Planning Commission OKs Site Plans for Hotel, Rental Units

The Oxford Planning Commission on Monday approved site plans for a hotel, assisted-living facility and a rental development.
They also denied a backyard apartment in a residential neighborhood, after property neighbors expressed concerns that more apartments would be developed in the historical area.
The house, at 100 Joel Lane on College Hill Road, is currently owned by a California resident. Tom Green III is considering buying the property for his three daughters, all of whom plan to eventually attend the University of Mississippi, he said.
He hoped to build a small guest apartment above a proposed garage, on an existing carport pad. He said his plans were to use the apartment when he and his wife visited their daughters, but several neighbors spoke about their concerns that allowing one rental-style dwelling would open the door for others.
The commission unanimously denied the application, and the applicant withdrew a subsequent request for the necessary additional variances.
The Chancellor’s House Hotel
The site plans for the Chancellor’s House Hotel were approved unanimously, with four conditions. The 31-room, three story building will include one level of underground parking that accommodates 39 vehicles.
It will be a 48,000-square-foot hotel.
The four conditions are: Traffic must make only right-hand turns from the site onto University Avenue; vehicles may not back into or out of University Avenue; construction vehicles may not block the intersection of S. Lamar Boulevard and University Avenue; and a traffic control plan must be enacted by the city to ensure the public’s safety.
This traffic control plan will address the flow of vehicles and pedestrians to and from the site, the timing and method for loading and unloading vehicles, and any other issues considered important to the public works director and chief of police.
Construction is expected to begin in June and should finish up in about a year.
The Urban Canopy at the Super 8

The owner of the Super 8 property on Jackson Avenue submitted a plan to increase the number of trees located there, and requested a variance of the landscape ordinance to do so.
Oxford’s Tree Board has been working with local business owners who submit plans to increase their properties’ urban forest.
The commission agreed with a recent decision by the Tree Board that the motel’s new landscaping plan meets the spirit of the ordinance, and granted the variance unanimously.
In other news, the commission also:
– Approved the final plat for Oxford Commons Tract C, for property located in the Oxford Commons PUD (Planned Unit Development).
– Approved the site plan for The Blake, an assisted-living facility in the Oxford Commons PUD.
– Approved a site plan for Gather, a 26-unit residential rental development at 207 Hathorn Road.
– Gretchen Stone is HottyToddy.com associate editor. Gretchen can be contacted about this story at Gretchen.Stone@HottyToddy.com