The Columbia City Council in approving an updated preliminary plat for a subdivision development along Olivet Road south of Richland Road, brought out some community consternation Monday.
Public comments related to safety concerns with the proposed Burghley Drive within the development, its relatively straight north and south profile and wildlife impacts; Richland Road not being able to handle increased traffic from this and other adjacent developments; and also that this is another housing development for people with higher incomes.
The Richland Estates No. 2 preliminary plat has 272 lots, where 250 would be used for residential development across 126.7 acres. Upward of seven developments are happening in this area. This development is from Richland Olivet Farm LLC and the update is a 29.68 acre expansion at the southeast portion of the property, where that section is to be known as Oak Mill Estates.
Proposed internal collector-type streets, which likely would have higher traffic, of Adare Manor Drive and Burghley Drive will not have property driveways on the street. They could have street trees, and particularly on Burghley could have pavement narrowing as proactive traffic calming measures, said Tim Crockett with Crockett engineering addressing some of the community concerns.
Public comments Monday generally were against preliminary plat approval. Even if the council had voted down the updated preliminary plat, the previous preliminary plat approved last year still would have applied to the development.
Road safety
A roughly $103,000 contribution from the developer is in the updated preliminary plat agreement, which can be used by the city for within three miles, for intersection improvements.
"The area that will need attention first with all the development that is going on ... is the intersection of Grace Lane, Rolling Hills and Richland Road," said Tim Teddy, Community Development director.
Other similar agreements are in place with other developments for city street improvements.
Richland Road, because of how it is classified by the city, does not have to be widened by a developer. This prompted one of the public comments Monday. Richland Road is 24-feet wide, has no shoulders and possibly would need to be 40-feet wide with shoulders to handle the eventual increased capacity.
A similar concern was expressed two years ago by Boone County Northern District Commissioner Janet Thompson due to a 345-lot development east of the Richland Olivet Farm. That development in the county had its rezoning request denied at the time.
In recent years, the county and City of Columbia have redeveloped roads and intersections to account for the increased volume of traffic that would be expected once a new housing development is in place, said former Presiding Commissioner Dan Atwill in 2022. Thompson mirrored this statement at the time.
It would be better served to improve Richland Road, including at the intersections with Grace Lane and St. Charles Road, before a housing development is approved, was among the county commission's consensus for rezoning denial in 2022. Richland is a county-owned road and conversations are underway between county and city staff about potential road improvements, Teddy said.
'Trickle-down housing'
Columbia resident Chriss Jones both personally and representing Hold CoMo Accountable, lambasted the planned development.
What is proposed is "rich people and trickle-down housing," she said. "I don't remember if you remember elementary school, middle school where they talked about trickle-down economy. That has basically been debunked."
She also referenced an earlier scheduled public comment from resident Margaret McConnell about the need for emergency overnight cooling centers for the city's unhoused, much like the city does in the winter with warming centers.
"The reason why we have so many unhoused people in Columbia is because they have lost their housing. It is not because they do not want to be in a house. It is because they cannot afford to be in a house," Jones continued, encouraging the council to not approve further developments unless they include affordable housing as a percentage of what is built.
Keeping the unhoused cool
Mayor Barbara Buffaloe during end-of-meeting general comments pushed back against a portion of Jones' statement that the city has not done much to address city unhoused issues, also seeking information from staff about McConnell's earlier comment in tandem with an inquiry from Ward 6 council member Betsy Peters.
Buffaloe interjected during City Manager De'Carlon Seewood's statements about overnight shelter Room at the Inn and its operations going year round, noting it did this through city assistance and in a city-owned building.
"The city has been investing in this and is continuing to invest rather than say we are ignoring it," she said.
Since Room at the Inn is at capacity, Seewood plans to ask Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Service to connect with Turning Point as a possible overnight overflow. Turning Point has a contract with the city in the winter under certain conditions as an emergency overnight shelter.
"Staff will reach out to them (Tuesday) and if they willing to entertain it, we can bring something back," Seewood said, agreeing with Buffaloe that if Turning Point does not, the city could explore overnight cooling shelter opportunities with other organizations.
Buffaloe also addressed the June 28 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, regarding unsheltered residents.
"It is my hope that we are not going to get into the process of arresting people out of poverty. I think that is what most cities are scared of. So, I think the discussion here tonight about having enough shelter space still is of an interest. We know that we would like people to be in a safe, air-conditioned environment," she said.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on X, formerly Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
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