130 Business View Magazine - October 2016
Also, within the first year, the new city of Wildwood ad-
opted its first Master Plan. “The Master Plan is very
comprehensive,” Thomas explains. “One of the prima-
ry areas of focus was land use. We identified distinct
portions of the city that would be designated for cer-
tain uses.” The Plan distinguished among three prima-
ry categories. The first was the suburban/residential,
“which are the traditional subdivisions that had been
built around the area, and tend to be quarter-of-an
acre to one-acre lots,” says Thomas.
“Then, there are some rural areas, mostly in the west-
ern half of the City, that make up a good part of Wild-
wood, which is located right at the foothills of the Ozark
Mountains,” he continues. “So we start to get some
really hilly terrain which makes it difficult to develop
higher density. Also, some of the public utilities, such
as sewer and water do not expand to those areas. So,
they’re designated as non-urban and provide for a
minimum density of three acres per lot. We also have a
number of very large state and county parks within the
city, and, obviously, those do not get developed and
remain an important asset to residents and visitors.”
“At the center of our city, we established an area as
our primary commercial district,” Thomas adds. “It
