoning.

"Am I opposed to planning and zoning? No. Am I opposed to lining myself up as a sacrificial lamb? Yep, you bet," said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones.

Jones feels strongly about zoning because in 2000 he helped lead a ballot initiative to try to install zoning in unincorporated sections of Cape Girardeau County. Cape Girardeau is the only first-class county in Missouri not to have zoning.

The initiative faced heavy opposition. Originally scheduled for an April vote, commissioners pushed it back to November in order to hold public meetings and educate voters.

Organized opponents came to every public meeting and loudly decried the idea. They even filed a lawsuit against county commissioners, accusing them of violating state law by spending tax dollars to develop planning and zoning regulations before voters approved the issue.

The measure failed by a margin of 19,212 to 8,670.

"I took an absolute beating, really a good thumping. I'm not going to go through that again," said Jones, who will retire after this, his fourth four-year term in office.

That is not to say peripheral zoning is a bad idea, he said.

"I probably get two or three complaints a week. People are burning tires, building salvage yards, raising hogs, building a shack with chickens in it next to somebody's property. ... Cape County needs planning and zoning," he said.

Jones said without planning and zoning, bank lenders are the vetting agents who decide what structures should go up and what builders should do business in the county.

"Thank goodness we have a lot of excellent construction people," Jones said.

Knudtson said Cape Girardeau mainly wants to protect itself from inheriting substandard roads and infrastructure when it annexes land. But he also thinks homeowners north of the city should want zoning to protect their own investments.

"While government is never good when it enters the confines of personal dwellings, there is a balance needs to be reached," he said. "... Ultimately there needs to be some type of regulation in place to protect the landowners."

The statute also stipulates that zoning rules cannot be more restrictive than rules inside city limits.

Knudtson said the main impediment to irresponsible development today is high land prices in Cape Girardeau County.

Land in Cape Girardeau County costs an average of $1,891 per acre, according to the 2002 U.S. Census of Agriculture.

The statewide average is $1,508 per acre.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245