Weblog for the Country Club Estates Neighborhood Association
Some of you may have heard that Ray Schroeder had a bit of a fall yesterday. That’s true, and to make sure that he was OK, they decided that he needed to be taken over to the University hospital. Martha and I spent the day with him there, and the doctors decided to keep him overnight for observation. His daughter got into town last evening, and will be making sure he gets the care he needs going forward.
We’ll keep you posted if there are further developments.
Jim Downey
I attended the “informational meeting” last night concerning rezoning the 18 acre piece of land north the WalMart on Conley Road where the Highway Department used to have a maintenance facility. The attendees were the attorney representing the owners of the property (TKG Conley Road Investments, LLC), the city staff from the Planning office, members of the Country Club Board, and me.
The meeting ran about 90 minutes. Here are the facts which emerged:
Most of the rest of the meeting was informative, but not particularly enlightening. Currently, there is not much in the way of documentation to see. We were told that the owners of the property and the City were negotiating an agreement concerning the necessary infrastructure, easements for trails along the back (west) side of the property, and some kind of “buffer zone” along the west and north sides of the property where it would be adjacent to the golf course. The TDD currently in force for the Sam’s/WalMart shopping complex has been (or will be) extended north to cover this property. The representative for the owners said that there were currently no specific plans for developing the land or selling it.
Now, a couple of things. C-3 zoning would mean that beyond the agreement negotiated with the City concerning infrastructure, et cetera, and subject to City building and environmental codes, the owner would be free to develop the property as they see fit, without the need or opportunity for further public involvement. And while we were told that the owner currently has no plans for either development or sale of the property, once this zoning is approved, they can change their mind in an instant. There was some discussion back and forth concerning whether Conley Road would be extended further to the north, into what is property owned by the Country Club, and across Hinkson Creek in order to tie into the east end of Business Loop 70, but the representative for the owners said that currently they have no plans to seek this and no power to force a sale through condemnation or other means – that would have to come from either the City or the State.
It’ll be interesting to see what exactly is in the documentation from the City. Until then, I am withholding judgment on whether or not this is a matter of serious concern to our neighborhood, though of course you are free to form your own opinions and act on them as you see fit.
Jim Downey
Cross posted to the Columbia Neighborhood Alliance Forum.
Well, you might want to keep your pets a little closer to home, since Pat Gerke has reported seeing at least one coyote up on South Country Club Drive this weekend. From the Wikipedia article on coyotes:
Coyotes are often attracted to dog food and animals that are small enough to appear as prey. Items like garbage, pet food and sometimes feeding stations for birds and squirrels will attract coyotes into backyards. Approximately 3 to 5 pets attacked by coyotes are brought into the Animal Urgent Care hospital of south Orange County (California) each week, the majority of which are dogs, since cats typically do not survive the attacks.[50] Scat analysis collected near Claremont, California revealed that coyotes relied heavily on pets as a food source in winter and spring.[41] At one location in Southern California, coyotes began relying on a colony of feral cats as a food source. Over time, the coyotes killed most of the cats, and then continued to eat the cat food placed daily at the colony site by citizens who were maintaining the cat colony.[41] Coyotes attack smaller or similar sized dogs, and they have been known to attack even large, powerful breeds like the Rottweiler in exceptional cases[51]. Dogs larger than coyotes are generally able to drive them off, and have been known to kill coyotes on occasion. Smaller breeds are more likely to suffer injury or death.
I’ve seen multiple foxes over in our part of the neighborhood in recent years, but a coyote is a whole different matter. If anyone else sees this one, or gets a picture, be sure to let me know.
Cheers -
Jim Downey
Next Monday there will be a rezoning meeting which may be of interest:
You are invited to a public information meeting on the following
proposal:A request by TKG Conley Road Investments (owner) to rezone 18.31 acres of land from R-1 (One-Family Dwelling) to C-3 (General Business), located on Conley Road, north of Walmart at the former MoDOT facility site.
(Case 09-124)When: 5:30 p.m.Monday, Nov. 16, 2009
Where: Mezzanine Conference Room,
Daniel Boone Bldg. (701 E. Broadway)
This is a parcel adjacent to the Country Club, and could be a factor in changes to the golf course. I plan on attending, and invite any other concerned members of the neighborhood association to join me and hear what is proposed.
Jim Downey
This week’s Board of Adjustment meeting gave Steve Rother and his wife Kimi Chinn Rother permission to remodel their new home. This is the Ray Brady house on the corner of Fairway and Country Club Drive. They needed permission because they want to go close to the property line on the north side, but they’ve been talking with Bill Cupp, their neighbor on that side, and things seem to be fine. They’ve already started work!
