Of the assortment of ideas emerging from an ongoing study into the future of Warren County’s land and facilities outside city limits, a separate panel may be appointed to review new subdivision plans and other land uses.

While adding a layer of oversight to county government may scare some developers accustomed to dealing directly with county engineers, the concept of a planning commission gained favor among supervisors when they were updated Thursday on the study by consultant William Peacock of Central Mississippi Planning and Development District.

&#8220(A commission) can make sure everything that is supposed to be in a subdivision is there,” Peacock said. &#8220It gives you another set of eyes to look at things.”

Supervisors were given a peek at a wide-ranging goals list for a comprehensive plan for Warren County being prepared by the regional firm, which tied together aspects covered in previous reports presented to the board since contracting with CMPDD in 2005.

Broad outlines included residential and commercial land use, county-owned buildings and traffic flow, without making specific recommendations. The specifics, supervisors said, could be crafted by what they hear on the campaign trail this election year.

District 1 Supervisor David McDonald figures to hear the most about it, as his northeastern Warren County district is entirely outside Vicksburg proper. Also, the former transmission shop owner and Republican faces a primary opponent in August and two independents in November if he wins.

&#8220I’ve been talking to some people about their thoughts on zoning,” District 1 Supervisor David McDonald said. &#8220Everybody wants to be able to tell their neighbor what to do with their property but they don’t want anybody telling them what to do with their own property.”

Warren County has no zoning, but has increased requirements in recent years for residential developers. Plats must now be approved in advance, along with road specifications and utilities, including drainage.

On preliminary maps in the study, McDonald’s district in the northeastern part of the county was recommended to remain medium-density residential east of U.S. 61 North and north of Interstate 20. Areas further out are suggested for agricultural use only.

By state law, any zoning of land usage must be based on a comprehensive plan. CMPDD gave a two-year time frame for finishing the study when it began. If its authors stay on schedule, its release will come between primary elections Aug. 7 and general balloting Nov. 6.

The board has remained generally favorable toward more residential regulation, seeing it as a way to protect property owners from irregular streetscapes in their neighborhoods.

Areas classified as agricultural, however, could reflect the status quo, McDonald said.

&#8220If they want to put horses, cows, pigs or whatever in their front yard, you can. It’s going to be hard to define where these lines are,” McDonald said.

Discussion was split on whether zoning laws will affect property values. While Peacock downplayed the possibility, others were more adamant.

&#8220If you’ve capped it as agricultural, you’ve capped the value,” District 5 Supervisor Richard George said, adding the move toward zoning land use will be &#8220 a slow, plodding process.”

In other business, supervisors met with Tillman Whitley of the Jacqueline House African-American Museum and Lamar Roberts, the driving force behind the Vicksburg Transportation Museum, planned at Levee Street near the old train depot.

They represented two of 10 charitable groups and or community action agencies to whom supervisors pledged funding this fiscal year through local and private legislation authored by Reps. George Flaggs and Chester Masterson. The board has the freedom to kick in up to $25,000 this year to each.

In the case of Jacqueline House on Main Street, Whitley said upgrades are needed for items like central air conditioning and heat, a paint job, an enclosed porch and a wheelchair ramp.

&#8220It is a cultural resource for Vicksburg,” Whitley said.

Along with a computer, new screens for windows and crown molding inside, the list of needed repairs totaled $20,800. Supervisors, who generally allocate funds to charitable groups on a quarterly basis and well below maximums set forth in local and private legislation, referred Whitley to its records management functions to see about office surpluses and get documented second opinions on the air conditioning.

As for Roberts’ project, which will celebrate the role of cars, trains, boats and planes in Vicksburg history, $300,000 in matching funds are needed to supplement a $1.65 million grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation, part of a federal transportation enhancement bill.

Though the museum plans to raise about $100,000 by selling bricks to those who want to memorialize loved ones who worked on either the river or the railroad in the depot’s heyday, Roberts said he needed the maximum &#8220as soon as possible” to open the museum by late 2008.

No firm decision was reached on how much of their respective allocations should be allowed for each. Supervisors usually approve releasing money to charities in formal board meetings, not informal sessions.