Oktibbeha County supervisors appear willing to discuss the development of a zoning ordinance for areas outside of municipalities.
Supervisors on Monday tabled a letter of agreement for planning and consulting services with the Oxford-based firm Slaughter and Associates, the same group that handled the county’s comprehensive planning efforts, since District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery was absent from the meeting.
The agreement with Slaughter, if approved, would develop a zoning ordinance and zoning map to help implement various elements of the comprehensive plan.
Public hearings would be scheduled if the board enters into the agreement to help guide the process, however the final say of what goes into the code would be up to supervisors.
For its services, Slaughter and Associates would receive an estimated $10,000-$15,000.
Firm leader Mike Slaughter told supervisors a zoning ordinance would protect land owners’ property values, attract quality investors for future developments, avoid undue population clusters and minimize traffic congestion.
“We can accept the kind of community we get, or we can start getting the kind of community we want,” Slaughter said during his presentation to supervisors Monday. “Without (it), you’re getting the kind of community (you have) just by chance. I like to look at is as a zoning ordinance doesn’t tell me what I can or can’t do with my property from a development standpoint; it’s my neighbor, because if you invest in your property, whether you’re an industry or a homeowner, and someone comes in next door to you and puts an incompatible land use in there, it’s going to impact the use of your property, as well as potentially the value of it.”
A zoning ordinance would bring about the legal regulation of land uses on particular properties, classifying them as one or blends of varying densities of residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural uses.
While the county’s future land use map identifies aims to identify parcels’ future highest and best uses, Slaughter said, the county’s comprehensive plan does not control those land uses.
Currently, Oktibbeha County has no building codes or zoning rules on its books.
In the past, District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery and former District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson said they would oppose controlling land use, although Montgomery, a Starkville firefighter, said he was amiable to conversations about requiring sprinkler systems in large apartment complexes.
While District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer previously said he would support certain growth controls, District 4 Supervisor Marvell Howard, who is routinely seen as a swing vote on many pressing issues, expressed apprehension about a zoning ordinance before last year’s countywide election.
After November, Jackson was replaced by District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller. On Monday, Howard said he would back limited controls.
“At some point, we need some sort of zoning. We have to figure out how far we want it to go,” Howard said. “I don’t see it at the point (of implementing boards similar to the Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission). I just think we need to develop something that’ll work for Oktibbeha County and not be too cumbersome.”
Miller said land owners should have a say about the impact of zoning requirements before the county takes up a contract with Slaughter, as such rules can be seen as an “unreasonable intrusion on individual property rights and choices on how their land is used.
“Mr. Slaughter did a nice job sharing the benefits of zoning, but we must consider the property owners in our county,” she said. “It can also be seen as a limitation of opportunities for property owners to gain full economic advantages from their property.”
While preparing Starkville’s own comprehensive plan, city aldermen expressed concern over the county’s lack of development rules, saying areas ripe for future annexations near Mississippi State University pose significant risks because of the lack of guidelines.
Starkville could inherit headaches with low-quality infrastructure, traffic congestion and substandard building construction if the city ever took over areas along Blackjack, Oktoc and Poor House roads, said Ward 3 Alderman David Little and Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard last month.
Supervisors dismissed the possibility of developing stringent land-use policies as Slaughter developed its comprehensive plan in 2014 and officials entered last year’s countywide election cycle.
Board members briefly discussed the possibility of implementing building codes after a deck collapse at a Highlands Plantation apartment in 2014, but those talks were put on the backburner as supervisors approached re-election campaigns.
The county last contracted with Slaughter and Associates to develop subdivision regulations, but four supervisors voted last month to scrap its $4,000, 65-page plan and tasked County Engineer Clyde Pritchard with producing a two- or three-page document with fewer rules and restrictions for single-family home builders.
Supervisors have yet to take up a final draft of Pritchard’s plan, and few details are known about the contents of its early drafts.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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