In a unanimous vote late Monday night, Columbia’s city council voted to continue a moratorium on fresh downtown apartment development. The moratorium was scheduled to end December 1.
This extension – which predominantly affects developers of so-called luxury student housing in downtown Columbia – will continue the pause in new construction approvals until March 31, providing time for work on the city’s new zoning code.
The extension affects properties within approximately one mile of the University of Missouri campus borders in every direction, extending just past Stephens College in the Northeast and to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Garden in the Southwest. Construction within MU campus boundaries will still not be affected.
In discussion, councilmembers emphasized concerns that the process of developing the new zoning code not be taken lightly. Third ward councilmember Karl Skala complimented the planning and zoning commission on its “hard work and heavy lifting.”
