As Oxford officials consider solutions to improve alleys, staff raise public safety concerns
Today, Oxford's alleys are primarily used as cut-throughs and routes for deliveries and waste management. City officials want to see more creative uses of the spaces, but city staff warn that could come with logistical and safety concerns.
Oxford is considering limited alley closures Uptown to create more pedestrian-centered spaces, but not everyone is on board.
Oxford City Council held an hourlong work session Dec. 17 to discuss possible alternative alley uses to the current status as vehicular spaces. The 2023 Oxford Tomorrow comprehensive plan identified two goals to explore opportunities for expanded outdoor dining and establish a “green alley” system of “low-impact streets,” though city officials have not committed to any concrete plans.
Much of the work session used the alley leading to CJs Bar and Mac and Joes as an example. Artist Joe Prescher recently painted a two-wall beehive mural in the alley, helping create a community space where before there had just been two blank walls.
Assistant City Manager Jessica Greene said the city has been studying alley use in Oxford and found that the most common functions are for trash collection, deliveries, parking and public safety access. Green alleys, by contrast, incorporate elements like permeable pavement, vegetation, public art and lighting. Green alleys may limit vehicular access to certain hours or types of traffic using barricades or could close off vehicle access entirely.
For Police Chief John Jones, discussions around closing alleys to vehicles are a nonstarter.
“I think you’re going down the wrong path if you’re going to start doing this,” Jones said during the work session. “... From a public safety perspective, which is where I’m coming from, from a parking and traffic perspective, I wish you would abandon the whole idea.”
Jones said the Oxford Police Department uses the alleys regularly, and his officers use them for connectivity. Preventing alleys from being used by vehicles could lead to longer response times for medical calls, fights and other emergencies, he said, and prevent drive-by checks at bars with alley frontage. If delivery drivers couldn’t access alleys, Jones said, it could also lead to bigger problems with parking enforcement and traffic, particularly on High Street.
Fire Chief John Detherage agreed with Jones. Putting furniture in alleys could make it more difficult to use ground ladders and fire hoses, he said, and some businesses with alley frontage don’t have indoor sprinkler systems.
Service Director Mike Dreisbach also had concerns about waste collection if the city opted to close some alleys to traffic.
“Rumpke does use … many of the north-south alleys to pick up solid waste and recycling,” Dreisbach said. “If we displace that, there’s just no room. Oxford is a very little town, and the alleys are streamed with litter. It’s embarrassing. If you asked me, we would do more enforcement on property owners.”
David Prytherch, a city council member and geography professor at Miami University, said the challenges presented by alley closures aren’t unique to Oxford. Other municipalities have found creative solutions, he said, and the current condition of alleys in Oxford needs to change.
“I appreciate that there are concerns about this issue, but there was a tenor that came through some of the public comments that our alleys are sewers, and what are we going to do about them anyway?” Prytherch said. “Are we content with the condition of our alleys in the City of Oxford? Do we not think they could be improved?”
Prytherch teaches a course in urban and regional planning in which students take on semester-long client projects. He suggested having a group of students focus next semester on a project to create recommendations for improving Oxford’s alleys. Greene supported the idea, particularly with a focus on waste management in alleys, which she said the city has struggled to address adequately.
“If we can have a team of planning students help us figure out trash and cleaning up the alleys, I personally think what a wonderful first step,” Greene said.
Kim Peterka co-owns CJs, a bar with alley frontage, with her dad. She said during the meeting that delivery drivers serve communities other than Oxford and may not complete deliveries if it takes too long due to barriers. She saw additional lighting and better waste management as two of the most immediate needs for alley improvements.
Jim Kuykendoll, owner of Mac and Joes, said he was initially supportive of the idea to close his business’ alley to traffic but had more concerns following comments from city staff, particularly regarding public safety. He suggested that the city should take small steps to improve the alleys first rather than making drastic changes all at once.
The city has an active moratorium on alley lot developments which is set to expire Jan. 16. No actions were taken as a result of the work session. Greene said she will work on developing the scope of a student project focused on alleys to bring forward at the next City Council retreat.
