NAUVOO, Ill. -- Survey results released last week may have given the Nauvoo Planning Commission new support for a once unthinkable idea -- zoning.
Completion of a land-use plan is first on the to-do list given the commission after a forum that drew about 60 residents and officials. "Important considerations will be the location of housing, business and recreational areas," says a report issued by the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, which tabulated and interpreted the data collected in October from some 300 Nauvoo households.Planning Commission members and volunteers distributed more than 300 surveys in October before LDS Church officials conducted groundbreaking ceremonies for the $30 million Nauvoo Temple. About 60 percent of the homes in Nauvoo Township, which includes the city and adjacent areas, completed surveys.
Of the five discussion groups formed to talk about the survey results, three expressed support for some type of land-use regulation. The City Council has shied away from the topic in the past. A 1997 discussion resulted in creation of a Planning Commission without the authority to enforce the land-use designations it was supposed to be making.
With the prospect of increased commercial development fueled by an increase in tourism on the horizon, however, residents are starting to talk favorably about controlling what goes where.
"Part of that could be some sort of zoning," said Planning Commission Chairman John Wanish. He said his group probably wouldn't be the one given authority to create zoning regulations and enforce them. That likely would fall to a separate group created by the City Council, he said. In addition to the comprehensive plan, the extension report also lists business development among the commission's priority tasks.
Most residents want to see a little growth, a lot less traffic and something done to protect existing residential areas, according to the survey. The results indicated 80 percent of residents want to see moderate or a little growth in their town, while 77 percent ranked streets and roads among Nauvoo's greatest needs.
Kathie Brown of the extension service said the majority of people believe an increase in Nauvoo's size will benefit the community, if it isn't too much of an increase.
The majority, 63 percent, want to see their city involved in economic development, and 86 percent said they'd like to see more jobs. Medical services were also listed as an important concern, with 53 percent saying they'd like to see government support for medical facilities. Housing was identified as a concern but trailed the other needs with just 38 percent listing it among the community's top three needs.
About two-thirds, 67 percent, said the community should take greater advantage of its Mississippi River location. Some 35 percent said the city should work with the Tri-State Port Authority to promote business development along the river.