City council is looking at several solutions to alleviate parking congestion uptown and throughout Oxford during peak hours.
Finding parking spaces uptown on Friday night or even during a weekday afternoon can be a challenge, but Oxford residents and Miami University students may see some parking changes this fall.
According to Oxford City Manager Doug Elliott, many solutions are being kicked around to improve the current parking situation.
"There are a lot of ideas being discussed, but nothing has been presented to the council as an ordinance yet," Elliott said.
Mayor Prue Dana said city officials will be working throughout the summer in order to change the parking situation.
"The parking and alternative transportation committee are working hard all summer long to look at parking for the fall," Dana said. "We're working on an overall parking plan."
Elliott said a workshop was held before the city council meeting May 19 to discuss parking changes and said that many ideas were proposed.
According to Elliott, proposed ideas include creating diagonal - instead of parallel - parking in some areas, creating more one-way streets to provide more parking spaces and bike lanes and utilizing private property in alley ways within the Mile Square for parking, if a change in planning and zoning laws occurs.
"In essence, the concepts are to change some of the zoning rules in some of the residential zones in order to allow more parking," Dana said.
Elliott said leasing more parking spaces in the uptown parking garage is also being considered, but has not been presented to city council.
However, Elliott said the ideas will probably not be fully examined or put into effect until after students are back in classes.
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"The city council asked the staff to further examine some of the proposals, but it is very unlikely that anything will be put in place by the fall," Elliott said.
According to Elliott, ordinances must be read at two meetings before they are adopted and there are only four meetings before students return in late August.
In the meantime, Dana said she is looking forward to other changes that are occurring in the city and the arrival of new students.
"I'm thrilled with the way the streetscape is going to look," Dana said. "We hope we have things spruced up and ready for (first-years) to come."
Dana said new students should view themselves as residents of Oxford and embrace all of its opportunities.
"We are very happy to see the freshmen and even though they are going to Miami, they are living in Oxford so to be aware of the town they are living in will add richness to their college experience," Dana said.
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