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CITY WIDE DIRECT MAIL MISINFORMATION BROCHURE Today, January 14, lots of Columbia mailboxes received an "Urgent Notice" from the "Builder and REALTOR® Community Education and Outreach Committee". We don't know exactly who comprises the "committee", but they are obviously quite concerned about the prospect of the Interim Measures for Community Character Protection as proposed by the Development Services Department of the City of Columbia being adopted. The flier does state that the message was paid for and sent by the Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia and the Greater Columbia Association of REALTORS®. We don't know exactly the scope of the mailing, but we have reports from Sherwood Forest, Shandon, University Hills, Oakwood Court, and Wales Gardens. So the alarm has been sounded in most of Columbia's intown neighborhoods. The professionally-designed, full color mailer (more on that later), proposes that Cottonwood, Heathwood, Hollywood/Rosehill, Shandon, Wales Garden, and Sherwood Forest must go beyond the procedure to request interim protection as outlined in the original plan proposed by Marc Mylott, Director of Development Services, and approved by City Council. Instead of granting interim protection to neighborhoods who have begun the process of receiving historical designation, and to neighborhoods who seek protection following the procedure outlined in Marc Mylott's Interim Measures Memorandum, the flier recommends that these neighborhoods be required to gather signatures from at least 50% of the property owners in that neighborhood to be considered for the interim protection. This idea first surfaced at the Planning Commission meeting on December 3, 2007, when the commission considered its recommendation on the Interim Measures. Rather than recommend the adoption of the Interim Measures as it was presented to the commission from City Council, commission member Ron Anderson, Vice President of Research and Technology for NAI Avant Commercial Real Estate, moved to recommend the Interim Measures with an amendment to the request procedures requiring 50% property owner approval. A typed copy of the amendment was presented to each of the commission members suggesting that it had been carefully pre-prepared. Our position is that neighbohoods who have requested Historic Preservation have already completed that process. And that Neighborhood Associations recognized by the Columbia Council of Neighborhoods have already established their ability to represent the neighborhood by their recognition by CCN. The flier strikes an alarmist note stressing that "Your Home and Property Rights May Be In Jeopardy!". It also completely omits "Interim" from the title of the memorandum and does not explain or provide a link to an explanation of what the ordinance really is intended to do. It implies that the January 23 City Council meeting is the first and last time there will be public discussion. It states that "This plan originally didn't give landowners a choice." It provides a card to be filled out which will be presented to City Council which only supports their amended version of the Interim Measures. The Interim Measures in fact are a stop-gap measure to slow the transformation of our traditional intown neighborhoods by opportunistic builders. It allows for a review of demolitions, removals and subdivision of lots. It gives home owners input on changes which will affect the character and texture of the neighborhood they will live in after the builders have made their money and moved on. It gives qualified city planners a chance to preserve and improve on what makes our traditional intown neighborhoods so attractive. It also provides for the appeal process that is currently available for zoning exception requests. High density development is not always appropriate in established neighborhoods. High property values do not always translate into a neighborhood's quality of life. Our current zoning ordinances which were developed in the 1970's did not anticipate the current boom in infill development. The Interim Measures for Community Character Protection gives the city and its neighborhoods breathing room to develop a plan for appropriate and coordinated development. The fact that certain interests chose to hire an out-of-state professional "strategy and communication" company to develop, design, print and mail a slickly deceptive flier that panders to fears of government taking away a citizen's rights reveals that they are afraid of losing their easy profits. Profits that often result from ignoring the character of an established neighborhood, exploiting outdated zoning regulations, building cookie cutter structures or outsized MacMansions, clear cutting our tree canopy and leaving no room for replanting trees, throwing in granite counter tops and claiming it's a custom built home. Columbia deserves a better future. While we agree with the advantages of Smart Growth by building in our established neighborhoods, utilizing existing infrastructure, increasing our city tax base, revitalizing and redeveloping depressed areas, and decreasing urban sprawl, we argue that infill development presents a new opportunity that must be guided by smart planning so we don't dilute or destroy the unique character of our established neighborhoods. The Interim Measures are a reasonable first step in planning Columbia's future intown development. See a pdf of the mailer... |