Downtown strategic plan & guidelines public open houses scheduled for March 12
February 28, 2025
Mark your calendars – we’re hosting two public open houses on Wednesday, March 12! These drop-in format open houses are a chance to review the draft guidelines, which are a key deliverable of the planning process that have the potential to shape Downtown Columbia’s built environment for years to come.
Both the draft guidelines and draft plan document will be made available on the project website prior to the open house; we’ll be sending a reminder email once they’ve been posted to those of you signed up for our Downtown Columbia email list, so be sure to sign up for that sublist if you want to receive a reminder!
There are two options to engage with the team:
Wednesday, March 12
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center
Lincoln Room
1101 Lincoln Street
About the planning effort
The City of Columbia launched the Downtown Columbia Strategic Plan and Design Guidelines planning process in early 2024. Through this effort, the project team has worked with the Columbia community to discern a refreshed vision for the quality of the built environment Downtown. It has been 25 years since the adoption of the City Center Master Plan and more than 15 years since the adoption of the Innovista Master Plan. In the years since these plans were adopted, much has changed: major infrastructure projects have been completed or are underway, thousands of housing units have been built, the City adopted a new Unified Development Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan (Columbia Compass), the Covid-19 pandemic has shifted the way people use downtowns, and lastly, transportation trends have created new shared and electric alternatives.
This new Strategic Plan for Downtown Columbia will:
- Create a community-driven vision for the public character of Downtown.
- Establish priorities for public policy and public investment in the Downtown built environment.
- Protect the unique character and assets of the historic urban core.
- Form the basis for Downtown Design Guidelines to help shape great public spaces.
More information about the planning process is available on the project website: https://planninganddevelopment.columbiasc.gov/downtown/
