THE TRIBUNE'S VIEW
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.
Developer Elvin Sapp is willing to sell between 132 and 188 acres of the so-called Philips farm, a 490-acre tract he wants to develop. Additionally, the family of Sue Crane is willing to sell its 320-acre farm just to the south of Gans Creek and the Philips farm.
City acquisition of a large acreage in this area would bring several benefits. It would protect the environment by creating a large, permanently permeable area to resist storm-water runoff in the midst of the fragile Bonne Femme watershed, possibly enabling development of Sapp’s land near the corner of Highway 63 South and Gans Road.
But most important in the long run is public ownership of a sizeable acreage in this neighborhood, where city planners long have sought another "regional" park to the southeast, similar in size and scope to our northwest Cosmo area.
As we inevitably become distracted by acquisition details, we should remember the big picture. The retained public land will continue to provide invaluable benefit long after the hassle of making these purchases is forgotten. Of course, city officials should negotiate fair prices, but the bottom line is that any fair price paid today will be ever more of a bargain in the future.
And let’s remember a few other basic facts. The only way for the public to conscientiously acquire parkland or land for any other general public use is for the public to buy it.
Once in a while a benefactor hands over a valuable tract, but the general circumstance involves acquisition at a fair price, which the seller deserves.
At the moment, both the prospective park sites offered to the city are available at the least cost we are likely to see. The goal of city officials should be to move forward with a reasonable deal to buy as much of these properties as possible.
Of course, there are caveats. One is the rezoning request of developer Sapp for the commercial southeast corner of his land near a proposed Highway 63 interchange. He wants straight C-3 zoning allowing more permissive use than the planned-commercial designation typical these days for similar developments. In the natural shoving match between developer and city, Sapp will be willing to cooperate with the city on other aspects of his plan to get the C-3 deal. The city should resist this.
Under planned commercial zoning, the developer is required to get city approval for his project in stages as it is built. These repeated trips to city hall are never favored by developers, who would rather have upfront permission for the array of uses listed in categories such as C-3. But C-3 simply allows too many types of questionable business for that location. By granting that designation, the city would forgo ensuing control.
The city is eager to work with Sapp because he has been progressive and cooperative in his approach to using the controversial site. I hope this spirit will prevail in the most difficult detail of all: the zoning allowance for the hot corner. I believe that if the corner is developed under planned commercial, or C-P, rules, the city will be quite fair in allowing profitable uses. Sapp would rather not rely on this bird in the bush, but in behalf of the general public the city has an interest in seeing a commercial area built with more care than C-3 allows.
After all is said and done, let Elvin Sapp have a profitable development, let the watershed be adequately protected and, most of all from the viewpoint of this small epistle, let the public wind up owning another 500 acres or so of land, a precious community asset.
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Henry J. Waters III, Publisher, Columbia Daily Tribune
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We can win all of our battles if we make the right choices: Choose action over worry. Choose will over won’t. Choose "I can’t do it yet" over "I can’t do it." Choose a career over a job. Choose optimism over pessimism. Choose what you want most over what you want now
. Choose quality over quantity.
- Bob Gilbert, writer
