COUNTY TRASH LAW DEMANDS SOME THOUGHT

The Cape Girardeau County Commission is continuing its efforts to come up with an ordinance that would make it unlawful to dump trash or leave junk cars and machinery and other rubbish lying around in the county.

The commission a year ago decided to have the prosecuting attorney's office draft a nuisance abatement ordinance, but it went to the back burner most of last year.

Probably the main reason the effort didn't move forward was because the commission turned most of its attention toward last year's countywide planning and zoning proposal. The commission put a lot of time and effort into coming up with a planning and zoning ordinance and held public hearings around the county on the proposal only to have it defeated at the polls in November.

Since the first of the year the commission has turned its attention once again to the nuisance abatement ordinance, which would apply only to unincorporated areas of the county. But it is having problems defining how restrictive such a measure should be.

The prosecutor's office drafted a proposed ordinance that would make it a class A misdemeanor for a landowner or renter to knowingly keep or allow an accumulation of garbage, refuse or rubbish.

Under the measure, the commission could order the county nuisance abatement officer, the sheriff's department or the county health department to give written notice to a violator to address the problem.

The violator would have from 10 to 60 days to correct the situation. Failure to meet the deadline could result in prosecution and conviction in a jail sentence of up to one year or a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

But last week the commission expressed concern that the draft proposal might be too restrictive. The commission is interested in regulating trash heaps that might pose a threat to human health and safety, which would be near public roads and near inhabited properties. Commissioner Larry Bock observed, "If no one is living close by, it's not a dangerous situation."

So the commission has asked that revisions be made in the draft ordinance. It then plans to hold public hearings before considering its adoption.

Rural residents have made it clear they don't want the government regulating the use of their properties, and the commission should keep that in mind in coming up with a nuisance abatement ordinance that does what it should without unnecessary restrictions.