Oktibbeha County supervisors will wait at least a month before taking action on their long-awaited and often-delayed comprehensive plan in an effort to yield more public discussion on the matter.
The board heard an update on the document Monday from Mike Slaughter, of the Oxford-based Slaughter and Associates, who said the guiding document for future growth is completely written, but supervisors tabled its passage, instead opting to publish it for county constituents in order to draw more feedback.
Officials will place an electronic version of the plan on the county’s website — www.oktibbehacountyms.org — and provide hard copies of the document at the county’s administrative home within the Oktibbeha County Courthouse Annex.
With projected population and retail growth looming, supervisors began a process to develop a comprehensive plan in 2007. The county originally contracted for such services with the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District, but logistical issues moved that responsibility to Slaughter and Associates after GTPDD workers finished mapping the county in preparation for a transition to a new addressing system.
A draft of the document includes calls for the county to pave all of its gravel roads, upgrade its jail capacity and construct a public storm shelter for times of emergencies. It also sets various land uses for all of Oktibbeha County’s outlying property, but it does not implement a zoning ordinance.
Roy Carpenter, the one public speaker that weighed in on the document’s status Monday, said he was disappointed in the fact that supervisors would not consider setting stringent land control rules or building codes.
Slaughter’s plan would serve as guideposts for a zoning ordinance, but supervisors are not expected to push the issue after the document’s completion. During the planning process, a majority of the five-person board has spoken out against such new laws.
“All the time, I see how people get agitated about zoning issues in the city,” said District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson in reference to Starkville Planning and Zoning meetings. “I’m sorry you’re disappointed, but we can’t please everyone.”
Slaughter advocated for such controls if supervisors are serious about controlling future land uses in Oktibbeha County.
“There’s a better way to think about it than, ‘People live in the county because they don’t want to be told what they can do with their land.’ (Without true land-control policies), their neighbors can do whatever they want to, and they can’t stop them,” Slaughter said after his presentation. “Any public entity, whether that is a city or county, that wants to control land uses in Mississippi can only do so by adopting a zoning ordinance. A comprehensive plan is just a guide, but it is a basis for zoning required by state legislation. There are no teeth or legal enforcement associated with just a comprehensive plan.”
In other business, supervisors agreed to allocate a $5,000 donation to the Mayor’s Youth Council for its work in the community. The county will give the money to the community outreach group once it is determined how to formally donate the funding stream.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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