Developer eager to leave taxpayer with lake burden

By FREDERICK VOM SAAL
Columbia Dailly Tribune
Sunday, March 7, 2004

There have been repeated public statements by agents working for the developer of the 489-acre Philips property that water quality in this area will actually be improved by the development. The amount and type of pollutants that will be generated are related to the amount and type of development. Philips farm Tracts 4 through 9 consist of 256 acres proposed for commercial development - including parking lots with 12,000 spaces - that will cover 126 acres, amounting to almost 50 percent impervious surface. Storm-water runoff from all of this commercial development will drain into Tract 3, which contains the 40-acre Philips lake in addition to another 90 acres. Tract 3 is being considered for use as a city park. Columbia City Councilman John John, who is also the real estate agent for the developer, has said: "The water in Philips lake will be cleaner after the development than it is now. I will drink the water."

Council must hear public fears on Philips

By KEN MIDKIFF
Columbia Daily Tribune
Published Friday, March 5, 2004

As could easily have been predicted, Elvin Sapp’s mouthpiece - attorney Dan Simon - said his client’s plans for the 489-acre Philips tract were akin in value to sliced bread. In his presentation to the Columbia City Council on Monday night, he reeled off a number of ways this would improve the area and benefit Columbia citizens.

City can’t risk failure regarding waterways

Published Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Columbia Daily Tribune

Editor, the Tribune: In my mind, Missouri’s wild and scenic rivers such as the Current, the Eleven Point and the Jack’s Fork are the heart of the state. How could we bear to lose them?

Ecological sensitivity crucial in Philips tract development

Published Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Columbia Dailly Tribune

Editor, the Tribune: The critical issue concerning the Philips tract proposed development is not that development occurs here but that the level of development be compatible with the ecological sensitivity of the watershed.

Study open to dispute
Philips property final analysis delayed.

By DAVE MOORE of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, November 23, 2003

The printed word is always subject to interpretation.

Such is the case with the draft version of the CH2MHill review of a storm-water management plan for the development of the 489-acre Philips farm property.

The developer, Elvin Sapp, claims the study is an affirmation that his plan will work, citing the report’s praise for affirming what he has already stated: "The soils have low permeability and the land has been under agricultural use for decades. Frequently, a hardpan forms under areas that have been tilled. In addition, the soil has been compacted by cattle operations."

But four opponents of the development that Sapp is proposing focus on CH2MHill’s mention that a 40-acre lake on the property shouldn’t serve as the cornerstone for removing impurities from storm-water run-off, as Sapp’s study indicates.

Greenbacks vs. Green Space
A city official says harvesting trees on future Wal-Mart site breaks the spirit of the city’s tree ordinance

By SARA LUBBES of the Columbia Missourian,
November 26, 2003

Landowner Bob Smith said he just wanted to harvest some trees.

Last fall, Smith and fellow landowner Hugh Stephenson hired a logger to chop down and sell a substantial number of trees on 53 acres along Grindstone Parkway. That land has since been approved by the Columbia City Council as the site of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter for south Columbia.

While Smith and Stephenson’s logging activities were not illegal, Karl Skala says they certainly were wrong. A member of the city’s Energy and Environment and Planning and Zoning commissions, Skala is spearheading an effort to revise the city’s tree ordinance. He accused Smith and Stephenson of violating the spirit of that ordinance, which is designed to preserve trees, primarily on development sites.

Bond Issue
Sewer upgrade to cost more than $11 million
Residents of one neighborhood seek an end to overflow.

By SARA LUBBES of the Columbia Missourian
October 27, 2003

Residents of the County House Branch neighborhood see toilet paper around their neighborhood a few times a year.

Bond Issue
Smart Growth issues mixed endorsements

Published Monday, October 27, 2003
Columbia Daily Tribune

The Boone County Smart Growth Coalition has come out in favor of city water and county sewer issues on the Nov. 4 ballot but is not endorsing the city’s sewer issue.

Bond Issue
Planning and permission
Benefactors should cover costs of new infrastructure.

By BEN LONDEREE for the Tribune
Published Sunday, October 26, 2003

In this article, The Boone County Smart Growth Coalition makes recommendations regarding payment for infrastructure costs of growth.

Bond Issue
Need for bond issue questioned
City defends upgrades to water, sewer services.

By Dave Moore of the Tribune’s staff
Published Thursday, October 2, 2003

If supporters for the city’s Nov. 4 water and sewer bond issues were expecting an uneventful campaign, they weren’t anticipating last night’s Boone County Smart Growth Coalition meeting.

Bond Issue
Bond issue committee faces difficult task

By Dave Moore of the Tribune’s staff
Published Wednesday, October 1, 2003

A committee assembled to promote Columbia’s water and sewer bond issues in the November election faces three tough chores.