We also have a new neighbor on Country Lane in Chubb Phillips old house. His name is George Hummel, but I don’t know anything more about him.
Please welcome them, and any other new neighbors you happen to meet!
I was satisfied with the information given to us at the meeting ,and I cannot think of any reason to object to it.
Warren Prost
Following up to this post, this evening we had a meeting with Tim Crockett of Crockett Engineering Consultants and Dave Fenton, new owner of the land where Total Environments Landscaping was on Old Highway 63.
Mr. Crockett outlined what the plans are for the site, and where they are at with the process to seek rezoning and development. Mr. Fenton, owner of Columbia Car Care (currently located at the corner of Providence and Business Loop 70), would like to build a new car care facility (to replace his current one) on the northern section of the property, where the old brick maintenance/storage building currently sits. The current structure where Total Environments had their retail space would be renovated and leased for professional use (a physical rehabilitation/therapy service was discussed). The rest of the lot (about 1/3) on the south/east portion of the property would be left as green space, with the intent to not develop it. Overall, 60% or more of the site would qualify as “green space”.
The new car care facility would be about 10,000 square foot in size, with brick/dryvit construction on the front and east, commercial metal lap siding on the rest. There would be no external storage of vehicles or parts/equipment. The facility would meet or exceed all city standards for landscaping and storm water retention, as well as the relevant OSHA/EPA requirements. There would be no body or painting work done on the site, and any noisy equipment (mostly compressors) would be confined to one area of the building with appropriate sound abatement. Entrance on/off Old Highway 63 would use extant driveways, and the traffic impact would be minimal. Likewise, signage would be minimal. Hours of operation would typically be Monday through Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, with possibly some Saturday morning hours. In order to reduce light pollution, the builder will seek city permission to eliminate the parking-area lighting, and only have security-type lighting around the facility. There would be vegetation screens (large white pine trees or similar) on the east and south, to minimize impact on the surrounding houses.
Mr. Crockett and Mr. Fenton both seemed eager to work with the neighborhoods adjacent to the property, and said that they wanted to meet with us to hear our thoughts *before* even starting the formal paperwork with the city to seek rezoning of the relevant parcels to C-P, with the C-3 allowance of having a car care facility only. They were willing to completely and forthrightly answer all questions, and welcomed feedback.
Overall, I was pleased with the meeting and the presentation. My personal opinion is that they would be good neighbors, and a good addition to the area, and so long as their formal application does not significantly deviate from what was presented tonight, it would be a good thing for our Neighborhood Association to support. The members of our neighborhood association (and we had about 2/3 of the attendees) agreed that it was not necessary to have a formal meeting to discuss the proposed development, since everyone was satisfied with what was presented to us.
One item which was raised with me at the end of the meeting was a request to have the north side of the facility, which would be partially exposed to Old Highway 63, to have the same sort of brick/dryvit construction as the west and south sides. If you have any additional questions, or would like to offer your opinions in the matter. do please feel free to send me an email ( jim@afineline.org ) or post a comment here.
Jim Downey
I will be sending out an email and walking around an announcement to everyone in the neighborhood probably on 10/30 (weather depending), but I wanted to get the basic information up here right away.
I have been contacted by Tim Crockett, local engineer and owner of Crockett Engineering Consultants here in Columbia. Here are some excerpts from his emails:
I have a client who has recently purchased the parcel of land in which was the location of the landscaping business located on the east side of Old 63 between Gordon and McAllister Streets. My client desires to develop a portion of this property and will need to seek approval of a C-P Development Plan as well as an adjustment to the zoning.
Before we take this request to the City, we would like to meet with the neighbors of the area to present our plan and get public input. We strongly feel that we need to meet with the neighbors before we make any request.
* * *
The purpose of this meeting is to present to the neighbors what we would like to construct on the property, what we are preserving, and how we propose to be neighbor friendly while still doing business as a commercial development. While we are proposing our development to the neighbors, in return we would like to get input from the neighbors. We would like to take this input and try to create our plan with that mind.
The meeting will be next Wednesday, Nov. 4th, starting at 5:30 PM at the Oakland Senior Center, 805 Old Highway 63 N (across from the parcel of land in question, next to the Access Arts building).
I am not sure just exactly what kind of business they want to put there. I have heard a *rumor* that it is an auto repair shop. But we’ll have to see what they actually tell us at the meeting. I think that it is good that Mr. Crockett is taking the initiative to contact us (and the Benton-Stephens Neighborhood Association) to arrange a meeting at this point in the process, but beyond that I have no information or opinion on the matter yet.
Do try and attend the meeting next Wednesday, so we can hear what they have to say. Afterward we can set up a Neighborhood Association meeting to discuss the matter amongst ourselves.
Jim Downey
