County Comprehensive Plan adopted

At their March 23 meeting, the Morgan County Commission unanimously voted to adopt the revised edition of the Morgan County Compre-hensive Plan. The County Commission held a public

hearing on the County Comprehensive Plan on Tues-day, March 13

County Planner Alma Gorse prepared an ordinance to adopt the plan, as other counties have done, said County Commis-sioner Glen Stotler.

County Commissioner Tommy Swaim made the motion to approve the Comprehensive Plan, which he noted was an updated version of the original plan that was put into place in 1978 and updated in 1985. The County Compre-hensive Plan is supposed to be updated every 10 years, he said. Zoning has always been an option under the plan, he said.

Swaim acknowledged that there were things in the plan that bothered him. Approving the Comprehensive Plan was something that needed to be done for funding and so the county can continue to operate, said Swaim. Some two years of hard work went into creating the Comprehensive Plan, he noted.

County Commissioner Brenda Hutchinson seconded the motion for approval. Despite hearing complaints of generalization and that the plan was starting us down the road to zoning, Hutchinson felt that the County Comprehensive Plan was absolutely needed to proceed with anything in the county.

Commissioner Stotler noted that it's just a plan that has to be in place so the county can move forward with planning.

"We need it as a tool," said Stotler.