Richland Road back in front of P&Z

The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission will take another look at developer David Atkins’ Richland Road annexation proposal at its meeting Thursday night. But this time it will evaluate it as it relates to the East Area Plan, which was adopted by the City Council Monday night.
The proposal to annex 271 acres on the city’s eastern border has languished in Columbia’s rezoning process for two years. The City Council had indicated it would make a final vote on the plan at its Oct. 18 meeting, but the plan submitted for final review left out a 90-acre tract of land slated for commercial zoning. So the council decided to send it back to P&Z.
Also at issue was the fact that the council had not yet adopted the East Area Plan, which was developed to guide development in the area that includes the Richland proposal. Residents near the land under discussion let the council know that they thought it should look at the East Area Plan before proceeding with a decision.
It has been more than a year since the Planning and Zoning Commission last looked at the plan, and they didn’t give it a favorable vote then. Commissioner Jeff Barrow, at the Oct. 18 council meeting, told the council that the change to the plan means the council was considering something different than what the commission looked at. One of the bigger issues he had was with the commercial tract that was withdrawn, he said.
“Our discussion would have been different, our public hearings would have been different, and our decision would have possibly been different,” Barrow said then.
With the East Area Plan completed and adopted by the council, P&Z, which played the largest role in developing the plan, will likely put strong emphasis on whether the Richland proposal conforms to the plan.
Planning and Development Director Tim Teddy has said that the large commercial tract left out of the most recent submission does not fit the plan’s guidelines. The commission will consider the proposal without the largest commercial tract.
But the Richland proposal as it is still allows for large-scale residential development as well as a smaller commercial tract. One of the main points nearby residents have voiced against the proposal is that the roads in the area cannot support any more traffic. Planning Department officials have agreed, but they point out that the development agreement makes future development on the site conditional with infrastructure improvements that can accommodate it.
The council will see the proposal again in December.