Council OKs Locust Street rezoning

COLUMBIA — More than a year after property owner Jon Livingston first asked the City Council to rezone his property on Locust Street, the council voted unanimously on Monday to approve his request.

Livingston wants to redevelop his property to create a mix of businesses and apartment units. Currently, the lots at 1110 and 1112 Locust St. contain eight apartments. Now, his 0.3 acres can also include businesses such as restaurants, exercise facilities and retail stores.

Livingston, who did not attend Monday’s public hearing, has been working on developing the area for new businesses for more than a year. He won approval for rezoning one of his lots — 1109 Locust St. — last fall. His proposal is in line with the Sasaki plan.

Sasaki Associates Inc., a Boston-based consulting firm, presented a plan for redeveloping the downtown corridor in December 2006. Some highlights of the plan are a hotel and conference center, a museum, new parking garages, a mixed-use “garden district” in the Flat Branch area and a parklike redevelopment of Elm Street, which would be extended to connect with College Avenue, as the Missourian previously reported.