The City of Oxford announced the development of a Unified Development Ordinance, Historic District Design Guidelines and a Historic Preservation Plan. They are seeking community feedback.

The project was born out of a comprehensive community plan and recommendations for regulation change in Oxford. The 10-year comprehensive plan called “Oxford Tomorrow” was voted on and adopted by the city in January of 2023.

According to Sam Perry, Oxford community development director, the plan allowed the city to self evaluate, and community feedback was bountiful.

“That allowed us to focus on where do we want to be in the future, what are we now and where do we want to go in the future,” Perry said. “I think there was over 100 goals and objectives that were identified.”

The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) will replace the city’s current zoning ordinance. This will divide the city into districts and provide unified development standards necessary for new construction in the city.

McKenna Principal Planner Abbie Emison is overseeing the project and said she believes the UDO will help residents, business owners and the city better operate under regulations.

“The city needs to administer the zoning code and be comfortable with it,” said Emison. “But also the person who comes in and wants to bring in a new business, they need to be able to easily understand things too.  I think that overall it’s making things a lot simpler, clearer, and easy to use.”

Additionally, the city is developing Historic District Design Guidelines and a Historic Preservation Plan for Oxford. This addresses the necessity of preserving historic sites as they are further developed or rehabilitated.

The plan aims to identify, document and manage historic sites in Oxford. The Historic District Design Guidelines will set standards and regulations for new construction in Oxford within a historic site.

According to Emison, preserving the feel of Oxford is of the utmost importance.

“When you walk around Oxford and talk to people, they talk about how special Oxford is,” Emison said. “Protecting and enhancing the community character is one of the long-term goals.”

The city is offering a 20% tax credit toward rehabilitation of historic income-producing buildings that are determined to be “certified historic structures.”

Two community workshops were hosted to gain additional feedback from the community, the most recent was on Feb. 26. Oxford residents were given the opportunity to make their voices heard by participating in stations.

Emison said the feedback has been positive.

“It was sort of an interactive workshop format,” said Emison. “We had tables on historic preservation, identifying historic assets and information on proposed new districts. Everybody has been very engaged and given us great feedback.”

The next community open house will be held sometime in May 2025 to continue gathering community feedback and adjust accordingly.