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Developer warns connector-road alignment could limit hospital expansion as commission approves Reserve Phase 3
Summary
At the October meeting the architect for Reserve at Oxford Farms Phase 3 asked the city to pause development approvals affecting a proposed connector road, saying the current alignment would block Baptist Hospital's future expansion; the commission approved the site plan while noting the alignment is a separate city–hospital issue.
During public comment at the Oxford Planning Commission’s October meeting, Andy Reynolds, speaking for the Reserve at Oxford Farms Phase 3 applicant, asked the city to pause or slow approvals of projects that would add traffic to a proposed connector road. Reynolds said a previously dedicated right-of-way was negotiated along the west side of the hospital property and that the city's current, more-diagonal alignment would "prohibit Baptist Hospital from future expansion." He urged staff and commissioners to resolve the alignment issue before allowing further development that could affect the hospital site.
Staff and the chair responded that the connector alignment and disputes with the hospital are issues between the hospital and the city and that for the applicant before the commission the proposed site-plan intersection point would not change the Phase 3 site plan’s immediate approval. The commission asked staff to compare historical and current traffic studies as part of follow-up discussions.
Why it matters: Reynolds’ comments framed a potential conflict between long-range municipal road planning and institutional expansion needs. Hospital expansion plans and road alignments can affect access, emergency response and future development options for the hospital campus.
Direct on-the-record comments included: Andy Reynolds, the applicant’s architect, said, "The city's current plan for the road will prohibit Baptist Hospital from future expansion," and asked the city to "pause or slow down approval of any future development that will add traffic going to this proposed connector road until issues about how the road will affect the hospital site may be addressed." The chair and staff answered that the Phase 3 site plan's intersection point would not change the applicant’s ability to proceed and that those larger road-alignment questions remain for separate negotiation between the hospital and the city.
The commission approved the Reserve at Oxford Farms Phase 3 site plan subject to staff conditions at the same meeting; staff will review the traffic-impact study the meeting record shows has been requested for nearby projects. The exchange was recorded on the public record during discussion of case 3266.
