While the new zoning maps and codes for Oxford have not yet been voted into effect by city leaders, Oxford’s second Traditional Neighborhood District was approved Tuesday by the Oxford Board of Aldermen.

Taylor Ridge Partners, LLC requested recently to rezone 30 acres from County Estate to the new TND zoning. The Oxford Planning Commission approved the request in August and the aldermen held three readings of the rezoning request that included a public hearing in September. The third reading and final vote was held on Tuesday.

The proposed development will a mix of several types of residential units, including single family homes, apartments and “tree houses,” and a Town Center, that will feature upper floor office and residential units in some buildings. The entire development will be done in two phases with the first phase being the residential area. The development will take up 58 percent of the 30 acres, leaving 29 percent as open, green space with a 50-foot buffer between the neighborhoods and the South Campus Rail Trail, formerly known as Whirlpool Trails.

Before a rezoning could be approved, developers had to prove a need for this type of development change in the neighborhood.

City planners claimed the development met both requirements since many of the single-family homes will be smaller and presumably more affordable, which is a current need in the city. With all the development on Old Taylor Road, developers also said the area needs more commercial businesses so residents aren’t required to drive into town for basic needs.

City Planner Judy Daniel said previously the change in the neighborhood is obvious with the amount of development on Old Taylor Road in recent years.

Unlike single-zoned developments, a TND is intended to provide for an entire neighborhood that includes mixed-uses, single-family homes with roads, sidewalks and green spaces. Developers submit a Master Regulating Plan that will include topographic survey, stormwater drainage plan, layout and location of streets and public open spaces and parking areas, location of commercial, mixed-use and civic building lots, densities of buildings by types, setbacks, architectural renderings, covenants, tree survey inventory and plan, landscape plan, scaled drawing of the site and more.

The first TND development in Oxford is The Lamar, located on 49 acres between North Lamar and Chickasaw Road that was approved earlier this year. That development is much larger than Taylor Ridge and will be built in phases over the next several years.

The Board of Aldermen approved “jump starting” the TND district in November 2016 before the rest of the new zoning maps and codes were implemented as several developers were beginning to express interest in the new development type.

The entire new zoning map and land use codes are expected to go before the Board of Aldermen for a first reading in November.