Subdivision committee wants wider involvement from Cape Girardeau County residents

The Jackson-Cape Girardeau Joint Subdivision Advisory Committee will ask the Cape Girardeau County Commission to identify county residents who would be willing to join the committee's effort.

The committee is scheduled to make a presentation on its proposed subdivision regulations to the county at 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Committee member Ken Eftink said representatives from both cities started the process and developed the proposals, but as the committee begins working with county municipalities, civic groups and developers, it is important that county residents begin playing a larger role.

"We want to be able to turn it over and let them take the lead," he said at the committee's meeting Wednesday. Current committee members would continue working with the group toward getting the regulations adopted.

Committee chairwoman Mary Miller said the group will ask commissioners for 90 days to inform county residents of the proposed subdivision regulations before deciding whether to put the issue on the November ballot. If the commission decides to put the matter before the voters, the advisory group would continue meeting with county residents to answer questions and explain the regulations.

In addition to a packet of handouts for commissioners, the group is preparing a slide show with photographs of county subdivisions that have cost Cape Girardeau, Jackson and property owners money. The pictures show crumbling, narrow roads and other problems that affect property owners and those around the subdivision.

One photograph shows a subdivision Jackson annexed in the 1990s. Committee member Janet Sanders said it had a failing sewer system. Repairs cost about $900,000, half of which was paid for by Jackson taxpayers, half by the subdivision's property owners.

She said an unannexed subdivision west of Jackson has problems with its sewer system, too, and repairs often cost property owners thousands of dollars.

While many people say the property owner should be aware of what the developer is doing, committee member Charlie Haubold said, often the second or third owner of a house is not informed of past problems.

"They don't always receive all of the information or the right information," he said.

If commissioners approve the plan, voters would be asked to authorize the creation of a county planning commission to enforce the regulations. The planning commission, appointed by county commissioners, would be required to have public hearings on any regulations before adopting them.

cbartholomew@semissourian.com

243-8600

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1625 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO

1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO