PROPONENTS: ZONING WOULD SOLVE CONFLICTS

JACKSON, Mo. -- Planning and zoning would help address future development conflicts in Cape Girardeau County, supporters of a November ballot measure said at a meeting Thursday night.

"In my opinion, the county is growing tremendously," said John Dudley, chairman of a 10-member temporary planning commission that drafted the planning and zoning proposals.

The growth, he said, will result in more conflicts over land developments in rural areas.

The temporary planning commission, which had representation from all 10 of the county's townships, has drafted a master plan, subdivision and mobile-home-park regulations and proposed zoning regulations.

Dudley, who lives in the Burfordville area, said the proposed regulations aren't designed to hurt business but to protect property owner rights.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones echoed that view. "I don't think it is the intention of the planning commission to limit businesses in the county," he said.

Dudley said planning and zoning would give rural residents some protection from salvage yards, truck terminals and other developments that neighbors might find objectionable.

Voters throughout the county will decide at the polls Nov. 7 whether to approve county planning. If approved, the Cape Girardeau County Commission plans to implement planning and zoning in the unincorporated areas of the county. A simple majority is needed for passage.

The regulations won't apply to Cape Girardeau, Jackson and the other incorporated cities in the county.

About 60 people attended the meeting held in the Cape Girardeau County administrative building. The crowd included both supporters and opponents of planning and zoning.

Members of the temporary planning commission and the Cape Girardeau County Commission explained the planning and zoning proposals and took questions form the audience.

This was the second of six scheduled meetings on the ballot issue. The next meeting is slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau.

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-park regulations that had been adopted by the county commission in 1975. It also voided the county's master plan, which was used to guide development in unincorporated areas.

Opponents said they didn't want zoning then, and they don't want it now.

One of those opponents is Janet Masters. "We have always learned to live together," she said.

She said there is a salvage yard within a mile of her farm. "I have a mobile home within a mile of me." But Masters said that didn't bother her.

"Neighbors help neighbors," she said. "I see no reason for these kinds of regulations."

COPIES AVIALABLE

* Cape Girardeau County residents may obtain copies of the proposed planning and zoning regulations from the county mapping office. The office is in the county administrative building in Jackson.

* The cost is $5 each for the proposed master plan, the subdivision and mobile-home-park regulations, and the zoning regulations, or $10 for all three.

* Contact the mapping office at 243-3123.