Just over three and a half years since the City of Columbia announced plans to create a new comprehensive plan to guide the next 25 years of community growth, a draft version of the plan is finally ready for public review. 

The city’s current comprehensive plan was adopted in 2005.

During last Monday’s meeting of the Columbia City Council, Mayor Bob Hill announced the city’s latest comprehensive plan will be discussed during a Dec. 9 hearing held by the Columbia Plan Commission.

A public notice about this hearing ran on page 1C in the Nov. 20 issue of the Republic-Times.

The planning process was announced in April 2021, with work beginning that September during a series of in-person and online engagement events and surveys. 

Initially, the process was expected to take about one year to complete, but has since been delayed several times. 

A shortage of city staff in early 2022 – including  the February retirement of Columbia Assistant to the City Administrator Sue Spargo and departure of a code enforcement staffer in the city’s now-defunct community development department – led the city to adjust its timeline and  amend its contract with Shockey Consulting Services to expand the firm’s involvement in creation of the comprehensive plan.

In June 2022, the city planned to have the process complete in March 2023, along with plans to overhaul the city code to coincide with implementing the new comprehensive plan.

The plan was somewhat put on hold as the city waited on a vote on “home rule” status, which would have had a drastic impact on planning. 

That referendum was defeated by a nearly three-to-one margin in April 2023.

The plan was still not ready by May 2023, and those efforts were further stymied by the termination of former Columbia Community Development Director Scott Dunakey.

As previously reported, Dunakey, who had acted as lead coordinator of comprehensive plan efforts, said he was verbally informed the “city council had lost confidence in my ability to serve in my position.”

Dunakey further claimed the firing stemmed from his refusal to omit phrases and other sections which included the word “diverse” or “diversity” – including the sentence “Promote diversity in all aspects of our community.”

He also says he refused to omit the phrase “small apartment structure” and the sentence “Accessory dwelling units often support populations with lower income levels or those looking to downsize yet maintain independent living,” in the plan’s “Neighborhoods & Housing” section.

Columbia City Administrator Doug Brimm told the Republic-Times Dunakey’s removal was more about the perceived lack of progress on the plan.

“The primary concern was the draft would not serve as a functional comprehensive plan. It seemingly focused more on social issues, rather than serving as a guide for the city’s development and growth for the next 20 years,” Brimm said at the time, also addressing the housing concerns, saying it “was not reflective of the community’s character”  and “failed to address areas in which the city should be promoting residential/commercial/industrial growth.”

Subsequent to Dunakey’s termination, the city disbanded its community development department, reassigning responsibilities to different departments.

Since last November, there has not been much talk about the comprehensive plan, other than brief mentions that the city would like to have its municipal code overhauled ahead of plan completion.

The public will now get a chance to see the plan which has been three years in the making. 

While there is not a version on the city website as of press time, a copy of the plan is currently available for public review during regular business hours at the Columbia City Clerk’s Office inside city hall, 208 S. Rapp Avenue. 

The plan will be discussed Dec. 9 during a Columbia Plan Commission meeting set for 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. 

The public is encouraged to attend.