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Organization of Sedalia's future begins
Sedalia residents and county officials are making an attempt to get more control over development in a community that sprang from development.
The rural town grew up around a hub of a railway shipping port. It was established in 1882 to serve five railroads.
By By: Kiersten J. Mayer
Sedalia residents and county officials are making an attempt to get more control over development in a community that sprang from development.
The rural town grew up around a hub of a railway shipping port. It was established in 1882 to serve five railroads.
Members of an overlay district committee will decide the future of downtown Sedalia, a 20-year vision for the town's historic area and for the larger community and create a mixed-use overlay district to include both.
Douglas County officials will establish a committee to create a vision, a financial plan and develop land-use regulations including a sign code, parking traffic and design standards. Douglas County's economic development staff will help with the process and the goal is to have the vision and land-use plans complete within a year.
There are an estimated 160 people who live within the proposed overlay district boundaries, said Robert Barton, Douglas County community development economic / demographic administrator.
A zoning overlay district identifies an area with specific characteristics and sets standards and uses, said Betty Allen, Douglas County community development assistant director. For example, Douglas County has floodplain, wildfire and the Centennial airport overlay districts. Overlay districts are part of the zoning resolution, and proposals to create new ones must be heard by the planning and the board of county commissioners to allow for public input, she said.
Douglas County's economic development and planning staff will be support and assist committee members in their vision, hire a consultant who has experience in developing vision statements to bring an independent viewpoint, said Meme Martin, Douglas County economic development director.
Overlay district allows for pockets of mixed use, which is really the trend today in zoning and economic development, she said.
It's similar to a planned development only in this case there's no master developer. The county is working with the community to put the overlay district in place. Potential uses within the zoning will be identified based on what the community wants, she said.
"Essentially, [the committee] is a group of people representing the community and making recommendations to the Douglas County commissioners on what they want within the district," she said.
Members of the committee will include residents of Sedalia and representatives from the Sedalia Water and Sanitation Department, the Jackson 105 Fire District, the Douglas Board of County Commissioners, the Intermountain Rural Electric Association and the Sedalia Landfill.
A resolution establishing the Sedalia Overlay District Study Committee is scheduled to be heard by the Douglas Board of County Commissioners this month.
Contact Kiersten J. Mayer at 303-663-7174 or kmayer@ccnewspapers.com.
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