Section 6.7 City or Master Plan—Statutory Authority

• Library: Local Government Deskbook (2017 Ed.)

A. (§6.7) City or Master Plan—Statutory Authority

“Planning” and “zoning” are closely related but separate concepts. “Planning” has been defined as a study, followed by the development of policy determinations and the establishment of guiding principles for the systematic development of a community. “Zoning,” on the other hand, is the implementation of those determinations and principles chiefly through regulation of uses within designated districts. 1 Patricia E. Salkin, American Law of Zoning §§ 1:4 et seq. and 1:17 et seq. (5^th ed. 2017). In short, planning is the system; zoning is the implementation.

In Missouri the planning power is defined in §§ 89.300 et seq., RSMo 2016, for cities and §§ 64.010 et seq., RSMo 2016, for counties. These statutes generally set forth the procedures for adoption of a “city plan” or a “master plan” by a planning commission established for that purpose. The plan is intended to include both descriptive material and maps and to set...