LETTERS: P&Z PLAN OFFERS GOOD PROTECTION FROM INTRUSIONS

To the editor:

During recent weeks, the Cape Girardeau County Commissioner, accompanied by members of the temporary county planning commission, held a series of public meetings on the proposed planning and zoning guidelines for the county. During these sessions, opponents packed the meetings in an attempt to monopolize debate and gain public attention for their position.

I moved to unincorporated Cape Girardeau County from Cape Girardeau in the mid-1980s to enjoy the peace and tranquility that the forests of eastern Missouri provide. Where I first lived, the tranquility I sought was disturbed by the encroachment of urban and commercial development.

I am a county resident who strongly supports the principles identified in the proposed master plan and the suggested zoning and subdivision regulations.

I agree with the assessment that planning and zoning serves to protect the property and peace of county residents from the unexpected invasion into the neighborhood of unwanted activities for which the region is not zoned. It can serve to protect county residents from unwanted intrusions into their neighborhoods.

Planning and zoning is an issue that enjoys the broad support of residents from throughout the political spectrum. I hope that county and city residents will recognize when they cast their ballots that planning and zoning will serve much more to protect their property rights than to infringe upon them.

ALAN JOURNET

Cape Girardeau