Could the new year end 22 months of debate over the Burleigh County Comprehensive plan?

The Burleigh County Commission intends to make final amendments and approve its final draft at 5 p.m. Jan. 5.

"We'll make some amendments and then we'll make a final decision. I can't predict what the outcome will be," said Commission Chair Jerry Woodcox.

"I have to find out if there is an electronic copy and if it is ours. If it is, we will make changes on that electronic copy after we make the formal amendments on the agenda."

Woodcox said minor wording changes were needed over the issue of placing developments adjacent to existing ones.

"I don't like the 160 acres line. I think we should keep the 40 acres," he said.

He said the draft plan refers to restricting single family homes to a minimum of 160 acres.

"If you buy 40 acres, you should be able to put a house on it," he said after the meeting.

Woodcox said the county's contract with the consulting firm SRF was being studied to determine if the county could simply change the plan on an electronic copy or if the city planning staff could carry the work. Burleigh County contracts its planning services with the city of Bismarck.

Commissioner Doug Schonert said it wasn't so simple.

"I think there are a lot of changes to be made," Schonert said at the meeting. "In the future, I think it depends on what happens with this four-mile extra-territorial jurisdiction to be coming before the legislature. There is going to be legislation introduced. If they were to pull this back and make it two miles and make it cooperative between the city and county, then the planning staff is going to be much more needed. … Maybe we need to pay them more or hire our own."

Commissioner Brian Bitner said making the changes in an electronic format would be more simple.

"Do we take our old plan and amend that or do we take things out of this plan? That is something we are going to have to look at," said Commissioner Jim Peluso. "If we take this plan as it is written, I think it is a no-growth plan completely. … I still look at the 40-acre thing. It bothers me that it is still in there. What, do I tell people who own 40 acres in Burleigh County that have the American dream of building a house on it that you can no longer do that?"

He said that cuts the land value in half.

"I think 40 acres is fine. We will eliminate that paragraph that refers to 160 acres," Wood cox said in the meeting.

"We need to make sure we maintain this flexibility with this plan as a board of commissioners," Peluso said. "We need to put out that whatever we put out is not the gospel. It's a living document."

"We may find when we look at our ordinances, we may look at this and find this is not what our intent was. We may change it then. That's what the purpose is," Woodcox said. "It is a guideline. It is a comprehensive plan."

Schonert said an attorney advised him that the changes would be difficult to make because certain references are in the draft several times.

"I don't believe this is a no-growth plan. I believe this is a pro-growth plan," said Commissioner Mark Armstrong. "If we can craft some kind of statement in the beginning with our vision statement … I think we will be pointed in the right direction."

Armstrong said all of the commissioners wanted growth and development.

"We also want to manage it in a proper way that is comfortable for people who have to provide services, who have to provide infrastructure in a way that protects taxpayers," Armstrong said.

Woodcox assured Peluso an item in a previous draft which limited structures near the bluff line by the river had been struck.

"I think we can take this existing plan, modify it and have a good working balance," Woodcox said.

Woodcox repeated the changes would be simple and would require little time from staff or the consultant.

"We'll be having a meeting and it will be pretty extensive," Woodcox said of the January session. "We'll just go down the list and say, 'What does anybody want to change?'"

(Reach reporter LeAnn Eckroth at 250-8264 or leann.eckroth@;bismarcktribune.com.)