Two of three county commissioners say they're against Cape Girardeau peripheral zoning request

Two out of three Cape Girardeau County commissioners said Monday they do not support the city of Cape Girardeau's request for peripheral zoning.

About 200 people gathered at the East County Fire Station for the meeting organized by peripheral zoning opponent Jim Goggin.

Commissioner Paul Koeper said while he was not in favor of the request, he was interested in learning more about countywide subdivision regulations being proposed by a joint Cape Girardeau-Jackson committee. That brought a chorus of boos, and some crowd members told Koeper that subdivisions are the cities' problem, not the county's.

Jay Purcell, who represents the city on county commission, said he did not support peripheral zoning or subdivision regulations. He said there are risks living in the county and most people take the chance for the freedom that country living brings.

During the meeting there were questions, accusations and tears and only one visible supporter of peripheral zoning, Cape Girardeau City Council member Mark Lanzotti. Crowd members asked Lanzotti, who left a council meeting early to attend, why the city requested the Cape Girardeau County Commission grant the city a peripheral zoning area, which would extend two miles from the city limits.

"We had developments on our periphery that were annexed in with substandard features and that cost the city a lot of money. This protects areas along the periphery," he said.

In response to an audience question, Lanzotti said the city is not required to grant annexation requests.

Rick Vines, who lives along County Road 640 in the affected area, said if the city has the right to refuse annexation, then it is the city's problem when those annexations cost money.

"It seems this could be handled without dragging this community into this," Vines said.

Another complaint among the crowd was the idea that peripheral zoning amounts to legislation without representation. Lanzotti said he would not be opposed to the peripheral zone having one to three representatives on the city's planning and zoning board.

Lanzotti also told the crowd peripheral zoning would not raise taxes in the area or alter school districts for children.

He said the council sent the proposal to the commission as a way to open a dialogue with county residents. He said he knows the request is not perfect and would like to talk about changes particularly in the area of setbacks, home occupations and nuisances.

The county commission will have a public hearing on peripheral zoning at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Osage Community Centre. Representatives from the city will make a formal presentation and answer questions.

cbartholomew@semissourian.com

243-8600

Pertinent Addresses:

4564 County Road 621, Cape Girardeau, MO

1625 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO