By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
Oxford’s Planning Commission voted to recommend that Village Council approves conditional rezoning of Washington Triangle from single-family residential use to multi-family use, on June 18.
Planning Commission Chairman Jon Nold said the recommendation is “the first fence” to jump over before new multi-family residential buildings can be built in the space north west of the intersection between Minnetonka Drive and Mechanic Street.
Multiple commission members said throughout the meeting that this recommendation does not mean the developments are approved. Village Council will ultimately make the decision on whether to go forward, according to member comments.
“You’re going to ruin our value of our property around us if you make this multi family,” said one Oxford homeowner.
Another resident who said she lived in Oxford for the last 30 years asked the commission for the purpose of rezoning “other than greed.” The same resident said she has a “hard time believing” trees on the site will not be cut down, said that the development would include adding a road close to her home and that the development should be single-family homes.
A third resident voiced safety concerns over additional traffic the project could create. This resident said after a car wash was built on M-24 near the site, she has seen accidents happen as drivers try to leave.
The site has frontage on Mechanic Street, but access to Washington Street was established in 2016, according to Village Planner Mario Ortega.
This means “traffic would only go to Washington Street; it would not go to Mechanic,” according to Ortega. M-24 is also called Washington Street.
If approved by village council, the next step would be for the applicant to submit for a siteplan review and approval. Everything not addressed on the plan would need to comply with all other zoning ordnance standards.
“So for example, things like making sure that the fire department has adequate turning radius for their emergency vehicles,” Ortega said.
If the site is not developed as proposed, Ortega said the property would automatically revert back to single family zoning.
The site would have four four-unit townhouse buildings and two eight-unit townhouse buildings for a total of 32 townhouses on the site, according to Ortega.
Buildings would be 23-feet tall, and each four-unit building would have two two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units. The proposed town-homes would be around 1,200 to 1,400 square-feet.
Village Council’s next meeting is July 9, at 7 p.m. For more information on the units, visit https://cms7files.revize.com/oxfordmi/6.18.24%20PC%20Agenda%20Packet.pdf