City of Columbia, Missouri

Meeting Minutes

Planning and Zoning Commission

CONFERENCE RM 1C

CITY HALL

Thursday, June 6, 2024

5:30 PM

WORK SESSION

701 E BROADWAY

I. CALL TO ORDER

9 -

Present:

Sara Loe, Anthony Stanton, Valerie Carroll, Sharon Geuea Jones, Peggy Placier,

Shannon Wilson, Matt Ford, Carl Baysinger and Thomas Williams

II. INTRODUCTIONS

III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Meeting agenda adopted unanimously

Adopted agenda as presented

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

May 23, 2024 Work Session

The May 23, 2024 work session minutes were approved with Commissioners

Baysinger and Williams abstaining.

Adopt minutes as presented

V. OLD BUSINESS

A. UDC text Amendment - Small Lots use-specific standards

Mr. Zenner began his presentation with an overview of the text amendment for the

benefit of the newest Commissioners. He then noted that from the prior meeting

the Commission had discussed and generally agreed with the proposed use-specific

standard that would allow lots less than 59-feet wide to place their driveway along

the property line in lieu having to have it off-set 5-feet from the property line. He

then proceeded to explain the second amendment proposed to address the issue

of parking on lots less then 5000 sq. ft. noting that the Commission did not finish its

review of the amendment during the last work session.

There was general discussion with respect to the second amendment which

proposed to allow “all or a portion” of required off-street parking (currently 2

spaces) to be permitted to be on-street. Mr. Zenner noted that it was pointed out

the text of the amendment required changes if “all” parking were to be allowed

on-street to ensure that for every on-street parking space the lot would have to

have no less than 23-feet of lot frontage. Once the Commission had fully discussed

the proposed amendment it was concluded that only half of the required off-street

parking (i.e. 1 space) would be allowed to be on-street. No other changes with

proposed amendment were offered.

Commissioners questioned the final provision dealing with the amount of paving

allowed in the required front yard for lots less than 5000 sq. ft. Mr. Zenner

explained that this amendment was proposed as a way of allowing proportionate

paving on the small lots when compared to standard 60-foot wide lots. He noted

that a small lot with a 20-foot front setback would be permitted 20-foot driveway.

This area is equal to 400 sq. ft.. However, if the small lot had greater frontage along

its street then the 30% provision would apply given the wording of the proposed

language. The new language mirrored the current regulations in an effort to not

unnecessarily confuse our permit staff.

There was significant Commission discussion with the proposed language.

Commissioners discussed the potential to specify a maximum driveway width for

lots less than 5000 sq. ft. built at the property. Mr. Zenner noted that a typical

driveway was 10-feet wide given a standard parking space is required to be 8.5-feet

wide. Commissioners ran through several potential scenarios involving lots of

various widths and concluded that specifying a maximum driveway width was not

necessary. Instead, the Commission agreed to reduce the amount of paving

allowed within the required front yard from the proposed 400 sq. ft. to 200 sq. ft. or

30% of the required front yard, which ever was greater. In essence, this reduced

amount of paving in the required 20-foot front yard on lots less than 5000 sq. ft. and

only 30-ft in width would permit single 10-foot wide drive at the property line

(using the 30% option).

There was additional discussion to provide clarity that the two amendments

worked in tandem with one another. When viewed together, the amendments

would result in less paving being required on an individual lot to address parking

needs given one of the two required spaces would now be able to use the public

street upon which the lot had frontage to. Furthermore, by allowing driveways to

be placed at the property line, not 5-feet from it, there would be the possibility of

creating quasi “shared” driveway situations that could assist homeowners in

gaining access to the rear of lots that were deeper where a rear-entry garage or

parking area may be placed.

There were additional Commissioner comments offered that reminded the group

that in the realm of small lot development not all of the customary “wants” of

contemporary urban living need to be accommodated for. Trying to address every

potential scenario may not be possible and those that want to live in this type of

housing will need to make a choice of what is most important. It is possible that

parking will not be addressed by the construction of a garage when in some

instances a carport may be just as acceptable.

Mr. Zenner thanked the Commission for the comments and noted that the staff

would continue to work on preparing the remaining use-specific standards

identified during the June 20 work session.

B. Zoning District Acreage Patterns (materials to be distributed)

Due to time constraints, this agenda item was not discussed. To be carried forward

to June 20, 2024 agenda.

VI. NEXT MEETING DATE - June 20, 2024 @ 5:30 pm (tentative)

VII. ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 6:55 pm.

Move to adjourn