Shawnee County Commission to be asked to give land use plan discussion one more week

The debate over a proposed comprehensive Shawnee County land use, which has lasted two years, may continue for one more week.

Commission chairman Kevin Cook had suggested Sept. 10 that commissioners would act on the plan for the county’s unincorporated areas when they meet Monday.

But Cook said Friday that county counselor Jim Crowl plans that day to share a series of recommendations for the commission to vote on, then ask commissioners to wait one more week before taking a final vote. The proposed 197-page 2038 Shawnee County Comprehensive Plan would guide decision-making about the physical development of the county’s unincorporated areas. It seeks to guide orderly growth that balances environmental values and reasonable development demand over the next 20 years.

Cook described the plan earlier this month as maintaining “a delicate balance between land use and land ownership” in the county’s unincorporated areas.′