Say No to Columbia Bluffs!

Please help us by signing this petition to show our community leaders that we as a community say NO to Columbia Bluffs!  Please share this and help spread the word.

My name is Gabe Howard and I am running for County Commissioner in the 8th District and live close to this proposed annexation.  We must come together as a community and stop this uncontrollable growth as it will have consequences.  Growth Must Pay For Growth! 

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You can help by signing this petition, sharing the petition with others, and showing up on May 11th at 4:00PM and let your voices be heard against it!  

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An ENORMOUS development is planned for Bear Creek Pike near the intersection of Hwy 31. It encompasses nearly 400 acres and intends 1,400 new apartments, townhomes, and homes. The development is situated between two bodies of water, Bear Creek and the Duck River. It spans well over a mile of the Duck River. Public resources show Kolter Land Developers in Tampa, Florida purchased the land last month for $10,000,000 (ten million) BEFORE approval from our Planning Commission and annexation. Is this a bold gamble or is it a sure thing for Kolter?

This is one of many developments the Planning Commission is reviewing. We should all be asking some serious questions of our Commissioners, City Council, and City Mayor. Is a hub of high density housing what Columbia residents want for our city? Is Bear Creek Pike at Hwy 31 already too congested? Is Columbia infrastructure ready for this many new residents? Are our schools? Emergency response teams? Water resources? Electricity? Does this size development affect the ecological system of our river and sizable creek? Pollutants? 

There are many that say we “can’t stop development”. Agreed. But no one agrees that means we can burden the taxpayers and drastically change our community without any thought for the hardships imposed on the rest of us. This development will increase the single-family residential units of Columbia by almost ten percent. The costs to the taxpayers for schooling, water, sewer, roads, a new bridge over the Duck River on Iron Bridge Road, all to name just some of the expected expenditure, could stretch easily into the tens, but maybe into the hundred million range or more. Who will shoulder that expense? The residents of this county. What will the out-of-state corporate owner do? Profit and move on. This is not fair. It will change our community forever, not to mention burden our children with having to pay for it.