Planning commission backs annexation and RSF‑1 zoning for 6701 Windan Drive after residents raise traffic and drainage concerns

The Columbia City Planning Commission recommended approval of annexation and assignment of Residential Single Family Large Lot (RSF‑1) zoning for roughly 17.76 acres at 6701 Windan Drive, after residents urged more notice and asked for traffic, drainage and school‑capacity studies.

Philip Lafridge, owner and developer with the Wilson Company, told the commission the annexation request would effectively downzone the site from Richland County’s general commercial (GC) classification — which he said could allow as many as 277 apartments on the county portion — to a city RSF‑1 designation that yields a maximum of 79 single‑family detached homes. “We are intentionally taking the unit number all the way down to 79,” Lafridge said.

Why it matters: Annexation and zoning determine what kinds of development can proceed and whether future site plans must return to the commission for public review. If the site is annexed under RSF‑1 and later developed for more than 24 units, staff said the developer must submit a major site plan that triggers public hearings and a formal review process.

Neighbors pressed several concerns during public comment. Andy Love, a Wingard Street resident, said the neighborhood “is not complacent with the proposed rezoning” and asked that the city require a Department of Transportation traffic study and an evaluation of groundwater and drainage problems that the area has experienced near Windan/Francis and Pennington Road. "We don't believe the current drainage pond will take care of the drainage off of the new development," Love said.

Other residents, including Justin Marshall of the Yorkshshire neighborhood and Rebecca Thally of Wingard Street, raised school capacity, wildlife impacts and notice procedures. Robert Wright asked whether annexation would change school zoning for local children; staff and the chair said school‑district boundary decisions are made by the school board and would require a separate public process.

Staff provided procedural clarifications: the minimum lot size for RSF‑1 was stated as 15,000 square feet; the draft planning commission agenda is typically posted two Fridays before a meeting and a final agenda the Friday before; legal advertising for the meeting is published 15 days prior; and notices and adjacent‑owner letters for zoning public hearings are sent 30 days before those hearings.

The applicant said the likely primary entrance to the development would be off Windan by the cemetery, not the smaller neighborhood streets, and agreed to meet with neighborhood groups during project design. The developer also noted that postings are handled by the city and not by the applicant.

The commission’s motion to recommend the requested future land‑use classification (Urban Edge Residential Large Lot, UER2) and RSF‑1 zoning at annexation passed on a voice vote; no roll‑call or individual tallies were read into the record. Commissioners repeatedly encouraged residents to participate in the site‑plan review when it is published to raise stormwater, traffic and buffer concerns.

What’s next: If the city proceeds with annexation, the developer must file a site plan for the proposed development; that site plan will be published for public review and will require separate review and hearings before any construction proceeds.