During a nearly two hour city council meeting, a handful of Oxford residents questioned how the city planned to create quality housing for low-income workers without harming their neighbors’ quality of life.
Cathy Titus, who lives on 101 Charleston Dr., said nearby residents had “fear” about what an affordable housing development could mean for neighbors.
She said the Parkview Arms Apartments (PVA), a complex located at 5032 College Corner Pike that accepts Section 8 vouchers, “is a negative picture of what can happen to a housing development that is poorly managed and poorly maintained.”
Titus said she worried, like past affordable housing complexes, the new homes will be poorly built and poorly maintained, which could have an impact on the values of surrounding properties and the quality of life for residents.
“Those that live in the lower income levels are the most vulnerable in this population, and any population, and therefore have the greatest needs,” Titus said.
Vice Mayor Chantel Raghu said the building’s status as low-income housing does not mean the management will allow dangerous individuals to live there. Background checks will be performed, and residence can be denied based on the results, he said.
“I bought a house across from PVA, because, if I’m going to ask anybody else to do it, I’m going to do it,” Raghu said. “And it’s fine. It’s not as scary as you think, but PVA is horribly run, and it is worse for the people who live there.”
Lynda Fox, a controller at LJS Management, which owns PVA, said the problems faced by the complex mean they don’t always “get a fair shake” in regards to their public perception.
Within the past four years, the majority of Parkview Arms’ 86 units have received safety violations in their inspections, according to data from the City of Oxford. Every unit that received a violation, however, has since rectified it in a later inspection. Only two units have not been inspected because inspectors were not admitted by residents or management.
“The manager tries to work very closely with the police department and even the City Council,” Fox said. “We deal with the City of Oxford and, if we have issues, the health department. It’s definitely a property that takes a lot of time and attention.”
Often, she said, it feels like the management company’s work goes unnoticed due to resident complaints and conflicts.
“We’re always the bad guy,” Fox said.
Oxford police spokeswoman Lt. Lara Fening said police are called to Parkview Arms more often for drug use and overdose than other Oxford properties, but the apartments’ other issues are similar to those seen anywhere else in Oxford.
Raghu said that from her work with a group focused on developing affordable housing, she learned about the Lucy Gonzalez Parsons Apartments in Chicago, which she said demonstrates what a new development could be: apartments that are both affordable and desirable to live in.
“It is so attractive, anyone would want to live there,” Raghu said.
Others who commented about housing included Harry Titus, who continued reading Cathy Titus’ comments after she had spoken for 5 minutes, and Anne Bailey, who requested a grant for homeless shelters in Oxford over the winter.
David Smith, located at 910 Marilyn Dr., voiced his own concerns about the location of the affordable housing. The current plans, he said, are next to his backyard. He asked why the city chose to build the housing there instead of the 43 acres it owns on State Route 732.
Peggy Branstrator advocated for affordable utilities and solar panels to be included in the initial design. She said that, when ideals like this are not included in the initial designs, they often never end up being finished.
During the meeting, the council also approved creating a forgivable loan program to support new daycare businesses in Oxford. Assistant city manager Jessica Greene said this plan, meant to increase access to childcare in Oxford, would provide loans of up to $5,000 to new childcare businesses. The loans will be forgiven once the daycare has been certified and operational for 12 months.
The program is funded with $30,000 from the American Rescue Plan, she said.
The council also approved applying for a $40,000 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for a Community Recycling Program, which would require a match up to $10,000 from the city.
Other resolutions approved by council included the acquisition of Kenwood radios for the Oxford Fire Department ($194,000), purchasing and installation of interview room cameras for the Oxford Police Department ($32,000), and the purchasing of two Ford Interceptor Utility SUVs for the Oxford Police Department ($88,000).
At the end of the meeting, community development director Sam Perry said that he was told by Benjy Federbush, owner of the empty property at 16 Poplar St. which was formerly the Follett’s bookstore, that an architecture firm has been hired to review the property.
Past studies have uncovered environmental issues at the site related to underground fuel storage tanks that were installed before the property became a bookstore.
Perry said the city has talked with Federbush multiple times in the past, but communications have been inconsistent over the years.
