UPDATE: County commission rejects rezoning for new subdivision
The Boone County Commission voted unanimously against a plan to rezone nearly 50 acres of land southwest of Columbia for a new subdivision.
The request by Phillip and Brice Hanberry on behalf of Beacon Street Properties LLC to rezone from A-2 to A-RP at 7770 South High Point Lane came to the commission after the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission rejected it 4-3. The company appealed the decision in November, then tabled the county commission discussion planned for December 1 to speak with residents in the area further.
Dozens of those residents in the Bonne Femme and Countryaire Estates neighborhoods attended Tuesday’s meeting, many that spoke opposing the Heatherhill Subdivision, which would have laid 50 lots on the east side of High Point Lane, heading up a steep hill. So far, only the winding roads up the hill have been built.
Commissioners cited a lack of data proving construction would not cause greater flooding and the increased traffic to the area residents frequently described as “rural” for their votes to reject it.
Mike Leipard, who lives just north of the proposed subdivision, outlined several stormwater runoff issues that he said would contribute to further flooding of the area just south of Route K. With more impervious surfaces, such as roofs, rainwater would collect at the bottom of the hill. Already the Little Bonne Femme Creek floods the low-water bridge there, Leipard said, blocking the dozens of residents from getting to other streets, and some emergency vehicles getting to them.
Jay Gebhardt, the engineer in charge of the Heatherhill project, said the completion of the subdivision would actually reduce the stormwater runoff. By removing some blockages to the inlets on the street built eight years ago, Gebhardt said the construction would not affect stormwater runoff heavily.
(Editor’s note: This story has been updated from a previously titled story,“Boone County rezoning request expected to draw crowd on Tuesday evening.”)
