Attorney presents plan for Philips farm property

By BRENDAN COSGROVE, Missourian staff
May 2, 2001

An attorney representing the owners of the Philips property southeast of Columbia said he hopes to petition the city for annexation and rezoning this summer.

Craig Van Matre recently submitted a plan for the property to City Manager Ray Beck that includes a wide variety of development and zoning, which he said is consistent with the Metro 2020 passed by the Columbia City Council earlier this year.

Included in the plan are provisions for 250 acres of single-family and high-density housing, 150 acres of planned commercial development, and 40 acres of office space. The rest of the 515-acre property would be used for green space.

Van Matre said he is awaiting the results of an environmental impact survey, which he expects to be available around May 15. He said he will then share those results with the property’s neighbors. “I want to show them that this land can be developed safely,” he said.

After that meeting, the next step, Van Matre said, is to move forward with a petition for annexation and rezoning.

Some local residents and environmental groups think such a plan would be faulty because the area is environmentally sensitive. The area is in the Gans Creek and Clear Creek watershed and close to Rock Bridge State Park.

Ken Midkiff, director of the Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the property would be well suited for recreational uses. Recreation would be environmentally sound and would also help to ease a space crunch in some local sports leagues.

“It’s big enough that it could be used for a number of things,” he said. “The north part is flatter and could be used for soccer practice.”

Mark Mills, vice president of the Columbia Soccer Club Board, said, “So there is obviously a need for practice fields.”

Mills said the city doesn’t allow practice to take place at Cosmo Park, where most games are held, in an effort to preserve the fields.

“It’s a community that works well together,” he said, “but space is at a premium.”

Mike Griggs, the city’s park services director, said there is some need to take the burden off Cosmo Park as the city’s main programmable recreation facility.

Griggs said his department hasn’t ruled out the possibility of using the Philips tract for such a park, but is currently focusing on plans for the Stephens and Russell properties.

Van Matre said he hasn’t received any sort of offer to purchase the property from the city and called any speculation that the city would use the property for a park “a leap of faith.”