Unified Development Code to be approved unless substantial changes made

The Columbia City Council has been working on the Unified Development Code for over two years and at 7 p.m. Monday, the code is expected to be voted on and approved.

The council will have at least five more proposed amendments to vote on before accepting the final UDC.

Nancy Thompson, head legal counsel for the city, said if the proposed amendments are approved, the council would have to wait to vote on the UDC at the next city council meeting in two weeks. She said that would be the case if the amendments changed parts of the UDC substantially.

Thompson said an example of a substantial change would be adding neighborhood transition regulations to a zoning area that does not already have regulations in place.

An example of a non-substantial change that, if passed, would not need to be brought to the public before city council votes on the UDC, would be adjusting an existing item within the previous and new standards.

Some council members said voting on substantial changes would create a larger issue: the administrative delay for new building proposals downtown expires before the next city council meeting. Contractors would be able to propose new developments following the current development codes.