Will business supermajority reverse Council's course?

The seven-member City Council holds its first meeting Monday after the biggest turnover since Darwin Hindman was elected 15 years ago.
Mayor Bob McDavid, 3rd Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl and 4th Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley were all endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and join two current City Council members deemed business-friendly, Jason Thornhill and Laura Nauser, to form what could be called a business-friendly supermajority.
The business community has criticized 6th Ward Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe for her leanings toward planned growth. Hoppe voted against projects often cited as litmus tests by the business community: the extension of Maguire Boulevard and the zoning change for Landmark Hospital.
The April 6 elections no doubt represented a huge shift in Columbia city politics. But will the strong backing and financial support by the Chamber and development community translate to friendly votes?
Three issues to be decided by the City Council in the coming months will indicate how significant the shift in power really is.
The first is the proposed rezoning of Red Oak Investment Company’s property on Grindstone Parkway, across from Walmart. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted against rezoning the 25 acres from agricultural to commercial. Commissioners took issue with a proposed traffic signal at a new intersection between the Nifong Connector and Rock Quarry Road. Their worry was that another signal so close to existing traffic lights would clog Grindstone with cars and diminish its intended purpose as an expressway.
The commissioners seemed to feel it wasn’t fair to benefit the retail centers in the area with another signal at the expense of the driving public. The Walmart developers across the street have wanted a traffic signal there since the area was developed, and the signal would help the Red Oak site attract retail tenants.
The second is the Richland Road rezoning. P&Z resoundingly voted against the proposal to rezone about 270 acres on the northeastern edge of the city for commercial use and multi-family housing. The City Council has put off a final decision and opted to wait for the completion of a planning document for the area where a road will eventually link Stadium Boulevard and Interstate 70. The new City Council could decide that the planning document is not worth waiting for — or following.
The third test will be the decision about who fills two seats on the Planning and Zoning Commission that open at the end of May. One commissioner, Glenn Rice, has reapplied. Whether he is reappointed will shed light on how far the council’s politics have shifted. Rice’s wife, Tracy Greever-Rice, was new 4th Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley’s strongest rival in the race. He leans toward planned growth and infill development and has been an active member of the commission. Chairman Jeff Barrow said active members who wish to stay on P&Z are generally reappointed.
All three issues have one aspect in common — the Planning and Zoning Commission. During the past three years, the body has demonstrated a leaning toward planned growth and a suspicion of developers’ plans, even disagreeing with city staff on the merits of some projects. And the commission’s influence has grown during the terms of 3rd and 4th Ward Councilmen Karl Skala and Jerry Wade, both longtime P&Z commissioners.
Council decisions this spring and summer will show whether the commission continues to take a greater role in development and zoning policy or returns to a mere formality that developers use to perfect their proposals before presenting them to council.
The new council members as well as the old are downplaying the significance of the election and the unprecedented amounts of campaign financing and Chamber endorsements.
McDavid said he doesn’t think the new members will alter the City Council to any great extent. “I’m emphasizing that I don’t want to change the cultural nature or the historical character of the city,” McDavid told the Missourian. “That’s what adds to the community, and I don’t think the character of Columbia will change at all.”

Nauser said new members gain a different perspective once they begin serving on the City Council. “Government has its established bureaucracy, and it’s difficult to make drastic change quickly,” she said. “You have to work with that, and you slowly make progress in the direction you want to change to.”
Sturtz said, “I think any time a new group of people comes in, it seems more dramatic than it will be in reality.”
Hoppe said the realities of the job will shape the new members. “I don’t think the election is a mandate for not planning,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a mandate going against the visioning process.”
And Hoppe emphasized that any economic achievements in the near future — Columbia has been doggedly pursuing several large employers with incentives and outreach — will be due in large part to the work of the outgoing City Council.
“We have laid a good foundation for making a quality city that ties into good economic development,” she said.