ZONING PROPOSAL DELIVERED

JACKSON - Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said the commission will carefully review a proposed zoning order recommended to it by the County Planning Commission.

"We really need to take some time to get educated about this," said Huckstep, who received the plan Thursday from Charles Engelhart, director of the planning commission.

By law, the planning commission had 90 days to prepare a final zoning order after completing public hearings. However, now that the document has been turned over to the county commission, there is no deadline for action.

In 1972, voters approved a move toward countywide planning and zoning, and the county commission can put the order into effect without a vote of the people.

But earlier this year, a group organized in the county to oppose the zoning plan and began circulating petitions calling for a November general election vote. Almost 1,300 signatures will be needed to get it on the ballot, and a number of petitions have already been submitted to County Clerk Rodney Miller for verification of signatures.

Huckstep and Engelhart concede the petition process will likely succeed and there will be an election on zoning this fall.

The commission unanimously accepted the zoning order last week, but took it under advisement.

Huckstep said there are a lot of misconceptions about county zoning and believes some of those who are opposed to zoning do not have all the facts or are not receiving complete information. For example, Huckstep said one county resident believed that a permit would be necessary before she could paint her house, something Huckstep said is not true.

"I'd like to take some time to look it over and see what all the alarms are about," said Huckstep. "Right now we are getting hit with a lot of emotions."

Engelhart pointed out that no major changes were made in the final draft of the zoning order from what was offered at the public hearings, however, "there was some fine tuning to try and clarify things."

He noted that the planning commission attempted to make wording clear in parts of the order that people had misunderstood.

"This is a very serious matter and something that is very important to Cape Girardeau County," said Engelhart.

Associate Commissioner Leonard Sander, who is the commission's representative on the planning board, said he is familiar with the order and encouraged Huckstep and Associate Commissioner E.C. Younghouse to take some time to read it over carefully.

Sander suggested that a meeting be scheduled later with J. Fred Waltz, attorney for the planning commission, and Engelhart to answer questions and review details of the plan.

Huckstep said it seemed like a good idea to him. "Mr. Waltz should be the authority on this, so we need to meet with him," said Huckstep.

The commissioners all agreed it is premature to say whether they might approve the zoning order before an election takes place. A favorable vote by the commission could put the order into effect immediately.

If the county approves the order, the current planning commission would be designated as the planning and zoning commission and the present board of adjustment would become the board of zoning adjustment.

The law requires the commission to appoint a zoning enforcement officer to oversee the order and issue building permits.

The Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission assisted in preparing the plan, along with a subcommittee made up of county residents and members of the planning commission.

Engelhart explained that the committee met 15 times before the public hearings were conducted to review and revise the regional planning document, and then met two more times after the hearings to respond to input from the public hearings.

"Some changes were made and some fine tuning was done," said Engelhart. "As was pointed out at each hearing, it would be a farce to present a proposal to the public and then completely change the order. This was not done, but every suggestion made at the hearing, as well as many comments made to committee or commission members or office staff, was considered."

Engelhart stressed that the plan can be revised as needed in the future.

"This is the culmination of nearly 20 years of work by many dedicated, community-minded people," he observed. "You can't find a more dedicated group of people anywhere than the County Planning Commission members.

"We are confident that when county residents get the correct and accurate information, they will accept it."