Correction appended

Some members of the Columbia City Council last night said they felt more like judges in a divorce court than elected officials as they took up the issue of a group of business owners north of downtown seeking to separate themselves from their assigned neighborhood association.

A group of 67 individuals, many of them business owners, say the North Central Columbia Neighborhood Association does not represent their interests. Most objectionable to the business owners is an effort to beef up the review process for modifications to properties in the area, which some business owners view as an extra layer of bureaucracy that could slow down development projects and make them more expensive.

After hours of discussion and debate on the matter, the council voted last night, in an unprecedented move, to recognize the business group as a neighborhood association within a neighborhood association.

The newly formed group will be known as the Shoe Factory District Neighborhood Association, named for the former Hamilton-Brown Shoe Factory north of downtown on Wilkes Boulevard, now owned by Tom Atkins.

The recognition of such a group might have unforeseen future ramifications and raises numerous questions for the council and city staff.

During the discussion, council members agreed they would need to look at the fundamentals of why neighborhood associations exist and likely launch a complete overhaul of the regulations by which these associations are formed, dissolved and used as extensions of city government.

"We’re going to have to go back and look at neighborhood association policies. That’s pretty clear," said Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala, who compared the quarrel between the groups to the Hatfield and McCoy feud of the late 1800s.

The two factions within the north-central area recently butted heads over the proposed creation of an "urban conservation overlay district" that would have a hand in regulating development.

The group, made up of business owners and others represented by attorney Phebe LaMar, said it would like to withdraw from the association.

The council came to the conclusion that there was no legal mechanism within the current rules to grant that request and deliberated about whether to recognize the group as a business association or a neighborhood association.

Dan Cullimore, vice president of the NCCNA, said recognizing this separate group would strike a blow at participatory government.

"How can they be represented" by the neighborhood association "if they never show up?" Cullimore asked.

"In 15 years," he added, "only two or three of those petitioning have ever bothered to participate openly. … This opens the door to splintering neighborhood associations in two. If this group has its own interests, let them join the fray on the NCCNA. There’s a remedy if they do not agree. It’s called a vote."

Larry Grossmann, elected vice chairman of the Shoe Factory District, said he had attended an NCCNA meeting and was met with "unkind" words.

"On the positive side, there is the perception that we are formed over a single issue, but we intend to be around for a long time," Grossmann said. "We’re going to take a position on a number of issues" and could be "standing shoulder to shoulder with the NCCNA as two powerful voices."

LaMar said this morning that, ideally, the council would have allowed the Shoe Factory District to withdraw entirely from the NCCNA but the group is happy with the decision.

As a neighborhood association, the Shoe Factory District is open to all property owners, tenants, business owners and those with an interest in the neighborhood, LaMar said.

In a work session later this year, Fourth Ward Councilman Jerry Wade said, the council will examine regulations for neighborhood associations and consider making changes.

SECOND THOUGHTS: Wednesday, October 8, 2008

A news story yesterday about the Shoe Factory District Neighborhood Association incorrectly said the group’s representative, Larry Grossmann, attended a meeting of the North Central Columbia Neighborhood Association, where he was met with "unkind" words. Grossmann said in an e-mail those words were spoken at a Columbia City Council meeting.

Advertisement

Get your brain and body in shape. Food Wednesdays, Pulse Sundays and Sports daily. 13 weeks of everyday delivery for as little as 29¢ a day. Get the Tribune. Get a lot.