OXFORD VILLAGE – Some residents and property owners of Davison St. made their voices heard at an April 18 public hearing and the planning commission acted accordingly.

At issue was a proposal to rezone five parcels on the south side of the street (14-32 Davison St.) from R-1 single family residential to Central Business District (C-1) Transition.

The rezoning was part of a whole laundry list of proposed changes to the village zoning map and ordinance (see story on Page 3).

After hearing from the public, the only one of the Davison St. parcels to be recommended to the village council for rezoning to C-1 Transition was 14 Davison St. and that’s because the owner supported the change.

In that same motion, it was also recommended the rear portions of 81 N. Washington St. (Oxford Farm & Garden) and 75 N. Washington St. (Dunlap Collision) be rezoned from industrial (I-1) to C-1 Transition.

Permitted uses in the C-1 Transition zoning district include retail establishments, restaurants/bars, hotels, office space, medical facilities, personal service businesses, mixed use and residential uses, both multiple family and single family.

“I don’t see a reason for the change,” said Lisa Hopcroft, who’s lived at 32 Davison St. for 17 years and opposed the proposed rezoning.

“If you don’t have clear-cut plans for that area or (an) interested developer, then I don’t know why we’re talking about this right now,” she told commissioners. “I would like to know what you guys plan to do with it . . . What kind of businesses are you proposing to go there? There are some that I don’t want to be next to all the time.”

Hopcroft argued that once a zoning change is made and a street is opened up to more potential uses, “there’s a little bit less control” and a greater chance that something undesirable could move in.

The proposed C-1 Transition zoning is consistent with the Near West Side Redevelopment Plan adopted by council last year as an addendum to the village master plan.

According to the plan, Davison’s homes are “planned to remain, but it is the intent . . . to include office or low-intensity retail uses such as art galleries and antique shops.”

Hopcroft was concerned allowing businesses on her side of the street could lead to an increase in vehicular traffic that could pose a safety hazard to pedestrians.

“I keep waiting for somebody to get hit coming off that Polly Ann Trail,” she noted.

Hopcroft believes there’s a need in Oxford for affordable single-family homes like those on Davison St.

“Waterstone is hideously expensive,” she told commissioners. “Where is the single family that isn’t rich going to go? You have to leave Oxford. I like Oxford.”

Just as she did at the April 4 public hearing, Christine Ellis, who lives at 28 Davison St., voiced her opposition to the proposed zoning change.

“There’s no real plan in place here,” she said. “With no solid, proposed plan, I’m going to repeat my strenuous objection to that.”

Ellis feared mixing businesses in with the single-family homes could result in a loss of the privacy currently enjoyed by Davison St. residents. She urged planning commissioners to “really consider if you would like to live next door to a business and then ask yourself if you want to do that to me.”

Only Astrid Wideman, who owns the house at 14 Davison St., was in favor of having her parcel rezoned to C-1 Transition. To her, it’s an appropriate change because the property is so “close to the downtown.”

“It just makes sense to include that,” she said.

Wideman’s property is located behind the house at 65 N. Washington St., a C-1 Transition property owned by developer Chuck Schneider.