Downtown Columbia Leadership Council discusses future of site at Providence and Broadway

The Downtown Columbia Leadership Council met Tuesday night to talk about how it sees future downtown development.

Members spent part of the night talking about the future of the corner of land at Broadway and Providence Road.

Before a City Council vote Monday night, it was the proposed site for a CVS Pharmacy.

The council voted down a re-zoning request for the CVS 6-1.

The proposed CVS plan has been a controversial topic. Now that the council rejected the re-zoning request, many people are asking why and what’s next for the site.

“The biggest reason I voted no is, it doesn’t fit in with the scale and vision that we have for downtown,” said Second Ward Councilman Michael Trapp.

Trapp said if CVS wants to come back with a different plan that fits the council’s criteria for downtown, they can still build there.

But CVS attorney Robert Hollis said he thinks CVS will choose not to build anywhere in Columbia after the vote Monday night.

Whomever decides to build there will have to follow the requirements to meet the council’s vision.

“It’s either going to have to develop with what’s allowed under its current zoning or its going to move in a direction of how we want that area to go,” Trapp told ABC 17 News.

One idea that was talked about in the leadership council meeting was repairing the creek there and building a restaurant with outdoor seating that overlooks Flat Branch Park.

“That could be a great amenity to a restaurant downtown that would fit very much into the character we’re trying to do,” Trapp said.

As a council that claims to be pro-development, some community members said this was a contradictory decision. But Trapp disagrees.

“We approve almost every development that comes in front of us,” he said. “It’s only the ones that have controversy that draw attention.”

It’s not known yet if CVS will come back with a different plan.