The Cambria Hotel has a welcoming entrance at the corner of Lady and Park Streets. | COLAtoday

Cola looking forward

The Columbia Planning and Development Services released its annual report helping our community envision future developments and the work that is being done to make our city more bike and pedestrian friendly.

Today we’ll take a look at the urban design portion of the report focusing on the architectural guidelines and the streetscape plans in our districts. Urban design is more than just aesthetics and focuses on making our urban places more functional, comfortable, and safe for our community.

The City of Columbia has four urban design overlays covering the City Center, Innovista, Five Points, and the North Main Corridor.

City Center Design Overlay District

Since adopting the City Center design plan in 1998, the district has seen revitalized growth in business, development, and in our public spaces. For example, the new Cambria Suites Hotel on Lady Street features a wide sidewalk, shade from street trees, potted plants, and welcoming lighting.

Five Points Design Overlay District

A goal of the Five Points plan is to preserve the village atmosphere of the community, and in 2019 the district got a boost when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The redevelopment project where the Flying Biscuit is located takes full advantage of historic tax credits and the reuse of the historic structure.

Innovista Design Overlay District

The Innovista Master Plan sets guidelines to make new developments in the Vista more pedestrian friendly and support the vision of a revitalized downtown area. Prior to the plan, the Vista was largely undeveloped land, parking lots, and commercial buildings.

North Main Design Overlay District

The North Main area was developed during the 1950s and 1960s during the rise of the automobile, so guidelines are now focused on a pedestrian-friendly design and mitigating the auto-friendly orientation of the buildings. The current plan focuses on site planning + less on architectural guidelines.