At its April 10 meeting the City Council of the City of Columbia approved the consent agenda, adopted multiple resolutions and advanced several ordinances in actions that were largely unanimous.

Key outcomes at a glance

- Consent agenda (items 7.1–7.12): Approved. The consent package included approval of $6,516,628.22 in disbursements for February 2025 (7.1), contract awards for police uniforms and professional services, fee revisions for employee assistance services, and construction and lease contracts for capital projects and equipment (7.2–7.12).

- Item 8.1 (administration): Denial of request for a three-month extension to a certificate of compliance for 2479 Nashville Highway (applicant Nilesh Patel). Motion to deny carried by council vote.

- Resolutions (section 9): Council approved multiple resolutions including acceptance of sewer improvements for Rock Springs Road (Res. 25-22), Bear Springs Phase 1 (Res. 25-23), the city’s strategic plan Columbia 25 Through 28 (Res. 25-24), a $75 property-tax relief cap for eligible elderly low-income homeowners (Res. 25-25), designation of official local newspapers (Res. 25-26), several other sewer/street acceptance resolutions and a TDOT/GNRC prioritization request for widening I-65 from I-840 to Bear Creek Pike (Res. 25-31).

- Ordinances (section 10): Council approved second consideration of a rewrite of Article 4 (building lot and site standards) in the zoning ordinance (ordinance 45-36) and of Article 9 definitions (ordinance 45-38). Council also amended and approved ordinance 45-41 addressing short-term rental standards (see separate story). The council approved an amendment to the development services fee schedule (ordinance 45-37) to align STR permit fees with the administrative permitting approach.

Roll-call and procedure

Most actions were moved, seconded and adopted on roll-call votes with the clerk recording “Aye” votes from members present. On items with extensive public comment (notably the STR ordinance) the council considered and adopted amendments before final passage.

What the approvals do

- Capital and contracts: The consent items authorize contracts and expenditures for infrastructure, equipment leases and professional planning and design services affecting multiple wards and municipal projects.

- Planning and zoning: The ordinance approvals update the city’s zoning definitions and standards and adjust the fee schedule to reflect administrative permitting for STRs rather than conditional-use review before the Board of Zoning Appeals.

- Fiscal relief: Resolution 25-25 establishes a maximum $75 property-tax relief for qualifying elderly low-income homeowners for 2025.

Next steps

Staff will implement the ordinances and contracts approved tonight, issue permit guidance under the revised development fee schedule, and begin administrative processing of STR permits under the terms adopted by council. Several items include follow-up tasks for Development Services and Public Works.