Greene County pursues Smart Growth program

by Jan K. Allen

SBJ Contributing Writer

Greene County officials are gearing up to propose and implement the new voluntary Smart Growth plan that is hoped to carry the county into the 21st century as an innovator in conservation practices and an example to other Missouri regions.

According to Greene County Presiding Commissioner Dave Coonrod, the county is among the top 10 in Missouri beef, hay and dairy production.

Leaders in the county want to preserve that standing.

"It is incumbent upon people in government to allow for that to continue and still make provisions for growth," Coonrod said.

Coonrod said the county's approach to development has, for a long time, been a conservation approach.

It is important to keep some open space protected and agricultural areas preserved, he said.

Somewhere in the process, officials have to find a way to balance the property owner's right to find the best use for the land and also preserve a certain amount of undeveloped land for the benefit of both current and future generations, Coonrod said.

The sustainable growth issue has been on the scene for a number of years, Coonrod said, and both county and city officials have worked toward the care and preservation of this area's natural resources.

Urban sprawl has not been the problem here that it has in some other areas of the country, and local officials want to keep it that way, he said.

Regulation is not a good way to approach the issue, according to Loring Bullard, director of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks.

Bullard went on to say the county needs to create a standard and make people want to do it, rather than forcing them to comply.

The approach the county is now considering will offer incentives to developers or individual property owners who need to convert some of their real estate assets into cash.

"We're not trying to eliminate the 5-acre tracts