A vision for the future

 By Don Rush

After almost two hours of presentations and brainstorming at a special joint meeting of the Oxford Board of Trustees, Planning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals and representatives from Carlisle/Wortman Associates, the township committed to spending up to $50,000 for a new master plan.

Last Thursday night’s meeting at the township Senior Center was the first step in revising the township’s master plan, last completed in 2019.

“Every five years the master plan should be revisited,” township supervisor Jack Curtis said. “As we move forward to 2024 there is some pre-work we want to get done. August is a good kickoff time. What we’re going to do is go through the process, review a little of the current master plan, look at demographics and land-use.”

After opening the meeting, Curtis turned over the floor to Carlisle/Wortman representatives Megan Masson-Minock and Matteo Passalacqua. The company has been the township’s planner for almost two decades.

“The master plan process can be tailored to what your community needs at that time,” Masson-Minock told the committee members. A master plan, quite simply, is a road map from a known present to an unknown future. One reason you do this is to see changes. See what changes are coming and how you get from here to there. Another thing is to create predictability. If you’re constantly reacting to what’s happening because of that change and you don’t have some guidelines, then you’re in an unpredictable place . . . a master plan helps you use your resources wisely.”

She said the township’s “vision” hasn’t changed much since 2009.

The master plan, she said, helps present and future boards make decisions on planning, zoning, rezoning, variances, special land uses and site plans. The master plan is the general statement of township goals and guidelines.

“If you don’t provide those guidelines, someone else will,” she said. “Developers or judges will determine what your community will look like . . . no community is static. People move in, people move out. The master plan is an educational tool that says, ‘this is what we value, this is what our vision is.’”

Demographically, Passalacqua said, the Southeast Council of Governments (SEMCOG) projects Oxford will gain 2,000 people in population, 19,000 to 21,000 by 2050, but he wasn’t sure of their projections. He said with the expansion of township sewers up M-24 new developments could follow, adding, “You also have 730 acres of golf course, that could change. There could be between 300 and 700 (residential) units.”

After the presentation, township officials were asked to write their master plan priorities onto orange and pink sticky notes. Those sticky notes were grouped into topics by Masson-Minock and Passalacqua. “Include those things you think are important to the community,” Masson-Minock said.

After about 10 minutes of sorting some of the priorities written down included retail, infrastructure, hospital, parks, senior housing, parks, protecting open spaces, water quality, traffic control and protecting “horse country.”

After the sticky notes were grouped and whittled down, township officials were asked to draw dots on their priorities as a starting point in the master plan process. One of the top priorities, it turned out, was “public engagement.” Discussions on public engagement centered on print, in-person and online surveys. Masson-Minock suggested to the township officials to create a master plan steering committee to set targets, timelines and to keep the process moving forward.

Township Treasurer Joe Ferrari moved and trustee Margaret Payne seconded, for the township to spend “not more than $50,000” for the new master plan.