P&Z panel adopts Maryville development plan

The Planning and Zoning Commission has signed off on a long-range comprehensive growth and development plan for the city of Maryville.

Two years in the making, the plan was unanimously approved Wednesday following an earlier endorsement by the Maryville City Council.

The blueprint embraces a wide scope of suggested strategies for development inside the Maryville city limits and will likely remain in force − though it can be amended − over the next 15 or 20 years.

The city hired RDG Planning & Design at a cost of $70,000 to assist in drafting the plan, which the council recommended for adoption after months of surveys, research and public meetings.

Normally, the council ratifies Planning and Zoning recommendations and not the other way around. But in this case, as required by state law, the process was reversed.

The same statute allowed Mayor Glenn Jonagan and Council Member Jim Fall to join the commission for purposes of the vote. However, neither councilman attended Wednesday's meeting.

City Manager Greg McDanel said now that the plan is approved, the city is encouraging citizens, business owners and developers to review the document, which is available on the city of Maryville website (www.maryville.org/compplan) or at City Hall.

“First and foremost, it is our duty to take their views into consideration,” McDanel said.

The council will likely begin talking about how to implement the plan sometime in January.

"I anticipate that the council will have many more meetings with Planning and Zoning to discuss specifics," McDanel said. "They will probably also put committees in place for individual projects."

One component of the comprehensive plan is already moving forward: a proposed new streetscape along Fourth Street between downtown and Northwest Missouri State University.

RDG's Amy Haase said earlier this month that it is unlikely the central business district will ever again be Maryville's central retail hub. However, a stronger connection between the courthouse square and the Northwest campus is one of the plan's central elements.

Other features of the blueprint include improved traffic flow and pedestrian access along South Main, new south-end parks and more mid-priced housing.

McDanel said that as the plan is implemented, it is likely the council will change some existing codes and land-use policies in order to encourage managed growth.