 Good afternoon, welcome Planning Commission members, staff, and guests. Multiple staff members are here today to ensure that the Planning Commission meeting runs smoothly and all applicants and members of the public are able to participate in the meeting at the appropriate times. If you are here today and would like to speak about a case, please provide your name clearly into the microphone and please be sure to sign in either at the back of the room or at the podium for documentation purposes. If you're here today to speak about a case, you must speak up when the chairperson calls for public comment. And I'll do a quick roll call. Mr. Cohn. Here. Mr. Cook. Here. Ms. Davis. Here. Mr. Hart. Present. Mr. Osorio. Here. And Ms. Thomas. Here. We have a quorum. I'll give a brief overview of the meeting format. So applicants with requests before the Planning Commission are allotted a presentation time of 10 minutes. This time should include but is not limited to an overview of the project, case history and any pertinent meetings held regarding the request. This time also includes all persons presenting information on behalf of the applicant, such as attorneys, engineers and architects. The time limit does not include any questions asked by the Planning Commission or staff regarding requests. And during the public comment period, members of the general public are given the opportunity to address their concerns in intervals of 2 minutes. After the public comment period, applicants will have 5 minutes to respond. The administrator has a timer and will make presenters aware of when their time has expired. The Planning Commission reserves the right to amend these procedures on a case-by-case basis. And at this time, are there any changes to the agenda? There has been one change since publication. Case number 6, which was S-Plan-2024, 500 Block of Spears Creek Church Road, which was a site plan, major site plan review has been deferred. And other than that, the agenda stands. All right. The Planning Commission uses the consent agenda to approve non-controversial or routine matters by single motion and vote. Examples of such items include approval of site plans, annexations and street names. If a member of the Planning Commission or general public wants to discuss an item on the consent agenda, you must speak up after the consent agenda is read. Then that item is removed from the consent agenda and considered during the meeting. The Planning Commission then approves the remaining consent agenda items. Will staff please read the consent agenda? Certainly. First is the approval of the February 8th, 2024 minutes. Second, under future land use map amendment and zoning map amendment for appending annexation is annex dash 2024 dash 0003, 2.65 acres on the south side of Jacobs Mill Pond Road. This is a request for recommendation on the assignment of the land use classification of urban edge residential large lot UER2 and the assignment of zoning of a planned development district for appending annexation. The property is currently classified as neighborhood medium density and zoned plan development by Richland County. We'll trouble with the slides. No worries. Sorry. Is there anyone here to speak about the Jacobs Mill Pond Road property? Seeing none, we'll continue. Okay. The next case is annex dash 2024 dash 0004 500 Spears Creek Church Road request recommendation on the assignment of the land use classification of urban edge community activity center UEAC1 and the assignment of zoning of institutional general district INS Gen for appending annexation. The property is currently classified as neighborhood medium density and zoned light industrial M1 by Richland County. All right. Are there any members of the Planning Commission or members of the public who would like to speak about the Spears Creek Church Road property? Seeing none, we can continue. The next case is annex dash 2024 dash 0005 4543 Broad River Road request recommendation on the assignment of the land use classifications of community activity corridor AC2 and urban edge mixed residential UEMR and the assignment of zoning of employment campus district EC and residential mixed district RM2 for appending annexation. The property is currently classified as mixed use corridor and mixed residential high density and zoned residential six R6 by Richland County. All right. Again, are there any members on the Commission or members of the public who would like to speak about the Broad River Road property? Yes. Yes. My name is Jason Corsi here to speak on behalf of Broad River in favor of rezoning it to EC employment, lives employment campus for the front half. We find there's a lack of affordable small business space. Sorry. We're just. Go ahead. Are you? Oh, for it. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Let me just clarify if there's anyone that would like to speak for it's automatically on here for it. If it's in opposition, that's what we're looking for, but I do appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. I think we can move in opposition to the next next case. Next is case 5 annex dash 2024 dash 006 1101 Kenley Road request recommendation on the assignment of the land use classification of community activity corridor AC 2 and the assignment of zoning of community activity center corridor district CAC for appending annexation. The property is currently classified as neighborhood medium density and a priority investment area and zoned residential transition by rich Richland County. All right. Are there any commission members or members of the public who would like to speak about the Kenley Road property? All right. We can continue. Okay. And since case 6 was deferred case number 7 is SN dash 2024 dash 001 a street name request name a street within the 4600 block of Percival Road Clothing World Drive. The properties are zoned RM1 residential mixed district and M1 light industrial within Richland County. And is there anyone here who would like to speak about this street name request? And finally case number 8 is SN dash 2024 dash 002 a street name request name a street within the Astoria subdivision Astoria Drive. The property is zoned RM1 residential mixed district. And last but not least is there anyone here to speak about this street name request? And I don't see any comments from commission members. Seeing none, I'm going to take a motion on the minutes last month's last month's meeting minutes and the consent agenda. Mr. Chairman, I motion that we approve the February 8th 2024 minutes and the consent agenda. That's printed. Thank you. Can we get a second? Second. All right. