COLUMBIA — Columbia City Council is set to vote on a proposed housing development located off East Broadway at its regular meeting on Tuesday.
If the proposal passes, developers will be given permission to build 77 units. Some of these will be attached, with up to three units allowed per building.
This style of structure is sometimes called a triplex. According to documents submitted to city planners, developers plan to call the community Ashford Place. Developers will retain ownership after construction and plan to rent out the triplexes.
The proposal passed Columbia's Planning and Zoning Commission in September. The plans have triggered backlash from homeowners in The Brooks, a neighboring single-family housing development. If permission is granted for the Ashford Place development, access from East Broadway will likely be through a residential street in The Brooks.
More than 150 pages of public comment were submitted for City Council to consider. Most of those who wrote letters expressed opposition to the Ashford Place development. One point of concern is through traffic on Sagemoor Drive, the residential street that will be the primary point of access to Ashford Place.
"Given Sagemoor Drive's straight alignment, speeding is already a neighborhood concern," Sagemoor Drive resident Caleb Stephenson wrote in a letter to the mayor and council members. "Lengthening Sagemoor Drive on a downhill grade without mitigating measures will add even more risk to current residents."
Stephenson also highlighted the number of driveways located along Sagemoor Drive. Like others who wrote to the council, he expressed concern about the safety of neighborhood kids and families as they walk, play and cross the street.
Planning for the project was done based on a traffic study completed in 2017. A letter written by Stephanie Bell, a Jefferson City-based attorney who specializes in regulatory issues, argued that the 2017 traffic study is stale because it is more than two years old.
Following public opposition at the September meeting where the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the proposal, the Ashford Place developer hired a firm called CBB Transportation Engineers + Planners to reevaluate the 2017 traffic study. The results of that reevaluation were issued in a letter in October.
The firm concluded that the 2017 traffic study cleared the tract where developers plan to build Ashford Place for a development of up to 276 homes. Ashford Place, meanwhile, will host just 77 units.
Additionally, a document submitted to the council by the Planning and Zoning Commission highlights an agreement with the developer requiring the future extension of El Chapparal Avenue to provide an additional point of access to Ashford Place.
However, homeowners have said they're worried the road extension won't be built until after the development is completed.
The Columbia City Council will consider the proposal at its regular meeting on Tuesday. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Daniel Boone City Building, 701 E. Broadway.
