Oxford Square Developer Seeks to Double Residential Density

The developer of Oxford Square on Coca Cola Drive is asking that he be allowed to build nearly double the number of housing units he initially asked for in the planned residential community, and he wants permission to erect drive-through commercial spaces on the premises. 

On Thursday, Sept. 20, the Howard County Planning Board—a group of five citizens appointed by the county executive—will hear the request at 7 p.m. in the George Howard Building.

In 2010, the County Council approved plans for Oxford Square in what had previously been an industrial area in Hanover on the condition that the community would include no more than 954 residential units, reduce dependence on automobiles and include a mix of office and residential spaces designed as multi-use buildings. As such, it would qualify as a "transit-oriented development."

Developer David Scheffenacker also offered in the original proposal to donate land for a school to the Howard County Public School System and to contribute up to $4 million toward its development should it be built by 2014.

Earlier this year, the Howard County Board of Education acquired a 20-acre parcel, route: {:controller=>"articles", :action=>"show", :id=>"school-system-accepts-land-grant-money-from-developer"} --> on Coca Cola Drive and