Harden Street house rezoned after months-long dispute

Columbia City Council has rezoned a 100-year-old Harden Street house that sparked a lengthy dispute over residential zoning and student housing.  

The Spigner-Witten house stands at 427 Harden St., one block out of Five Points. The 4,200-square-foot property was zoned RM-1, or residential mixed-use. Neighbors were worried it could be purchased by a developer and converted into student housing as it’s near the University of South Carolina and the zoning would permit it.  

The issue reached City Council after city officials recommended council rezone the property to RSF-2, or residential single family, in keeping with its past use. Multiple neighbors attended City Council meetings and spoke to council members in support of single family zoning.

Local attorney Toby Ward spoke against the change Feb. 18, describing it as spot zoning, which is when a property is rezoned in contrast to nearby zoning. Ward told council that if it changed the zoning for the house, it should change the zoning of all properties on the street, since they have the same zoning. Councilman Will Brennan agreed with the idea, eliciting applause from the attendees. City Council unanimously gave the rezoning a first vote.

On April 15, City Council unanimously approved the rezoning on a second and final reading. The decision prevents redevelopment of the property into student housing. Council did not mention if other Harden Street properties are under consideration for rezoning.

Days prior to the decision, 427 Harden St. went off the market and Bollin Ligon Walker Realtors, the agency that listed the house, removed it from its site. The for-sale sign is missing from the property’s front yard. 

Neighborhood residents have been confused by the odd zoning along that part of the street. Many of the properties surrounding the street are zoned for single-family residences. 

Francis Goldstein, a homeowner on Harden Street, said he was confused by the zoning of his property at a City Council meeting on Feb. 18. Katelyn Heyward, another homeowner on the street, said she was in favor of rezoning the properties on Harden Street – including her own – to avoid spot zoning issues.  

The change for the rezoning of the single house was passed on council’s first reading a few minutes later, with Mayor Daniel Rickenmann saying the city should consider rezoning other houses on the street.