Story ran on Friday, April 06 2001

With Earth Day two weeks away, Boone County Smart Growth Coalition is gearing up to push for preservation and public acquisition of the Philips Farm.

"This is a major green space," coalition member Alyce Turner said Wednesday night at the coalition’s monthly meeting. "We need to collect names, build a campaign and help preserve the Philips Farm." Turner has drafted a statement on the acquisition.

An aerial view shows the expansive Philips Farm just south of Columbia. R.C. Adams photo

The 500-acre tract, just south of Route AC and west of Highway 63, has been in the limelight since a business development plan was proposed last summer. Local environmental groups are concerned that the development would ruin the natural landscape south of Columbia and that the runoff will have a negative impact on the Clear Creek and Gans Creek watersheds.

"It is our belief that this tract of land is environmentally sensitive, given its close proximity to Rock Bridge State Park and its drainage into Gans and Clear creeks," reads the draft statement that was distributed among coalition members at the meeting.

Northern District commissioner Skip Elkin, who attended the meeting, said public input "weighs heavily on what we can do and how we can assist" and helps the county government form a plan.

As for the Philips tract, "It’ll make a wonderful park," Elkin said.

The land, currently in the county, probably will be annexed into the city of Columbia. The city’s Metro 2020 plan, a non-binding land-use guide, designates the land for commercial or industrial use.

"I think it’ll be wonderful if" the land is "publicly acquired," mayor Darwin Hindman said. "But I have no idea whether it’s going to be possible."

Hindman said the city would soon set a meeting with the property owners of the land. "We’re exploring public acquisition of all or part of it, or whatever we can do," Hindman said.

Financing could be an obstacle. Last fall, the city approved a sales tax increase to purchase the Stephens Lake property. The year before that, city residents extended a sales tax to fund a new recreation center.

Turner said the Smart Growth Coalition is exploring different possibilities, too. She said the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Department of Conservation could be interested in purchasing part of the tract.

"We want to preserve the Philips Farm," Turner emphasized.