QUESTION: SHOULD THERE BE COUNTY ZONING?

J. Fred Waltz is attorney for the Cape County Planning Commission.

The idea of comprehensive planning for the future of Cape Girardeau County is not a new concept. The Planning Commission has been in business for almost 20 years. Since its formation in 1973, the Planning Commission has adopted an official Master Plan, a Subdivision and Mobile Home Park Regulation, and a Minimum Set Back Line Ordinance. The purpose is to bring about the coordinated physical development of the unincorporated areas of the county.

Planning will not stop change. However, it is short-sided to think that all changes will be desirable ones. Planning seeks to accommodate change in the most orderly and rational manner possible. It provides a common ground for achieving an equitable balance between an individual's right to pursue his own goals and society's need to regulate its function.

It is a difficult job and offers no monetary compensation. The members of the Planning Commission who regularly attend meetings are dedicated, conscientious, and sincere in their efforts to formulate suitable land management goals. A great injustice is perpetrated when opponents of this regulation cast disparaging remarks about individual members of the Commission.

It is not my intent to discuss personalities. Certainly, we have endured enough mud slinging during this political year to last a lifetime. We must focus on the facts.

1. County Planninq and Zoninq is controlled by elected officials. The state legislature gave the power to regulate the division of land and zoning only to elected bodies. The enabling statute requires the County Commission to adopt or amend all ordinances. The Planning Commission's authority is limited to making recommendations.

For example, the County Commission has the exclusive authority to adopt zoning in the form recommended, or to modify it as they see fit. We are currently at this stage of the procedure with the zoning order. The Planning Commission has made its recommendations. The County Commission has declared its intent to adopt the proposed order. Both bodies acted responsibly throughout the entire process. The mechanics of adoption are governed by the rule of law. No one can unilaterally change the process to meet some unspecified private agenda.

2. The Office of County Administrator is not an elected position by law. Again, the state legislature passed the enabling statute. The County Commission appoints an enforcement officer. The idea that the position should be held out as a popularity contest runs contrary to good common sense under our system of government.

The legislature intended the administrator to be free from political pressure. No matter how well written a regulation may appear, its ultimate success will depend upon proper administration.

3. The Planning Commission does not have authority to regulate farming activities. The enabling statute exempts "land used or to be used for the raising of crops, pastures, orchards, and forestry with respect to the erection, maintenance, repair, alteration, or extension of farm buildings or farm structures."

The continuation of county planning and zoning will not affect the farmer.

4. The Planning Commission will not have authority to regulate pre-existinq uses under the proposed zoning order. The primary purpose of zoning is to protect existing development. The secondary purpose being to guide new development where it will not be incompatible with pre-existing uses. The term "grandfathered" is often used to describe the process of protecting existing uses.

The intent of the Planning Commission is to strike a balance between the legitimate powers of government in controlling land use with the rights of the private sector. There has never existed the absolute power to do whatever you want on your own property. Your rights cease to exist when they infringe upon your neighbor's rights. Zoning gives the residents of an neighborhood the opportunity to know if a potentially incompatible use is being planned prior to construction.

The county needs the tools necessary to guide future growth. The minute book of the Planning Commission is filled with examples of citizens seeking a remedy between land use control and development rights. My personal experience of over 18 years in attending meetings leads me to conclude that the people desire a remedy against commercial activities in residential subdivisions, junk yards, billboards, land fills, and numerous other uses which may be inappropriate for a given area.

The County can provide protection to its residents from undesirable land uses. I urge you to vote to continue the existence of county planning and zoning.