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2021/05/31 - Mayor's Column: Why Do We Plan?

“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
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Within the next few weeks, we will roll out the 2040 Masterplan for the City of O’Fallon. Some people may ask why the City needs a Master plan. Why not just figure it out as we go?

There are several reasons why we believe it is a good idea to engage in long-range planning:

  • You want to have as much stability as possible with designations for different types of new developments.
  • You need to make sure that infrastructure is there to support growth and existing developments.
  • You want to have smart growth with residential and commercial developments because there are variables that come up with each new development.
  • When you have hundreds of new homes and millions of dollars of new commercial growth each year, you do not want things to happen by chance.  You need a general plan to work from.

I say this because we have just completed three years of growth that rank in the top ten in the 30+ years that the City has been keeping records of the new developments.

While some cities saw a decrease in residential construction, as well as population, O’Fallon was by far the leader in new home construction in Madison or St. Clair County. In fact, O’Fallon made up a significant portion all new home construction last year in St. Clair and Madison counties, combined.

Then, I looked at the growth during the first four months of this year and we are about 26% ahead of overall building permits compared to the same time last year and the year before. Currently we are over 35% ahead on new residential construction for the year.

With this said, we are developing our new plan for the Growth and Development of O’Fallon.  I plan on having a presentation of the New 2040 Master Plan at our next Town Hall meeting in August.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!