Planning and Zoning Commission plays major role for the city

Sunday, August 3, 2003

SIKESTON - Municipalities don't plan to fail; they fail to plan - which is why the city's Planning and Zoning Commission is so important.

Sikeston's Planning and Zoning Commission was established on Jan. 20, 1958, according to Public Works Director Tom Bridger.

Since then, it has provided the Council with citizen input on a variety of issues.

"They do so much - they work with the city's Comprehensive Plan, they work on the street program, they make recommendations on solid waste contracts," said Linda Lowes, director of governmental services.

"Any type of zoning issue or street improvement goes through Planning and Zoning. Whatever recommendation they have then goes to the City Council," Bridger said. As it is only an advisory board, "Council can accept the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission as presented or Council reserves the legal right to reject or accept with modifications these recommendations."

The 11 voting positions on the commission consist of the mayor or the mayor's designee; another council member; the director of public works; and eight citizens appointed by the Council for four-year terms. Non-voting staff members include the City Counselor Charles Leible; and Wayne McSpadden representing the Board of Municipal Utilities. "It's a large board," said Bridger.

Presently serving from the City Council are Jerry Pullen and Sue Rogers; and citizen representatives are Jim Burden, Gary Ozment, Robert Jenkins III, Emory McCauley, Richard McGill, Larry Kellett, Matt Marshall and Scott Jenkins. Ozment, who presently serves as the commission's chairman, has been on the commission for three years.

"It's been very interesting to be a part of it and participate in how the city works and how our town is growing and to have inside knowledge of that," Ozment said of serving on the commission. "It gives some direction of how the city needs to grow and the commission has some influence on that. Of course, the Council has the final say because they're the elected officials."

The city's zoning categories include residential designations for multi-family buildings, duplexes, condominiums and single family homes as well as separate designations for mobile home parks and manufactured housing, Bridger said. Other zones are light and heavy industrial; agricultural; and C-1, C-2 and C-3 commercial zoning along with an office district zoning option.

Zoning is what ultimately determines the layout of the city. "They're looking at buffering," said Bridger. "We will not 'spot zone.'" He explained spot zoning is putting commercial or industrial zones in the middle of a residential area, for example. "For the most part those requests never make it to Planning and Zoning because I'll tell them we can't do it," Bridger said.

The single largest task the Planning and Zoning Commission works on each year is determining where the city's money for streets will be spent. "The street program is a pretty lengthy process they go through," Bridger said.

Planning and Zoning commissioners are first given a long list of streets with proposed overlay and reconstruction projects. Commissioners then take a tour of the streets before compiling a list of projects to present to the City Council. The process can take months, Bridger said.

While the annual street program is important, much of the commission's most important work is with "new subdivisions and making sure property values are protected," Ozment said. "We have to make sure the new subdivisions that are created do not interfere with what is already there."

Over the last few years, the Planning and Zoning Commission has seen a lot of subdivision requests, Bridger noted.

The Planning and Zoning Commission's regular meetings are held at city hall at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.

As with other city boards and commissions, those interested in serving on The Planning and Zoning Commission in the future should indicate their interest by filling out a Citizens Bank Resource application available online at www.sikeston.org or at City Hall. Board and commission members are required to be registered voters residing in the incorporated city limits.


This is the third in a series of articles on area government boards, commissions and committees.

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