Oxford News

Almost 11 years after its last overhaul, Oxford's comprehensive plan is in line for another update.

Members of the Oxford community gathered Sept. 26 to begin preliminary work on the update, discussing goals for the project and means of involving area residents.

Kathy Dale, Oxford's city planner, said the process would take approximately one year to complete. She said the 19 members of the comprehensive plan's steering committee would meet on a monthly basis to update the last revision and do a bit of public outreach.

The city last worked on its comprehensive plan in 1998, when it completely overhauled the previous document.

Oxford is utilizing the services of Columbus-based ACP Vision & Planning, working once more with Jamie Greene, the same man who helmed 1998's undertaking.

Greene, a founding principal of ACP, said he was glad to be back in Oxford to help with the effort.

"Eleven years ago this month we began work on the previous comprehensive plan, which wound up being a very rewarding experience for me," Greene said. "A comprehensive plan is the broadest policy document a community can have, and it doesn't happen very often that you get to do this sort of work. It is truly a unique opportunity."

Greene said ACP has worked with other university towns in the past, including Dayton; Champaign, Ill.; and Knoxville, Tenn. He said university towns are special places as they "have really passionate people who are willing and capable of articulating their exact feelings about the particular place."

City Council initiated discussions of an update a year ago, Greene said, appointing each member of the steering committee as it saw fit. The 19 members include Oxford residents and people from the chamber of commerce, planning commission, City Council, Miami University and several other organizations.

Greene said the old comprehensive plan contained outdated information, with new planning issues cropping up all of the time. In addition to considering the country's aging population and shrinking household sizes, Greene said his organization would attempt to integrate technology that wasn't around in 1998 into the plan.

Greene went on to talk about some goals for the plan, including making it a more user-friendly and leaner document.

He joked that he didn't want to go the same route the group went in 1998, winding up with "something that weighs 8 pounds."

Oxford's new comprehensive plan will be the result of what Greene called an "inclusive process." He said the steering committee will invite members of the public to attend four meetings between Nov. 12 and Nov. 14, designed to gather input from the community.

"We're very committed to involving as many people as possible in this process," Greene said.

The meetings will break down into smaller groups, where members will participate in brainstorming of issues important for Oxford's future, Greene said. He said this allows people to feel more comfortable sharing their opinions and enables facilitators to learn what is on peoples' minds.

ACP planner Aaron Domini said the meetings next month are part of the broader "13- to 14-month process," with events in March and later in 2008 planned to further involve the public.

"Nov. 12 and 14 will be our biggest event, then in March we will hold a forum called Community Choices," Domini said. "We'll eventually be having an open house at the culmination of our planning efforts to share with the public and get input on the policies we put into place."

Greene tasked steering committee members with helping his organization in drafting the plan, adding that they are the first step in a lengthy process.

"Nothing in the Ohio codes says we need to do this stuff, but leadership in this community decided they want to be inclusive," Greene said. "You are the stewards of that process, so please share your views of Oxford and be mindful of building a foundation for what this community should be."

Contact this reporter at (513) 523-4139, ext. 86102, or at rgauthier@coxohio.com.