Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission votes in favor of a new downtown hotel
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-4 Thursday in favor of a new six-story hotel near the corner of Cherry Street and Hitt Street.
In January of 2020, the commission voted 6-1 to approve the potential new hotel called the Cherry Street Hotel. The hotel would sit at 1005 Cherry Street just north of the Hitt Street Garage. Commissioner Michael MacMann was the only dissenting vote.
The commission recommended the site for approval. Prior to being heard by the City Council, the applicant withdrew the request.
Crockett Engineering presented the replat on behalf of Cherry Street Hotel LLC. The vote replats lot 158 and 65 feet of lot 159. The building that was previously on that land parcel was demolished in 2020.
At the approval hearing, it was unclear where parking for the proposed hotel will be located.
The replatting of two lots for the hotel is required “to bestow legal lot status in advance of future site redevelopment,” the staff report said.
MacMann was one of the four commissioners at the meeting that voted against the final plat for the property. "There currently isn't any space in the Cherry Street parking garage. I would hate to see people get booted out of there. The other hotel/motel facilities that are downtown are directly associated with a parking garage," said MacMann.
In 2019, concerns were expressed about the provision of parking for a hotel. There are no parking requirements for commercial uses within the M-DT (Mixed Use-Downtown) which the hotel would be considered.
Commissioner Sharon Geuea Jones was one of the five that voted in favor of the final plat for the property and said the parking issue should be left up to the UDC.
"I am uncomfortable with punishing a developer who is following our code just because our code is inadequate," said Geuea Jones.
Crockett Engineering has indicated that they are pursuing options for parking and are working with the City’s Parking Utility and Law Department on a parking agreement.
Ahead of the meeting Thursday, MacMann said until there is a parking plan in place for the hotel, he can't see how he would vote in favor of it.
He said a six-story structure will have around 150 to 200 rooms. "That's a lot of parking spaces that would be needed when Hitt Street is already short on parking," said MacMann.
The commission will not recommend the approval to the city council.
