The Boone County Commission adopted a new master plan for the county during its meeting Thursday.
The new master plan is a "land-use policy document to help guide the commission and resource management on land use decisions for planning and zoning," said Kip Kendrick, the Boone County presiding commissioner.
The plan projects that Boone County will need to add at least 30,000 new housing units in the next 20 years, if not more.
"We need probably minimum 30,000 new housing units, maybe upwards of 40,000 new housing units by 2045 across the county," Kendrick said.
The new master plan will replace the previous version that was adopted in 1996.
The Discovery Document said the Boone County population grew by 34% between 2000 and 2021.
According to a news release from the commission, the Boone County government began the master planning process in April 2023 to develop a new vision for future growth and land use planning over the next 10 to 20 years.
During the planning process, the commission reached out to residents of Boone County to respond to a survey and see what the people want.
The most responses were for preserving agriculture and more housing.
In the survey results, 89% agreed on future growth in Boone County should be balanced with preservation of farmland, rural character, and natural areas with land development.
"We can do our best to make sure that ag (agricultural) land is preserved while also meeting growth needs," Kendrick said.
The master plan intends to pull Columbia out of a near-crisis level.
"We're kind of close to being there," Kendrick said. "It will be a crisis if we don't, if we aren't more intentional about it, so we really want the Planning and Zoning Commission, resource management to focus in there towards the beginning, implementing the master plan."
The master plan includes input from community members, businesses and service providers.
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