P&Z Board at Crossroads

With three vacancies on the five person board, the Grove Planning & Zoning Board will undergo some changes in the coming weeks.
Jim Weeks, Chairman, has resigned for health reasons after many years of service; Jamie Zellow has resigned for personal reasons, and a previous resignation by Dr. Bryan Sheehan has caused a vacancy for several months.
The board set up a committee of citizens from all walks of life which has been working on zoning regulations and standards of design for eight months, meeting most Monday evenings.
It has addressed the issue of metal buildings and has been spent weeks on overhauling the signage code. The metal building issue--calling for a brick type facing on three sides--was approved for commercial structures by the City Council; the residential code was modified. The committee's signage code recommendations will make their way to the full P&Z Board Sept. 13 and to the Council Sept. 20.
City Manager Bill Galletly, who wrote a paper in December 2003 outlining a Master Plan and asking for input, said the new signage codes are especially important for the Highway 59 widening project.
"New businesses will be able to get new signage at no cost, as this will be paid by the State, so this is a great opportunity to upgrade" he said. Existing businesses will be grandfathered. "This is the perfect time for this community to adopt new standards without any costs to local businesses," he said.
"When the existing billboards in the right of way come down on highway 59 for the widening project, they will not be replaced," he said, adding that "we are on the verge of setting a course to the future that everyone will be proud of."
Three or four individuals have applied to Mayor Nuckolls for appointment to the P&Z Board, with the decision being made by City Council. The deadline for submitting applications is Friday at noon.