COLUMBIA — A new residential development planned for Columbia’s east side will be on hold for a bit longer. On Monday night, the City Council tabled the proposal for the annexation and rezoning of the land until its March 16 meeting.
Applicants Heartland Woods LLC and William and Neva Powell requested the council postpone consideration of the bill that would annex and rezone their 48-acre property for single-family residential use.
The property is currently in the county and is zoned as agricultural-residential and designated to allow the construction of homes on lots of at least a half-acre.
The property lies off the northwestern tip of the Old Hawthorne development that has been under way for some time. The new zoning would open the door to even more homes in the rapidly developing area bordered roughly by Route WW on the south, an extension of Rolling Hills Road on the west and Richland Road on the north.
The bill's rezoning designation is consistent with the city’s Metro 2020 land-use plan, and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended with a 6-1 vote at its Jan. 8 meeting that the council approve it. Minutes of that meeting show only commissioner David Brodsky opposed the request, saying he didn’t feel comfortable with zoning in the area until more details about planned street connections emerge.