Oxford is growing by 148 acres.

City Council approved the annexation of the 148.258-acre parcel on Fairfield Road during a first reading at council’s Tuesday meeting.  The vacant land, owned by Miami University, sits just west of the Oxford Community Park.

Annexing the land will allow the city to install crosswalks and control the speed limit on the road near the park. Earlier this summer the city’s new community pool opened at the park, which added to the number of pedestrians in the area. The city manager, Douglas Elliott, explained the added pedestrians prompted the concern over the speed limit and pedestrian safety.

The speed limit has now been lowered to 35 mph. Before the change, the speed limit was 45 mph going out of Oxford and coming into the city, the speed limit was 55 mph.

“People would drive exceeding the speed,” Elliott said.  

The Butler County Commissioner approved the annexation last spring, leaving the city to finalize the annexation. A final second reading of the ordinance is expected to pass at council’s Aug. 20 meeting.