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Any opposed? I just have it. You move to the regular agenda. The planning commission will now for the regular the planning commission will now move forward with those items on the regular agenda. And we'll use the following outline for regular agenda items. The administrator will introduce the case. The applicant will have 10 minutes to make a presentation. Planning Commission may ask questions. Public comment period will be open to those present. The public comment period will then be closed and the applicant will have five minutes to respond to the public comments. Then the planning commission may ask additional questions of the applicant to which deliberation and action by the planning commission will follow. This brings us to our first item early this brings us to our first case on the regular agenda which is S plan 2024001 at 2109 through 2121 Sumter Street 1212 through 1222 Scott Street and 2110 and 2120 Main Street various TMS numbers. This project entails the construction of a plus or minus 103,000 square foot two building four-story multifamily mixed use development on 2.32 acres on the south side of Scott Street between Main Street and Sumter Street. The proposed building will contain 102 units, 61 bedroom studio units, 81 bedroom units, 82 bedroom units, amenity space and surface per parking lot. The applicant is proposing 1800 square feet of commercial space for retail or office use. The required off-street parking spaces for this development is zero whereas the applicant is providing 91 service parking spaces and nine on-street parking spaces. The applicant has provided a traffic impact study that has been reviewed and approved by the City of Columbia's traffic engineer as well as SEDOT and if the commission is inclined to grant this site plan approval, we would request that they do so with staff comments and I believe the applicant is present and can explain their case further if there is no more questions for staff. Thank you. Do any of the commission members have questions of the amendment for staff? And I have one question for you to just to be clear, today is purely to evaluate site plan itself. But it's correct. Okay. The use has been determined to be multifamily and it is approved in this zoning district. And this will just to make sure I understand there's two, are there two zoning districts here? There is. And it's the uses in both? Correct. Okay. All right. Is the applicant here to speak about the project? Good afternoon. My name is Hunter Shealy. I'm a civil engineer with the land plan group located here in Columbia and we're excited to be a part of this multifamily next use development which includes 102 apartment units, a resident center as well as a leasable retail commercial space. I would like to thank city staff for their comments and recommendation for site plan approval. We see new issues meeting the conditions noted in their case summary review and look forward to progressing this project on behalf of the applicant, I'll be happy to answer questions if you have any now or later. If none at this time, I'd like to introduce the owner agent Lauren Taylor to give an additional overview of the project. Thank you. Good afternoon commissioners. Many we're excited to be here to present the project the Woodley. My name is Lauren Taylor and I'm an owner's representative and I'm here to give a history of the public questions. I live in Elmwood Park right across from the proposed project and I'm excited to be a part of the project. I'm joined by two colleagues, Lisa Persaud, my fellow owner's representative and Dylan Goff which is our legal counsel. Although we've been very flattered by positive feedback in the media and from the public at large, we are aware that some neighbors have expressed concern about the project. So I think it's critical that we start with a statement of fact so that there's no risk of false information. We're proposing a multifamily apartment complex just like the nearly complete Benton crossing apartments up the road and just like the next door project which you approved in January. We've worked closely with various city teams to design and refine the project and we're honored that the city staff has recommended approval with staff comments. We've worked importantly in addition to meeting all the technical requirements, this project will look and operate just like any other apartment building. It will be professionally managed and maintained, leases are long-term only, customary resident screening standards will be applied, customary community rules and guidelines will be in place such as limitations on noise, social gatherings and cleanliness like you would expect in any apartment community or HOA. We plan to offer typical resident services like free Wi-Fi for residents and coffee in the mornings. So the core question today before the commission is do we meet the city's requirements for development? The answer resoundingly is yes. Not only is our project in full compliance with the city's master plan but it's also consistent with all of the recently approved projects for the Main Street corridor. As for the community members in attendance today, first I want to say thank you. We've had many meetings with you both formal and informal, large groups and small, in-person and via email and we've really tried to listen to and incorporate your suggestions into our plan. As you can see in the submission packet, the design and aesthetics of this project has really improved thanks to your feedback. We wouldn't have reached such an attractive design without your help. Second, during our many meetings, in addition to hearing your constructive and helpful feedback, we've also heard you ask questions or express concerns about who might live in these apartments. Our messaging has remained consistent since our first meeting in 2022 but again, we want to be exceptionally clear to you that we are building a normal multi-family apartment building. Since you've expressed these concerns, we want to ally your fears. If you're worried that this is a homeless shelter, it is not. If you're worried that this is a transient living facility, it is not. If it's a soup kitchen, it is not. If it's a rehab treatment facility, it is not. If you're worried that this will be a center for social programs that will attract outside non-residents, it is not. While these are wonderful social causes, we