The Oxford Planning Commission approved the preliminary plat for the Oakmont Subdivision located outside the city limits, with the condition the developer must apply for annexation into the city of Oxford.

The condition was one of several that the developer will have to meet before the Oxford Board of Aldermen review and vote on whether to approve the preliminary plat.

The planning commission only makes a recommendation of approval to the Board of Aldermen who have the final vote.

Oakmont developers wish to connect to city water and sewer, which need to be approved by the city before construction.

The property is north of the Oxmoor and Northpointe subdivisions and is proposed to have 108 lots and to be built in five phases. The density is proposed to be approximately four homes per acre, with lots averaging 10,500 to 11,000-square feet, meeting Lafayette County requirements. The development received preliminary plat approval from Lafayette County earlier this year.

The planning commission approved the preliminary plat despite the Oxford Planning and Public Works Departments not being able to recommend approval.

Assistant City Engineer Reanna Mayoral said since the Public Service Commission has not yet approved the city providing those services, the Public Works Department could not recommend approval.  Mayoral said the city could handle providing water to the development, but there were still some concerns about sewer.

“There are two lift stations they can connect to,” she said. “If they connect to the larger one in Northpointe then there shouldn’t be a problem. But we don’t have authority to provide those services yet from the PSC.”

Jeff Williams, the engineer for Oakmont, said the PSC won’t review the request until the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality signs off on the development’s waste treatment plans.

“And DEQ wants to have some kind of certainty that the city will provide the services before they review the plans,” he said.

Another reason for the developer to seek annexation is to make sure the roads and connectivity of those roads meet city standards.

The primary access to the subdivision is via connections to existing roads in the Oxmoor and Northpointe subdivisions. The plan shows an “emergency” connection that would not be built to city standards that would provide limited access to County Road 101 through another proposed development, Briarwood, that has not yet been approved.

Because of concerns from residents of Oxmoor and Northpointe, Lafayette County approved putting a gate on the connecting road to be used for emergency purposes.

“If the area is annexed, they could remove the gate since it’s against city standards to gate public roads,” Mayoral said.

Other conditions of approval included gaining final approval of water and sewer plans by Public Works and the Public Service Commission; have direct road connectivity between Oakmont and the future Briarwood subdivision; final plat approval from the Lafayette County Planning Commission; and gain approval from the Board of Aldermen to grant city water and sewer services.