Commission voted for community
Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, June 15, 2016
The Oxford Planning Commission on Monday listened to a second round of proposals from U Club Townhomes for a student development off of Price Hill Road. It also turned the developers down for a second time.
The development is proposed to have 66 two-story duplex buildings with 132 units. It in all totals about 528 beds on about 23 acres of land and is close to single-family home neighborhoods in town.
While we see the need for developers to make money and bring in housing for the students that are making enrollment surge at the University of Mississippi, residents are not happy with the town filling up with student housing. It is taking away from opportunities for the people who live and work here to have a reasonably priced home anywhere in the city or county.
Traffic was of concern to those in the Price Hill neighborhood, and it came to light Monday the developers didn’t meet with that neighborhood to discuss and address any concerns along those lines.
We’re grateful the commission listened to its constituents and denied the development. Perhaps with more changes the student housing can be approved down the road, when the majority of nearby residents are satisfied and leaders are confident it is the best use for dwindling land in Oxford.