P&Z VOTE DELAYED TO NOVEMBER

JACKSON -- A countywide planning and zoning issue won't be on the April 4 ballot.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission decided Monday to withdraw the issue and put it on the November election ballot.

"A general election vote will provide a much greater voter turnout, and this should produce a result more representative of the wishes of the people on the issue of planning and zoning," the commissioners said in a written statement.

It is estimated only 12,000 voters may go to the polls in the April municipal and school board election compared to 30,000 in the November presidential election, officials said.

The delay also will allow time to educate the voters on the issue and provide more opportunity for concerned county residents to have input into the process, the commissioners said.

"The delayed vote will also make sure that all legal steps required for a first-class county are met before any planning and zoning procedures would be implemented," the County Commission said.

County Clerk Rodney Miller said the commission legally can't remove the ballot issue on its own. He said the county would ask a circuit court judge to remove the issue from the April ballot.

The April ballot measure would have asked voters to approve county planning and zoning. The November ballot issue will simply ask voters to approve planning.

Scott Lipke, assistant prosecuting attorney, researched the legal requirements.

Lipke said the county could have asked voters to approve planning and zoning under a state law that applies to first-, second-, third- and fourth-class counties. Under those provisions, voters, in effect, would have authorized planning and zoning regulations through voter approval of the ballot issue, he said.

But the County Commission chose to follow the requirements of another state law that specifically applies to first-class, non-charter counties like Cape Girardeau. As a first-class, non-charter county, the County Commission has the authority to implement zoning once voters have approved countywide planning.

The county also isn't required to have a countywide master plan in place before putting the planning issue to a vote. But the commissioners said the proposed master plan, subdivision and mobile-home-park regulations as well as zoning provisions would be spelled out to voters in advance of the November election.

A temporary planning commission already has drafted a proposed plan and regulations. The temporary board had asked that the planning and zoning issue be placed on the April ballot. The County Commission voted three weeks ago to put the issue on the ballot. But the County Commission decided it would be best to delay the vote until November.

The work of the temporary planning commission isn't being ignored. "We fully intend to present what has been worked on for the past three years," said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones.

The County Commission appointed the temporary planning commission in 1996 to draw up a new blueprint for countywide planning and zoning. At the time the county had second-class status.

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 master plan, as well as subdivision and mobile-home regulations that had been adopted over the years.

As a result of Monday's action, the County Commission canceled a series of public hearings on planning and zoning that had been scheduled for February and March.

The commission said several public meetings will be held later this year in advance of the November election.

Roger Arnzen, who directs the county's mapping and appraisal office, said the commission is talking about holding three to five hearings. The hearings likely will be held in August and September, he said.

If voters approve countywide planning in November, it would likely be next year before the County Commission would be ready to implement zoning, Arnzen said.

A simple majority is needed to approve countywide planning.

Planning and zoning regulations would apply only to unincorporated areas of the county, but voters in both the incorporated and unincorporated areas would get to vote in the November election.

If voters approve county planning, the temporary planning commission would disband. The County Commission would appoint a new planning board. The new board would include a county commissioner and the county's highway engineer. The other six members would be residents who live in unincorporated areas of the county.

The County Commission would then hold a hearing on the proposed master plan and the subdivision and mobile-home regulations. The County Commission could then approve the master plan and development regulations.

The planning board would be in a position then to recommend zoning regulations for the county, Arnzen said.

Under state law, a hearing would be held in each of Cape Girardeau County's 10 townships. After that, the County Commission could vote to adopt zoning regulations.