City girds for more growth

By JUSTIN WILLETT of the Tribune’s staff

Story ran on Wednesday, June 6, 2001

City manager Ray Beck outlined this morning his programs and priorities for the coming fiscal year during his annual State of the City address.

As usual, Beck said it’s important that the city continue to plan for growth, and he’s forwarding some new ideas for how to do that.

Columbia, he said, has grown at an annual rate of 2.2 percent during the past 10 years, and the city encompasses 54 square miles.

Beck said the city is developing plans for voter-approved annexations that would target parcels of county land that are almost surrounded by the city along with areas on the periphery that are in the path of urbanization. The city would work with the county and developers to identify those areas.

"Those areas that are destined to be urbanized because of Columbia should be a part of the city," mayor Darwin Hindman said. "That involves looking into the future."

Hindman said he is a big supporter of voter-approved annexation, especially in the wake of the Columbia City Council’s recent decision to exempt a Lake of the Woods retailer from the beverage container deposit ordinance.

Hindman said his first priority for involuntary annexation would be retailers outside the city who keep the Lake of the Woods waiver in effect.

"The most immediate" annexation "would be to the stores, as to end that exemption entirely," Hindman said.

Beck also emphasized the need to promote infill development, or development closer to the city center, and avoid creating sprawl on the city’s fringes.

Hindman said the best way to promote infill is to make the central city a place where people want to live.

"One of the best ways to promote it is to make it desirable to live in the city center," Hindman said. "We need to continuously work to make it desirable."

Beck identified strengthening the central city as one of his six priorities for the coming year. His strategies for doing that include promoting downtown attractions, expanding neighborhood developments, planning for additional parking in the central business district and advancing plans to dress up the Historic Avenue of the Columns.

Beck said complying with storm-water regulations from the federal Environmental Protection Agency is also a priority. He said that while the city doesn’t have to comply until 2003, the council wants to have regulations in place sooner to give guidance on development issues. The city has been working for about two years to develop storm-water guidelines that will be even more strict than those called for by the EPA, but some developers’ plans have challenged officials to be more specific about what the city wants from storm-water protection.

Beck traditionally delivers his State of the City address as the city council prepares for its annual retreat, which begins tomorrow at the Inn at Grand Glaize at the Lake of the Ozarks. The retreat serves as an opportunity for the council to discuss priorities outlined by Beck and to get a jump on budgeting for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Beck’s list

● Provide for comprehensive planning and implementation on storm-water standards, parks and recreation, the airport, streets, parking and sidewalks.

● Maintain and strengthen downtown and central-city neighborhoods.

● Plan for orderly growth, including voluntary and voter-approved annexations and encouraging development within the city.

● Continue providing and maintaining infrastructure, including government office space, the new health building, roads and a water-system expansion.

● Continue timely and cost-effective delivery of services and programs, including strategic planning for the police department, enhancement of the city’s Web site and improvements in maternal child health.

● Provide for community resources, including developing a schedule for water and waste-water bond issues, promoting diverse economic development and implementing a utility-bill checkoff program to solicit contributions to city programs.