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Residents press Oxford commissioners on parking, public comment limits and rapid growth
Summary
Multiple residents raised neighborhood safety and process concerns: Prospect Avenue residents asked for parking and speed enforcement, a resident urged restoring five‑minute public comments and warned against codifying vacancy‑filling procedures without public vote, and several speakers asked the board to slow approvals given water, sewer and traffic capacity constraints.
Several residents used the public‑comment portion of the March 11 Oxford commissioners meeting to press the board on neighborhood safety and civic process.
Ernestine Parker of 407 Prospect Avenue told the board employees and visitors from a nearby nursing home regularly park across her driveway and along her block, sometimes blocking access; she said vehicles parked across the street reduce the road to a single moving lane and that drivers often exceed safe speeds in the absence of a speed sign. "It's just unsafe," Parker said, describing repeated instances when she has had to ask nursing‑home staff to move cars so she could exit her driveway.
Cassie Plisky of West Front Street criticized recent changes that cap public comment at three minutes and said the city should restore a five‑minute period or exercise discretion for speakers with disabilities or complicated testimony. "Citizen input ... should guide your decisions," Plisky said, urging caution about procedural changes that could limit public participation and urging special elections when filling vacancies.
Other residents, including Jennifer Parrott and Grace Scamanny, asked the board to consider the cumulative strain of multiple approved and proposed developments on water, sewer, school capacity and road safety. Parrott noted the city's 2023 comprehensive plan results showing resident concern about growth impacts and asked commissioners to listen to constituents who value Oxford’s small‑town character.
The board pledged to forward neighborhood safety items to staff for follow up and to continue receiving public input; no formal action on Prospect Avenue parking or comment‑period rules was recorded during the meeting.
