A 60-day period during which the public is invited to review and comment on the proposed master plan update for Oxford Village began last week.

Planning commissioners voted 5-0 to receive and approve the distribution of the draft master plan documents, prepared by the village’s planner, the Northville-based McKenna Associates.

The update consists of five individual addendums to the existing master plan.

“The master plan we have, in general, is pretty good and we didn’t see a need to overhaul it completely,” explained Chris Khorey, project manager for McKenna.

Addendums include a future transportation plan, parks and recreation plan, and three redevelopment plans targeting specific areas within the village – the near west side, the near east side and south Washington St.

Khorey said the idea is “in the future, it will be easier” to simply “pull out” one of these addendums, “instead of combing through a 200-page (master plan) document,” and present it to potential developers or the Michigan Department of Transportation when it comes time to reconstruct M-24.

Each of the redevelopment plans pinpoints “little pieces” of the village. The plans provide “specific visions” for “specific sites” and outline all the steps that must be taken, such as zoning changes, to make these visions a reality, according to Khorey.

The parks and recreation plan covers the village’s only two public parks, Centennial in downtown Oxford and Scripter on S. Glaspie St., along with trails and walkways.

“That will be submitted to the state and will make the village eligible for certain grants,” Khorey said.

As for the future transportation plan, it covers the village’s streets, sidewalks, bicycle paths, crosswalks and parking areas.

Khorey went over the draft transportation plan with commissioners at the June 7 meeting. Some of the proposed ideas include:

• Convert the stretch of Stanton and Dennison streets between Mill and Hudson streets to one-way (westbound traffic only) and add on-street parking to both streets.
• Add traffic signals to the intersections of Washington (M-24) and Stanton/Dennison streets, Washington and East streets, and W. Burdick and Pontiac streets.
• Construct a new road south of the Oxford Marketplace shopping center to connect Washington and Glaspie streets.
• Install a traffic signal at Lakeville Rd. and Bay Pointe Dr., then put a crosswalk there to improve access to the Polly Ann Trail.
• Build “pedestrian refuge” islands or a landscaped median, if possible, along Washington St. to calm traffic and allow pedestrians to cross more easily and safely.
• Complete Edison Alley by connecting it to Washington St. and install a traffic signal at the intersection of Washington St. and Lincoln St./Edison Alley.
• Redesign Washington St. to permit left turns onto Broadway St.
• Add traffic calming devices on Crawford, Lincoln, Mechanic and Hovey streets. Potentially add them to Pontiac St. unless they would cause safety or efficiency problems for school buses. Potential options could include speed bumps, bump-outs, on-street parking, four-way stops and mini-roundabouts.
• Add bicycle lanes and crosswalks to Burdick St.

Commissioner Jack Curtis recommended looking at “the whole picture” when it comes to village’s transportation issues as opposed to trying to “solve bits and pieces.” He wants to solicit a variety of perspectives and suggestions from experts and residents.

“We’re trying to design a transportation plan here tonight with our own ideas,” he said. “If you’re going to resolve this, you need to sit down in a room with a traffic safety engineer, with some people who know the streets, with people who live around here.”

Khorey will present the other four plans at the June 21 and July 5 planning commission meetings, which begin at 7 p.m. and take place inside the village council chambers at 22 W. Burdick St.

Prior to both meetings, Khorey will be conducting open houses in the council chambers from 5-7 p.m. These are opportunities for the public to review the plans, ask questions and provide input.

Once the state-required 60-day comment period ends, the planning commission is expected to conduct a formal public hearing on the master plan update at its Tuesday, Aug. 16 meeting.