The Oxford Board of Aldermen and city staff members will be looking at ways to provide more privacy for people visiting loved ones in the Oxford Memorial Garden Cemetery after residents presented a petition asking for additional screening.

Drew and Jill Stevens, who live on Combs Street, started a petition on July 15 on Change.org asking for signatures in support of the additional screening. As of Monday, the petition has 447 signatures.

While it was not a public hearing, the Stevens were allowed to address the mayor and Board of Aldermen Tuesday during their regular meeting. They discussed the issue for more than an hour.

In 2022, the city clear-cut the area along the border of the cemetery when a new concrete drainage ditch was built to fix erosion issues.

The city planted green giant arborvitae trees along the fence; however, they were only about 3 to 4 feet high, although they are expected to grow to 40 to 50 feet which could take several years. The trees are now around 5 to 6 feet high and are expected to grow about 3 feet yearly.

Mayor Robyn Tannehill said she and city staff explained that the trees and brush would have to be removed to the Stevens before the project started and that they were shown the replanting plans.

The Stevens said they were not aware it would be clear-cut and that the first plan they saw was with 12-14-foot trees, which they felt would have been adequate.

Special projects director Mark Levy said there were several challenges and things to consider when choosing the trees including the narrow planting area, lack of irrigation, and being able to survive the winter, as well as the availability of those trees.

“We felt the green giant arborvitae were the best choice,” he said Tuesday. “They’re more disease tolerant and faster growing … and have a good life span.”

Levy said the city could not find 12-14-foot arborvitae trees at the time and that nothing they could have planted would have provided immediate screening.

The Stevens said privacy was needed now, not in a few years,  not only for those living near the cemetery but for the people who come to visit loved ones in the cemetery.

Tannehill said if the city did plant more trees or bushes they wouldn’t grow any faster than what is there now.

Alderman Brian Hyneman suggested that if planting more trees wasn’t a viable option, could the city look at replacing the existing black, chain-link fence with something that would provide more screening, like slats in the fence or building a wood fence?

“I’m open to anything that primarily makes the cemetery private from the yards,” he said. “Time is what it’s going to take (for the trees) but I think doing something about the fence is something we can, and should explore.”

No vote was taken but the Board asked staff to revisit possible options for the fencing and report back to the Board.

The Stevens asked that when the plans were presented there could be a public hearing to allow other residents and family members with loved ones in the cemetery to talk about how the lack of privacy affects them.

Brandall Laughlin is one such family member. She lost her 14-year-old son eight years ago in a vehicle crash and he is buried in Oxford Memorial Gardens.

Laughlin said she would like the Board of Aldermen to consider building a taller and more solid fence.

She told the EAGLE on Wednesday that when her son was buried there, there was a significant amount of privacy between the cemetery and the adjacent neighborhood.

“There is no buffer whatsoever between the neighborhood and the cemetery now,” Laughlin said. “I feel it is very important to maintain the sanctity of the space for mourning mamas like myself, as well as the countless others that visit the cemetery each week … The current landscaping and fencing are an eyesore to those in the neighborhood and to those who come to pay our respects to friends and family members.”