are not experts in these areas and it's not what we do. What this is is a normal apartment building. Just like any other apartment building, our minimum lease term will be one year, all residents must meet normal rental qualification standards and follow normal apartment complex guidelines for being good neighbors. Simply put, we're proposing to invest more than 30 million into upgrading the neighborhood, transforming an empty crime-bredden lot into a brand-new apartment complex. Finally, after our last board meeting that we attended with Cottontown, I would like to make sure that you don't misunderstand my replies to questions you may ask. Fair Housing Law is exceptionally clear. As a real estate professional, it is illegal for me to take any actions or make any statements about who can or cannot live in our buildings. We're building great housing and we will rent it to qualified applicants regardless of race, color, age, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, military status, family status, or source of income. These rules apply to every developer in the United States, period, no debate. So when you have to ask questions about what types of residents will live in our homes, it's not a question that we are willing or able to answer. This is not because we're trying to be difficult or evasive, it's because it's the law. My answer will be the same for anything that you may ask about who might live here. Just like every developer on every project, we genuinely welcome all qualified applicants and we will treat everyone fairly and equally. Commissioners, I'm grateful for your time today and we're grateful for the opportunity for the Woodley to be a small part of a much larger rebirth of the Main Street corridor. My team and I are delighted to answer questions around the submission that you may have. Thank you. Are there any more presenters on behalf of the applicant? I'll be very brief because I think Lauren covered everything, but my name's Dylan Goff. I'm the owner's legal counsel. My family owned Dylan Goff. Thank you. And my family owned and operated a florist on North Main Street for 80 years. I went to preschool at Park Street Baptist Church. So when I was approached to be part of this project, I was very excited to see some renovation and renewal in that part of town. Thank you. Thank you. Do any of the Planning Commission members have any questions for the applicant? I have someone save them. At this time, I guess there are members of the public who would like to speak for or against the project. We'll take those when you come up. If you could please state your name and speak into the microphone. We would appreciate it. Good afternoon. My name is Denise Wellman. I am president of Cotton Town and want to first start by thanking you for all that you do on behalf of our great city. You should have received a letter from Cotton Town dated the 12th of March. I want to confirm that you've seen that letter. OK, thank you. I want to state again that we are against this project for the reasons stated in our letter. And members of other downtown neighborhoods stand with us against this project. I'm asking the members of Cotton Town and the other downtown neighborhoods to stand so that we can publicly show you that we are against this project. Thank you all. What some members of Ghost Rider have spun with the media this week is not consistent with what members, other members of Ghost Rider have shared with our neighborhood for the last 17 months. In fact, I have about two and a half hours of meeting minutes here on this device between Cotton Town and Ghost Rider, providing evidence that either members of Ghost Rider are not on the same page about this project or that they do not feel that they need to provide the full truth in order for a project to be approved. I understand that your time today is extremely valuable and I won't play this for you today, but I'm glad to leave it with you. We are simply asking that you take the time to seek the truth about what is really planned for the land that Ghost Rider wants to build on. We want we've been trying for 17 months to get consistent, clear and honest answers to our questions that the development right next door answered all those questions for us. So why are we not sharing information about this project? Above all, thank you for your time and we do stand against this project. And I will leave this with Rosendo in case you need it. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I have a question for Ms. Wildman. Can I ask her right now? Yes. Would you mind coming back up? Excuse me, Ms. Wildman. Thank you. Good afternoon. Just want to say thank you for your time for joining us today. It's hard to hear. We would do better. I'll speak up a little louder. Ms. Wildman, my question, you said that the, you said that the Cotton Town Bill of the historic district opposes. My question is what specifically do you oppose? Is it, are you against the multi-family apartment unit? I think the important question is that we haven't gotten straight answers about what they're planning to put there. And the media presence this week has made it even more confusing because what some members of Ghost Rider are saying they're going to put on this project is very different than what has been told to the neighborhood for the last 17 months. So we understand that multi-family is permitted, but we would argue that you don't really know what is being planned for this project. Okay, thank you. Sure. So if you don't mind, just if I could expand on that a little bit. Like, so as commissioners, we've presented with, I'm not sure how many pages that proposal was, but that's kind of what is going to go. What we're asked to approve today is that site plan. Sorry. What we're asked today is to approve that site plan. So I guess my question is, how do we know beyond what they're giving us as they're planning to do? I mean, that seems to me it's pretty spelled out and it's required by the city to be spelled out. I just wonder what the confusion is. I think it's a fair question. We've been trying to get straight answers for 17 months as well. Quite frankly, we don't trust these people because they have lied to us for the last few months. And today, even what Ms. Taylor provided was very different than what they provided to the neighborhood on the 1st of February. So why can't we just honestly talk about what this project is? If it's such a great project, a great multifamily project, if they're so interested in helping us develop