Columbia City Council on July 21 approved annexation of the Woodstock Mobile Home Park at 3501 New Haven Road and applied permanent RMH (residential manufactured home) zoning and a park plan that includes three design exceptions, council staff said. The action clears the way for the property to connect to the city sewer system and for required road and water improvements.

City staff said the park currently has two noncompliant on-site sewage systems serving about 104 of the 208 sites and that connection to municipal sewer is the preferred remedy. Pat Zenner, development services manager, told the council the annexation and zoning would “eliminate the public health risk” posed by the existing systems and allow water improvements that meet city fire-flow requirements.

The council’s approval keeps the park’s 208 lots intact but grants a set of waivers the applicant sought to avoid increasing impervious area and to retain existing lot dimensions. The waivers cover perimeter buffering, supplemental (overflow) parking and some dimensional standards; staff and the planning commission recommended approval with those exceptions in part because the park has existed in its current configuration since 1977 and many lots are already compliant with RMH standards.

Engineer Christina Lubert, representing the owners, told the council crews had begun a $42,000 contract to remove dead and diseased trees and said, “There is no intention of displacing anyone who is currently there.” She described the owner’s plan to complete surveying and start the final plat and development-agreement process within roughly 60 days, subject to city review.

Council members asked about tenant protections, translation and outreach to residents and the possibility that future owners could redevelop the site. Staff said the RMH park plan and the specific dimensional standards being approved make an immediate wholesale redevelopment unlikely; a later change of use would require a rezoning and substantial new approvals. Staff also said tree and housing code enforcement tools become available only after annexation. The planning commission had recommended unanimous approval, 9–0.

The park plan approval anticipates a development agreement to address timing for required sidewalk and right-of-way work along Warren Drive and New Haven Road; Warren Drive is identified in the city’s roadway plan for a possible future northern extension but any extension is unfunded and undefined. Staff said water and sewer lines will be installed from the New Haven frontage through the park, and that the plat must be recorded and the park created as a legal lot before additional building permits can be issued. Tree removal and initial pothole repairs were underway at the time of the council meeting.

No separate vote was required on a management or tenant-contract issue; staff said landlord-tenant communications and leasing are private contractual matters outside the council’s rezoning criteria but that the city will be able to enforce code requirements after annexation. The ordinance and zoning change became effective following a roll-call vote approving Council Bill 15025.