Developer, city to discuss plan for Philips

The talks might alter the current plan for the Columbia land.

BY GAURAV GHOSE
Columbia Missourian, 8/18/2003

Developer Elvin Sapp’s request that the city Planning and Zoning Commission table consideration of his plan for the Philips tract until Sept. 18 foreshadows several weeks of discussions among Sapp, his engineers and city staff.

Philips Proposal goes to P&Z August 21st (postponed)

By Dave Moore of the Tribune’s staff
Published Thursday, August 14, 2003

A 700-unit development planned for Columbia’s south side would leave a heavy footprint for the city’s infrastructure to support.

City funds sought for Philips tract evaluation

A Boone County coalition seeks to hire an expert for analysis.

By Gaurav Ghose
Columbia Missourian, 08/08/2003

The Boone County Smart Growth Coalition is ready to contribute to a fund that would pay for an independent evaluation of the 489-acre Philips tract plan.

Barbara Hoppe, co-chair of the coalition’s steering committee, said during the group’s Wednesday meeting that she has discussed the issue of donations with neighborhood groups closest to the area, concerned environmental groups and citizens.

City parkland
Time for a leap forward

By HENRY J. WATERS III, Publisher, Columbia Daily Tribune
Published Sunday, June 29, 2003

At this moment in history, Columbia has a golden chance to acquire substantial acreage for public recreation south of town. We citizens of this blessed community area should encourage aggressive action toward this end.

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.

Rolling fields of concrete?

Pressure grows on urban fringe.

By DAVE MOORE of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, June 22, 2003

There’s a place in Boone County where calves graze on hills of clover, where storm water disappears down holes that go down forever and where a lake is bluer than the sky.

It lies along Gans Road near Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. The area is close to ideal, and that’s the way the Clear Creek Neighborhood Association wants to keep it.

Tony Davis and Joe Bindbeutel know they live in a sort of paradise. They also know some developers have their eyes on it - again. Davis and Bindbeutel are determined to protect the 489 acres in the center of their neighborhood the best way they know: rallying residents.

Neighbors win some development fights

By STEVE FRIEDMAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, June 22, 2003

The names read like prominent development tombstones: Philips farm, 1994; Windy Point, 2001; Columbia Commons, 2001; Park de Ville, 2003.

Residents get ready for battle
Development is too dense, Philips farm neighbors say.

By LIZ HEITZMAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Thursday, June 19, 2003

Tony Davis began a neighborhood meeting about a proposal to develop the Philips farm with a bit of reminiscing.

"A couple years ago there were about 90 people in this room," Davis said of a neighborhood meeting in 1994 held at his Country Day Camp on Gans Road. The meeting was about a proposal before the Boone County Commission from Bob LeMone and Tom Glosier to develop the Philips property with a mix of residential and commercial uses.

Council to explore joint zoning with county

By DAVE MOORE of the Tribune’s staff
Published Tuesday, June 17, 2003

As Columbia continues to sprawl into rural Boone County, friction is bound to occur between city and county governments.

Philips tract plan breeds new tensions

City officials must balance development and watershed plans.

By GAURAV GHOSE, Columbia Missourian
June 16, 2003

Philips tract developer Elvin Sapp presented a formal request last Thursday to the City Council to annex and rezone the 489-acre property that will include single-family homes, a park, retail developments, townhouses and condominiums, and research and office parks.

Philips farm zoning bid draws fire

Commercial aspect of plan concerns mayor.

By LIZ HEITZMAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Saturday, June 14, 2003

Red flags are already being raised about a formal request filed this week that Columbia annex and rezone a 489-acre tract known as the Philips farm.

Land use plan for watershed prepared
A design for the Philips tract meshes natural features with development.

By ROLF ROSENKRANZ of the Missourian staff
Published March 17, 2003

Red for commercial development. Green for stream buffers. Blue for residential areas.

The different colors of ink on a transparent overlay represent the first draft of a land-use plan for the entire Gans and Clear Creek watersheds.

Park an option for tract
The City Council will decide Monday if it wants to pursue plan.

Fifth Ward Councilman John John, a real estate agent who is representing Sapp, has said the developer will include an option for the city to purchase land on the Philips tract for a park with a 40-acre lake as its centerpiece.

Philips farm could be a model community

Recent articles in the Tribune concerning the pending purchase of the Philips farm seem to offer hope for responsible development of this property. For some time now, the Little Bonne Femme Watershed Partnership group has been advocating "planned development" of this 500-acre tract as part of a comprehensive land-use plan for the entire watershed. This latest proposal could represent an important step toward this goal.

News Archives 2001

News Archives 2002