St. Peter’s Episcopal Church will begin expanding their footprint on the west side of the Downtown Square.

During their Nov. 3 meeting, Oxford’s Board of Aldermen approved the church’s request for a revocable license regarding a retaining wall and a drainage structure, as part of their renovation and construction project.

The church is planning to renovate its current building and build a new structure where the parking lot on the east side of the church is currently located. The site plan for the two-story, 8,700 square-foot building was approved by the Oxford Planning Commission in March.

There will be a new semi-circular driveway off Van Buren Avenue that will serve as an entrance to the new building, while the exit onto Jackson Avenue East will be closed off.

With a new building added to St. Peter’s campus, only a few parking spots will remain once construction is complete. Two metered parking spots on Van Buren Avenue will be relocated to Jackson Avenue East, and the church intends to re-stripe the new spaces as parallel parking spaces to match the existing spaces along the street.

City engineer Reanna Mayoral told the Board the church received approval for the relocated parking spots by the Downtown Parking Commission in March and there would be no net loss of metered parking.

Members of the church will use on-street parking and the downtown parking garage when attending church services or other events.