Columbia board rejects ‘suspect’ zoning change tied to N. Main gas station plans
Columbia planning officials Thursday rejected a change to city law tied to a controversial gas station development, with several board members raising questions about transparency and how narrowly-tailored the rule change appears to be. Columbia City Council will still get to vote on the change.
“I’ve got a couple issues with this. For starters, why?” said Planning Commission co-chair Carlos Osorio at a meeting Thursday. “I find it suspect that we’re only limiting it to one particular type of business here.”
The zoning change is directly connected to plans for a 16-pump Murphy gas station at the corner of North Main Street and Sunset Drive. The project’s developers in pitching the gas station framed the deal as a trade-off: keep the “unsightly” Auto Money Title Loans office that currently sits on the site, or get rid of the title loan and get something new in exchange.
“Circle K was planning to develop around this title loan building that’s currently on the corner … and that is the opposite of what we’re trying to do,” Jason Stern of Stern Development told Columbia’s Board of Zoning Appeals in February. “We are taking this building out.”
At no point during the February zoning board meeting did Stern explain that the title loan would be rebuilt.
City planning officials confirmed to The State in early March that indeed, there were already plans in the works to see the business rebuilt on the property, but it would require a change to city zoning rules.
Residents have said they feel misled about the title loan plans, and planning commission members Thursday echoed that sentiment.
“That kind of bothers me a little, that it’s two bites of the apple kind of thing,” said board member Steve Cook.
Board member Kelsey Foster also raised issues with the rule change, saying it felt narrowly tailored and in contrast with the city’s development goals.
“It just seems really specific,” Foster said.
The gas station plans, and the title loan issue, have become a flashpoint in a debate over the future of North Main Street and the North Columbia gateway at Sunset Drive. Nearby neighborhood associations have sued the city, asking a judge to reverse a February Board of Zoning Appeals decision allowing the gas station development.
Area residents have spoken against the gas station plans, saying the project doesn’t align with the long-range vision for the area, and a 2005 city plan that envisioned a more walkable, vibrant corridor.
In speaking against the zoning change, Earlewood neighborhood association president Meg Southern Syms also questioned rewriting city law for a specific development.
“It appears designed to allow one business to bypass established processes to the detriment of surrounding neighborhoods,” she said.
The rule change was applied for by Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. In a statement shared with The State, Rickenmann said, “The City is facilitating the zoning change to allow for greater flexibility to collaborate with the landowner for future growth.” Rickenmann declined an interview with The State Tuesday.
Two others on city council, Tyler Bailey and Sam Johnson, told The State earlier this week that they were not sponsors of the change and had no knowledge of who had asked for it.
Only city staff or city council can sponsor amendments to the city’s unified development ordinance – the set of codes that regulate development, including through zoning rules – a city spokesperson said.
Because the rule change is backed by the mayor, planning officials questioned whether city council would still pass the rules despite the board’s recommendation.
“It was Council sponsored, so they could very well go ahead and push it through anyways,” Foster told residents Thursday. “I would just say, if anybody has opposition and it does go to city council, I’d encourage you to speak up there, too.”
The Planning Commission can only make recommendations to Columbia City Council, but city council is not obligated to honor those recommendations. Like this past fall, when the city council passed a slate of new restrictions on short-term rentals like Airbnbs, despite the planning board recommending otherwise.
The zoning change could be before the city council by May.
Read our past coverage
- N. Main Murphy gas station pitch promised title loan removal. It may be rebuilt - April 9, 2026
- Neighbors sue Columbia over Murphy gas station approved for North Main - March 31, 2026
- Columbia board punts on gas station design, neighbors raise thousands to fight it- March 20, 2026
- Rejected in 2023, Columbia board approves N. Main gas station, residents opposed - Feb. 9, 2026
