The process of creating an updated Monroe County comprehensive plan continued last Wednesday night during a steering committee meeting. 

Members of several county entities, including the Monroe County Planning Commission and Board of Appeals were on hand to lay the groundwork to establish a vision for county development for the next two decades.

Monroe County Commissioner Dennis Knobloch explained that having members of the county’s review boards on the steering committee would streamline the process by eliminating the need for further review by the respective boards.

Earlier this month, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners approved a revised zoning code as a pre-requisite for any potential changes in development priorities discovered during the data-gathering process.

The current comprehensive plan has not been updated since 1994, although supplemental revisions were implemented in the early 2010s.

Knobloch noted the need for further revision became evident in 2021 during discussion of a proposed expansion of Stumpy’s Spirits Distillery to be built near the intersection of Route 3 and Hanover Road south of Columbia.

At the time, several business interests and members of the community who opposed the expansion said the Stumpy’s proposal did not align with the county’s current comprehensive plan – specifically in regard to traffic concerns and a request to rezone the property classification from A-2 agricultural land to B-2 highway business.   

The Stumpy’s expansion was eventually approved, and a groundbreaking ceremony on that project took place Monday.

Much of last week’s meeting involved a review of the plans from 1994 and 2010 amendments.

Linda Tragesser, regional planner with the Southwestern Illinois Regional Planning Commission, began the meeting by reviewing progress on a resident opinion survey currently underway.

Monroe County citizens are encouraged to access the survey at surveymonkey.com/r/JLVGMBY or the Monroe County website, monroecountyil.gov, through the end of June.

As of last Wednesday, 228 residents had submitted responses to the survey, which asks for opinions on potential development as well as basic demographic information.

The steering committee then conducted an analysis of the county’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 

Topics discussed included flood plain goals and objectives, average age of residents and senior housing options, health care, drugs, crime, transportation, land use and economic development opportunities.

One member of the committee stated the Monroe County economy is not driven by agriculture anymore despite a majority of land used for farming purposes. 

The committee then discussed keeping income in Monroe County.

One member said the county experienced “leakage” of residents’ money being spent at larger retail and box-store outlets at neighboring counties in both Illinois and Missouri.

The committee also discussed the benefits of a proposed four-lane corridor  to Murphysboro through Monroe and Randolph counties.

While the next steering committee meeting was discussed, no date was set in order to avoid potential scheduling conflicts with other commission meetings.

Once the steering committee has finalized recommendations for change, Tragesser will submit the suggestions for review and then bring the plan back to the steering committee for further discussion and revision before eventual adoption.

The comprehensive plan process is expected to be completed sometime next summer.