The Columbia City Council is set to consider rezoning property to build a new 305-unit student housing development during Monday's regular meeting.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Daniel Boone City Building on East Broadway, instead of the regular 7 p.m. starting time.
The new student housing complex, called "Theory Sterling," would be at the corner of University Ave. and College Ave. To make way for the new construction, that existing structures on the lot would be demolished, including University Place Apartments, according to a council memo.
If approved, 2.91 acres would be rezoned to build the new off-campus student housing development.
The city said the proposed design would be a 957 bedroom, 2 building development with 570 parking spaces. Additionally, the north building is expected to be seven stories tall, while the south gets an additional floor making it eight stories.
For existing tenants of the buildings on the lot, they will be allowed to renew their leases to end in Spring 2027, and then have a week to move out. If approved, the developer has stated that they will let tenants know of lease renewals and vacate expectations in early 2027.
Fee increases
The Council is also set to vote on fee increases to garage parking, water utility rates, electric rates, solid waste rates and parks-related service fees.
The new parking payment rate would make the city parking garages match the street parking meters rates. The garages would charge $1 an hour for parking, and make any parking 30 minutes or less free of charge. If approved, the new parking fee structure would go into effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Water usage rates are proposed to increase for both residential customers and commercial facilities that use single meters, according to a council memo. The amount of rate increase is based on customers' winter average water consumption. The water rate increase would give the city $3,400,000 more in revenue each year.
The proposed electric rate increases would create $8,600,000 in revenue for the Electric Utility, according to a council memo. The city said there are no proposed changes to base rates for residential or commercial services, but the kilowatt usage rate would be increased.
If approved, the water and electric rate increases would go into effect on Oct. 1.
Proposed solid waste rate increases would impact curbside cart pickup rates based on roll cart size, according to a council memo. If approved, this would give the Solid Waste Utility $1,500,000 in revenue each year.
The Parks and Recreation Department is proposing fee increases at the Activity & Recreation Center including babysitting fees, room fees, pool fees and facility rentals. The increased fees would give the department $9,000 to $12,000 in revenue each year, according to a council memo.
Other agenda items include:
- An update to the city's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
- Increasing the city's special events permit application price and the downtown street closure fee
- Appropriating $9,524,800 for airport improvement projects
