Oxford City Council took two steps forward on affordable housing at its most recent meeting, voting unanimously to buy a West Chestnut Street property and approving plans for a 12-unit development on Hester Road.
There is no developer yet for the 1.14 acre property at 601 W. Chestnut St. that the city will buy for $284,000, said assistant city manager Jessica Greene. The property adjoins two other parcels the city purchased in June, on the south side of Chestnut between Marlin and Charlestown drives.
“The next timely step,” said Greene, “is how to attract a developer to construct affordable housing on this newly bought land.”
Community Development Block Grants and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed after the COVID-19 pandemic, provided funds for the purchase. Oxford still has $500,000 in ARPA funds available, which will be used primarily for “economic recovery and affordable housing,” said Greene.
The council also approved development plans for Oxford Cottage Community, a 12-unit project at 5234 Hester Road. The initiative was developed by the Community Development Professionals.
All units will be 396 square feet. They will each have one bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, a front porch, a washer and a dryer.
The city has leased the land to the Center for Community Revitalization, a nonprofit that will manage the cottages for the next 20 years.
In another effort to increase affordable housing options, Councilman David Prytherch suggested recodifying laws surrounding short-term rentals in Oxford, so there are not as many vacant investment properties. After some debate, the council decided to refer the suggestion to the Housing and Planning committees.
“I would hate to lose another neighbor to investment property,” said Prytherch.
In other business, city council approved a 2% wage increase for all non-union employees of the city, bringing their total raise to 5% for 2023. This is retroactive to January 2023.\
“This was done so there was equitable pay for all of the staff,” said Greene. This comes after the city council approved a contract increasing police wages 5% retroactively to January 2023.
