Politics & Government

More Residents Must Voice Opinion on Comprehensive Plan

The City of Arnold needs residents' suggestions about the city's future.

City planners and zoning specialists want more residents to voice their opinions about how to develop Arnold.

Residents may misunderstand the purpose of the public meetings about the Comprehensive Plan, said Arnold Planning Commissioner Jeff Fitter during a planning and zoning commission meeting in January.

The Comprehensive Plan is not a collection of laws, ordinances and regulations, said Mary Holden, the city’s community development director. The plan is a collection of the residents’ expectations and suggestions for improving the city and preparing it for the next 10 or 20 years.

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This is a chance for people to tell the city officials what they want in Arnold and how to develop the city, Fitter said. City officials are asking for residents’ opinions at the meeting instead of issuing a government decision to the public.

At the meeting, residents could say they want Arnold to become more pedestrian-friendly, they want more energy-efficient buildings or more parks and recreations areas, other commissioners said.

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The current Comprehensive Plan was written in 1996 and is based on a plan from the 1970s, Holden said.

“Some of the ideas in the plan are outdated,” Holden said.

Changes to the city’s population, new business expectations and new technologies are needed to revise the city’s comprehensive plan, Holden said.

What kind of industries should be in Arnold, where should they be located, and where they should not be located are among the questions city planners need residents to answer, Holden said.

Trees and grass cover about 49 percent of the city. “What do the residents, the city stock holders, want us to do with that land?”  he said.

Holden asked if that land should be left untouched, used to create new parks and recreation areas or developed to attract new business into Arnold.

Holden said she would like all 20,000 residents to voice their opinions on developing Arnold.

“But I understand that people have busy lives. They drive their kids to sports practice or music lessons, they are pressed to make dinner for their families,” Holden said.

Holden said she would knock on every door or call residents, if she could, to learn their opinion.

Residents can voice their opinions and suggestions at the Comprehensive Plan meeting at the Arnold Recreation Center, at 1695 Missouri State Road, on March 28 and 29.  Residents can also submit their opinions at the City of Arnold website.


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