For houses in Columbia, Ill., brick is in

My attorney, Greg Hickel, of Crowder & Scoggins, Ltd. in Columbia, IL, gave me a tour recently of this beautiful metro-east community. I remarked over and over about the predominance of brick as an exterior building material in both the older and newer homes. Brick is expensive, but it sure looks great. Today's Post-

Dispatch included the following article about brick in Columbia, IL:

Brick is now officially the preferred building material in Columbia.

The City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday night to approve an ordinance for new subdivisions requiring that 50 percent of the homes have at least three brick sides and 30 percent have at least a brick front. The remaining 20 percent may do without brick.

The action makes Columbia one of the strictest residential building facade regulators in the area. The city already requires multifamily residences to be 100 percent brick.

Alderman Jay Unnerstall brought areawide attention to the ordinance in June when he said it would "prevent Columbia from becoming a sea of vinyl like some places in St. Charles County."

Columbia, with a population around 8,700, is Monroe County's fastest growing city; Monroe County has been the fastest growing county in the Metro East area.

Critics of the ordinance say it is a form of exclusionary zoning that will shut out low-income residents and first-time homebuyers in an attempt to stifle growth.

"It's clear that Columbia doesn't want to grow," said Jerry Rombach, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Greater Southwest Illinois. "In the end, the council wouldn't listen to a vast majority of their residents and businesses."

Rombach also predicts that the ordinance will spread to surrounding communities. "I'm confident that a number of communities will look at this as a tool to stop growth because of this ordinance's success," he said.

Proponents of the ordinance say it will give the city a better appearance and increase property values.

The ordinance applies to new subdivisions only and not to new homes in existing subdivisions. It goes into effect immediately.

The ordinance's passage brings to end a research and approval process that began in the fall of 2004, when Alderman Jim Agne investigated informal complaints about the appearance of vinyl-sided homes. An initial draft of the ordinance called for all new homes to be 75 percent brick. It was later amended to address homebuilder concerns.

A large number of residents and homebuilding professionals voiced concerns to the Columbia Zoning Board of Appeals last month that the ordinance would restrict choices in the homebuilding process.

Mayor Kevin Hutchinson, who voted against the ordinance, said the issue has "been discussed to death."

Alderman Michael Conrad, a staunch supporter of the proposal, placed a brick on his City Council desk as a sign of support.

By Nick Pistor

SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH

01/03/2006