Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission approves Humane Society’s request for land
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a plot of land for the Central Humane Society at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Thursday night.
The request was originally planed to be denied after officials said the land request would not fit into the city's comprehensive plan. Columbia development services recommended that the commission reject the request because there was concern where the zoning location of the shelter would be.
The Central Missouri Humane Society was requesting nearly 19-acres of land on Brown School Road, just off Route 763 for the shelter.
The land is currently zoned as residential and the city was willing to approve the land but wanted it zoned as a mixed-used neighborhood. However, the Humane Society did not want that. They wanted a mixed-use corridor, meaning it would allow for potential future growth to build a campus that could include groomers, a vet and other resources for animals.
The commission was concerned that while the Humane Society's intentions were good, they were worried other could take advantage of the new designation before ultimately voting in favor of the request.
The current Central Missouri Humane Society shelter located on Big Bear Boulevard was built in 1976. An addition was added 12 years later to make room for more kennels and further renovations were made after winning the 2009 Zootoo.com Shelter Makeover Competition.
