93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The Columbia City Council is moving ahead with a plan to expand Flat Branch Park and create a new Gateway Plaza to downtown.
The expansion plan approved on Monday night will scrap a city-owned parking lot at Broadway and Providence in front of the Columbia Real Estate building. The city manager will work with people in the area over the next two weeks to preserve some parking.
“It seems like there’s a way for both sides to at least get a little bit something more than what is currently on the table,” Councilman Matt Pitzer said.
The council gave unanimous approval to the plan, but some speakers at the public hearing disagreed. Tom Atkinson owns nearby Shiloh bar, and says he already loses business because there’s nowhere to park.
“It’s a mess,” Atkinson said. “I just feel like we can never take parking away from downtown. It’s just too valuable a resource.”
Mayor Brian Treece says officials need to maximize the value of the city-owned property.
“I’m not sure that it was our responsibility to continue to provide parking there,” Treece said. “At the same time, I’m sympathetic to the tenants who assumed, for right for wrong, that that parking lot would always be there.”
Park upgrades should be done in time for the city’s bicentennial in 2021. Staffers say the plan is for private funds to cover the cost of the $1.9 million plus project.
