Planning and Zoning Commission recommends 'Visualize Jefferson County' master plan to County Council

The Planning and Zoning Commission of Jefferson County voted 5-3 on May 15, 2025, to recommend adoption of the Visualize Jefferson County master plan to the Jefferson County Council, forwarding Resolution 5-15-2025 A with the commission's report and recommendation.

The plan, prepared by consultant House Levine, is a countywide policy document that lays out a vision, guiding principles and recommendations for land use, housing, transportation, community facilities, natural resources and implementation. Josh Kuntz, planning practice lead for House Levine, said the document is “a foundation for decision making” and described it as a policy guide with many “should” statements rather than regulatory “shall” language.

The draft plan reflects more than three years of work that began March 18, 2022. Consultants and staff told the commission the process used roughly $300,000 in consultant funding and included three community visioning workshops, two open houses, four advisory panel meetings, a dozen-plus stakeholder meetings and more than 600 individual engagement points (surveys and online input). The document contains about 11 core sections, a growth framework map that planners called a policy map (not zoning), and an implementation chapter that pairs recommendations with time frames and likely partners.

Commission discussion at the meeting emphasized that the master plan is advisory and that any regulatory changes must come later through the county's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and through individual rezoning or development applications. Staff and consultants repeatedly noted the distinction: the master plan sets policy direction and priorities; rezoning or other regulatory changes would be handled case by case. A county staff member said planners will use the growth framework to guide review of future proposals and expect to push back where proposals conflict with the framework.

Formal action came at the end of the session when Commissioner Sprawl moved to approve Resolution 5-15-2025 A; Commissioner Sparks seconded. Roll call recorded five yes votes (Commissioners Teichel, Ishman, Sparks, Sprawl and Minister) and three no votes (Commissioners Seager, Scherer and Husky). The commission’s motion was adopted and the resolution will be sent to the County Council with the commission’s recommendation for approval.

House Levine emphasized that the plan’s implementation chapter is intended to be a practical tool: an implementation matrix that distills the plan’s recommendations into actions, priorities, time frames and potential partners so that elected officials and staff can align capital improvements and short-term budgeting with plan goals. Consultants and staff also highlighted planned next steps: final revisions with staff, submission to County Council, and a subsequent UDO rewrite to translate policy into regulatory language.

Concerns raised during the meeting covered infrastructure (sewer and water capacity along major corridors such as Highway 30 and Routes 55 and 67), public-safety and courthouse facility issues, broadband expansion in rural areas and how the plan’s growth framework would be used in development review. Consultants recommended continued coordination with state agencies — including MoDOT for state routes — and pursuing state and federal grants for broadband and other capital projects.

The commission’s recommendation now moves the Visualize Jefferson County master plan into the County Council process, where public hearings and council deliberations will determine whether the plan is formally adopted. The county’s staff signaled that, if Council adopts the plan, a UDO update and programmatic implementation work will follow to put the plan’s policy recommendations into regulatory and budgetary effect.