Parcel near Philips tract on city table
Crane farm viewed as ‘permeable’ asset.

By DAVE MOORE of the Tribune’s staff
Published Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Sue Crane’s family has farmed the rolling hills of southern Boone County since 1873.

That’s why she was in great conflict when she wrote the letter to Columbia officials, asking them if they’re interested in buying the Crane farm.

Crane’s suggestion, which arrived during a Columbia City Council work session yesterday, tossed a curveball into what would have been a straightforward council discussion about buying a portion of the Philips farm property.

Developer Elvin Sapp attended the meeting in a conference room at the Daniel Boone Building, as council members discussed ideas for purchasing a portion of the 490-acre Philips tract, which Sapp has proposed as the site for a housing development and commercial use.

One plan suggested by Sapp would sell 132 acres for a city park at a price of $2.1 million; another would sell the city 188 acres for $3 million; a third proposal suggests the city buy 249 acres for about $5 million. The Parks & Recreation Department is considering a fourth alternative - the purchase of 153 acres, though no dollar figure was named.

A 40-acre lake - which would serve to catch runoff from the development - is in all four proposals, as is the development of an interchange where commercial business could locate. Sapp, meanwhile, would also develop the land for a housing development.

The city is attracted to the financial benefits of such a development. Commercial development off of Highway 63 could help the city pay off the land in a few years, said Mayor Darwin Hindman and City Manager Ray Beck.

But the development is raising red flags among property owners and environmentalists. Opponents say the city shouldn’t assist in developing ecologically sensitive land. The land is situated between the Gans and Clear creeks, which feed the Little Bonne Femme watershed that includes Rock Bridge State Park.

Last night, Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman said he viewed Crane’s suggestion as a potential solution to the predicament about the Philips tract.

Hindman said the addition of the Crane property, if only used as parkland, could add to the total land area with unpaved surfaces.

Impermeable surfaces - such as blacktop or cement - are the bane of environmentalists, because they don’t offer the filtering quality of plants, which absorb rainfall, and slow drainage of storm water.

The thought of as much as 320 acres of rolling farmland south of the Philips farm appealed to Hindman.

Hindman, Beck and the city council all expressed an interest in attempting to purchase at least a portion of the Philips property and the Crane property, which abuts Rock Bridge State Park to the east.

But one major question remained unsettled last night. How much does Crane’s family want for the land?

"I don’t know yet," Crane told the Tribune. After the meeting, which Crane didn’t attend, Hindman said he thought the per-acre price of the Crane property would be lower than the Philips property price, because it is farther from a Highway 63 interchange.

Crane said she and her family members, who own portions of the Crane tract, would wait until the city contacted them before setting a price. And the family will likely sell the land in one piece, or it won’t be sold at all. Her letter to the city indicated she would prefer to sell the land as a park, but the decision would have to be made by her and eight family members.

"We will not continue to farm this land as we become further surrounded by an urban setting," Crane wrote in her letter to Beck. She told the Tribune that, as Gans Road - which runs along the northern border of her property - gets as busy as Nifong Boulevard is now, it will become more and more difficult to farm.

"I’d love to be a millionaire and be able to donate the land," Crane said. Crane said her family would still like to farm, and they’re pondering relocating to do so. "The county is pushing ordinances that are making it tougher to farm," she said.

The city, meanwhile, kicked around funding options for buying the Philips tract, without raising taxes. Options under consideration include drawing from the department’s eighth-cent park sales tax or drawing funds from other park programs.

Sapp, who attended the meeting with his lawyer, declined to comment.

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Reach Dave Moore at (573) 815-1708 or dmoore@tribmail.com.
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