City of Columbia, Missouri

Meeting Minutes

Planning and Zoning Commission

Conference Rooms

1A/1B

Thursday, March 10, 2022

5:30 PM

Work Session

Columbia City Hall

701 E. Broadway

I. CALL TO ORDER

8 -

Present:

Tootie Burns, Sara Loe, Joy Rushing, Anthony Stanton, Michael MacMann, Sharon

Geuea Jones, Robbin Kimbell and Peggy Placier

1 - Valerie Carroll

Excused:

II. INTRODUCTIONS

III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Meeting agenda adopted unanimously.

Move to adopt agenda as presented

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

February 24, 2022 Work Session

February 24, 2022 work session minutes adopted as presented.

Move to approve February 24 minutes as presented

V. NEW BUSINESS

A. UDC Text Changes - Phase 4

Mr. Smith introduced the topic and explained the purpose of the discussion tonight

was “restart” and “reacquaint” the Commission with text amendment topics that

were put on hold at the end of last year when the Commission was asked to focus

on parking for auto repair and gas stations. He noted that given that issue was

addressed the Commission could re-engage in several of the other topics

previously presented. Mr. Smith noted that there were several topics that staff

considered “ripe” for consideration given recent Commission discussions and

referenced the work session memo that was prepared as a starting point.

He began his presentation by introducing the topic of “Drive-thru Window”

placement. He noted that given several recent cases and the alternative ways the

Commission had addressed how to handle the requirements staff felt this was a

very timely topic to consider. He gave an overview of the standards from the UDC

and staff’s interpretation of what the code was trying to achieve. He noted that site

characteristics and the drive-thru restaurant’s typical layout often complicated

matters when trying to achieve compliance. He showed several local examples of

non-compliant and compliant drive-thru window placements and noted he had

done some preliminary research.

There was general Commission discussion on the subject and several questions

were asked. There was general agreement that the placement of a drive-thru

window did need to consider what the adjoining land use was (i.e. prohibiting such

next to residential uses or zoning). There was also discussion regarding the

development of a potential set of defined criteria that was not subjective that

would better establish what the community objective of the screening

requirement was and when a design exception (PD projects) or a zoning variance

(straight zoned projects) would be required.

Given the discussion on this topic was wide ranging, Mr. Smith asked for

clarification on what the Commission would desire the staff to further investigate

and come back to them with in the way of a proposed text amendment. He asked

for votes on three “themes” that appeared to be common throughout the discuss

which included flexibility in window location, regulation specific to the location of

a window when adjoining residential property, and regulations that addressed site

layout issues such as stacking lanes that may block drive aisles. The Commission

made motions to approve that staff perform the necessary research on these

themes and come back at a later meeting with proposed text amendments.

Mr. Smith noted that there were other topics contained within the work session

memo that he desired to cover; however, given the time constraints and the other

agenda items he would yield the remaining work session time to the next topic. He

thanked the Commissioners for their contributions.

B. Comp. Plan Public Outreach - Research & Recommendations

Mr. Zenner and Mr. Cantin provided an overview of the topic and noted that

following the December 9, 2021 work session meeting there was additional internal

discussion regarding the engagement processes used by peer communities to

which the City of Columbia’s upcoming plan should attempt to utilize. Mr. Zenner

noted that many of the processes previously identified as worthy of emulation

were undertaken prior to the COVID 19 pandemic occurring. As such, he asked Mr.

Cantin to perform additional research to determine if any planning activities similar

to that the City was preparing to engage in occurred. The outcome of that

additional research did not yield any significant findings.

As a result of these limited findings, it will be imperative that the chosen

consultant to assist in the engagement phase of the upcoming Plan update have

extensive experience in hybrid meeting formats. Mr. Cantin further reiterated the

importance of the concept of “Plan Ambassadors” as the bedrock of the updating

process for keeping the community engaged.

Mr. Zenner further added that the Health Department had recently presented a

public engagement process to the City Council showing an estimated budget of

over $200, 000 that would be managed by two full-time employees whose sole job

would be to manage engagement. He noted that engagement strategies would

likely be underway prior to the beginning of the Comp. Plan update and the success

of the proposed approach could be used as a model as well as a budget

measurement tool. He noted the 2013 Comp. Plan was completed with a budget of

only $130,000 which likely was not sufficient to meet current community

engagement expectations.

Mr. Zenner noted that the update being provided at this evening’s meeting was to

inform the Commission of staff’s additional research efforts since December. He

noted that to ensure the appropriate steps were taken to have resources allocated

for the FY 2023 budget staff would need to be identify a general cost for services

and then be prepared to present those costs to the City Manager during budget

discussion in July. Mr. Zenner noted that an RFP for consultant services would

likely be issued in late 2022 with an anticipated engagement start date of January

2023.

There was general Commission discussion relating to the topic. Commissioner

expressed a desire that local firms be included in potential RFP applications and

that any chosen consultant provide project management as well as technical

expertise in facilitating completion of the Plan update. Concern was expressed

that without the consultant taking an active role in the process the staff and the

“Plan Ambassadors” may not be capable of yielding the intended results. The

Commissioners acknowledged the timeline and budget to effectively perform the

update process.

VI. NEXT MEETING DATE - March 24, 2022 @ 5:30 pm (tentative)

VII. ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned approximately 7:00 pm

Move to adjourn