The Columbia City Council approved downzoning for 38 properties in the First Ward by a 6-1 vote at Monday night’s meeting. No one from the public opposed the approval of the downzoning request, but one resident advised caution when considering future requests.
In March, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the council approve the downzoning request in a 9-0 vote.
The individuals who made the request hope that by downzoning their properties they can deter developers from building duplexes or apartment buildings and maintain the character of their small, single-family homes.
With the council’s approval, 33 properties will be downzoned from R-2, which allows duplexes, to R-1, which only allows for single-family homes. Another four parcels will be downzoned from R-MF, or multiple-family dwelling, to R-1 and one final property will be downzoned from R-MF to R-2.
Community Development Director Tim Teddy explained that a 1992 policy resolution affirms downzoning as a strategy for neighborhood conservation, and said downzoning the properties would have no immediate impact on the downzoned properties or properties adjacent to those downzoned.
“It would have an effect if there’s any redevelopment of these areas,” Teddy said.
At the meeting, 11 people spoke in support of the downzoning request, including Christine Gardener, who submitted the request . She said the downzoning process is difficult and that it’s the only real recourse homeowners have to preserve the character of their neighborhood.
“What I fear is losing the unique character of my home and neighborhood,” Gardener said. “We are not against change. We just want positive change. We need to see some action and decisions on your part so that we can keep this community of accessible homes that single moms with kids, that couples starting out, that low-income families can move into.”
Amanda Staley Harrison spoke on behalf of the Historic Preservation Commission and expressed the commission’s support of those requesting the downzoning. Staley Harrison said many of the property owners requesting downzoning have homes that were built between 1900 and 1954, “with 21 of them built as the country entered World War II.”
She also spoke about the affordability of the homes in the area.
“Much of affordability has to do with size,” Staley Harrison said. “Small footprint homes with small yards dominate in the poor neighborhoods downtown and provide a clear link economically, culturally, and equitably between our past and our present.”
Along with those who spoke, roughly 15 more residents attended the meeting to show their support for the downzoning request.
No one opposed the request, but one resident, Jim Meyer, advised the council use caution when considering future ones.
He said the city put a policy encouraging downzoning into place before the adoption of the Unified Development Code, when downzoning would only affect the property downzoned. But now, he said, the downzoning affects surrounding property owners too.
After the members of the public spoke, First Ward Councilman Clyde Ruffin, Second Ward Councilman Mike Trapp, Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala and Fourth Ward Councilman Ian Thomas each expressed their support for the downzoning requests. Skala also said he didn’t think there was reason to institute a moratorium or administrative delay on downzoning requests, as was proposed in a letter to the council before the meeting.
Fifth Ward Councilman Matt Pitzer said he does not think group downzoning is “good public policy” and suggested some potential alternatives.
“This council has also advocated for things like increased density, reduced urban sprawl, more affordable housing, increased availability of mass transit, more mixed use of land and additional investment and re-investment in some aging infrastructure,” Pitzer said, “and I think that the policy of advocating for these large-scale downzoning is in contradiction to all those goals.”
Pitzer was the only council member to vote against the request.