Main Street, which is a main focus of our neighborhood, we want to work with the city to develop Main Street, then why do we keep getting different answers to what they're trying to build? I have a question for staff. We have the site plans, correct? You do. Are they available for? Oh, we've seen them. So we can only approve the site plan, correct? So if it's not that, then it's... We understand. We are just publicly letting you know what we have dealt with for the last 17 months, okay? And just, I guess, for staff to piggyback on that, if any changes to these current plans are made, they'll have to be re-approved or come back before the... It depends on how substantive the changes are. So changes to the something dramatic to the site plan would bring it back. But if the entire plan was a change, it would come back. If it's not what they're saying, it's going to be correct. Thank you for clarifying that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're done? Yes. I'm Jim Daniel. I'm a commercial real estate broker. I've done a number of deals in the Cotton Town area. The big issue, and I'm running into this right now, three different projects I'm dealing with in the City of Columbia. Nobody in zoning or planning is asking the right question, i.e. I'm working with the Wheeler Hill Development, of which I'm the president of the Neighbor Association. The city is approving five-bedroom rental. We believe rental houses in Wheeler Hill with only two parking places. Nobody is asking, is this going to be rental? Where are the other three cars going to park in a neighborhood that is stressed already? The problem right now is everybody on the city staff has got their head in the sand. They may argue they can't ask these questions, but the problem is, you're approving things that have major issues, that's the issue. Nobody's asking, what is this actually going to be? I think that'd be a good comment. Is this going to be a residential care facility, for example? I think that'd be a good comment to address with council. We're not here for that. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks. Is there anyone else who would like to speak for or against this project? My name is Jeff Session. I've lived in Cotton Town since 1987, and my question is very specific to if what they have presented in the media and very carefully planned their release of information to the public this week does not turn out to be how that property is used. Forget the design. If the design is the same thing that you see here, but it is used differently than they presented, what's the ramifications to that? So what recourse in other words would there be? That's a fair question. That's I think one of the things that we look for in a lot of these project plans when we look at them. So specific to that question, if it's an allowable use within the zoning classification, then the only place to take that up would be at City Council. Our purview is not. We can't sit here and assume it's a conspiracy. But does that then become a legal issue or is there a procedure in place that should that occur that we come back to the table and have a further conversation? Presumably if you went to council, you would have to amend allowable uses. Now there are special uses that require exceptions so that there are things that you may be concerned with. Within those, they would have to go to Board of Zoning Appeals to be allowed a special exception or even be heard for one to which would have public input and comment again. Mr. Chairman, if I may, if there is a change. I mean, we have plans in front of us now that again, if they are, if they build exactly what they build, they come in, they get permits and things of that nature. If they switch the use to a residential care facility, that would come to our office. We would look at it and they would have to go through the proper channels in order to put that use there, whether or not it's a special exception, whether or not they have to do a rezoning, all those types of things. So right now, what we're looking at is an apartment, facility, multi-family, and if they change that, that would go through a review. Perfect. Yes. Fair enough. That's what I was trying to get. Yeah. And I would just like to say, I appreciate everyone who's come to speak for or against the issue here. What we're tasked with specific to this particular item is the site plan itself. There is the DDRC to determine what the building and facility looks like. If there's any material changes to the site plan, it comes back. If there's any attempt to use a use that's not allowed, there are measures in place, like Mr. Chamber said, to bring that up. And if it's a special use that's allowed that requires an exception, that requires an audience with public input, and that would be a Board of Zoning Appeals. I know this is a sensitive subject, Chloe, that's why everybody's here, but our task today is to look at it purely from a site plan standpoint. And I am sensitive to the fact that this is a gateway corridor coming into the city. And I think it represents a significant improvement to what's there now. But as far as the use, and how they intend to use it, we have to presume it is what it is on face value, and if they choose to do something other than that, then there are measures in place to handle that. Are there any other commissioners that have any other comments or questions for staff or the applicant? Not only are there this many people, we get a lot more. So, I'm going to sell that out and consider a motion. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a motion to approve as planned, 2024001, 2109-2121, 1212-1222, Scott Street, 2110, and 2120 Main Street. I'll take that. Would you add in the public or staff comments? And approve staff comments, yes. Thank you. May I have a second? Second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you all. And then is there any other business? We do have one little item of other business. Sadly for us, Skye Robinson-Varnes, our land use board coordinator, is leaving us for a different opportunity. So I just wanted to say goodbye and give y'all a chance to say goodbye to her and thank you for all that she's done for us for the last few years, so we're sad. Thank you, Skye. A few words, speech, speech. That's it, Skye. Goodbye, I'm gone. That's all I had. Is that it? Well, with that, we will entertain a motion to adjourn. I'll make a motion to adjourn. You get a second. Second. All those in favor? Aye. None opposed? Meeting is adjourned.