Zoning request for Peppers Nightclub land voted down

COLUMBIA — A motion to recommend general commercial zoning for land that houses Peppers Nightclub was voted down by the Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday night in a 4-3 vote.

Karon Rowe, the owner of the property on the west side of Range Line Street, applied for general commercial zoning that would allow the land to be used for a variety of purposes.

Commissioner David Brodsky said the city does not have a lot of general commercial zoning anymore. “That’s by design,” Brodsky said in the meeting.

The zoning request will now go to the City Council under old business.

Rowe made a similar zoning request in 2003. In that case, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the approval of the request, but the council asked her to instead consider planned commercial zoning, which would give the city input in land usage decisions.

Commissioner Glenn Rice talked about a letter from a resident expressing concern that general commercial zoning could allow the property to be used for live adult entertainment.

“I’m not arguing one way or the other,” Rice said. “But there is a concern, and it seems to be a legitimate one.”

Planning and Development Department staff said in the meeting that per city rules, the land could not be used for live adult entertainment without first being subject to public hearings.

A petition accompanied the request that would allow the land to be annexed into the city. City staff wrote in a memo that the annexation was sensible because the land is surrounded on three sides by city property. The council will decide on the annexation proposal in the future.