The Neighborhood Business Districts
Oakwood Avenue District
This district was first zoned for business in 1926, from which era the Board of Education building dates. The Water Works and Post Office buildings were both built in 1953. During this time, the Post Office was being used as a car dealership.
Schantz Avenue District
This district was also zoned for business in 1926, in anticipation of its importance to the community. At the time of incorporation, residents still perceived this intersection as being crucial to Oakwood’s growth. While all four corners were zoned for business, the area is occupied by only residential buildings. Currently, one corner is set in a wooded, natural environment, and another is elaborately landscaped with an Oakwood sign.
Acorn Drive District
Zoned for business in 1941, the single building in this district was built in 1930. It has existed as a gas station, a fish market, and currently serves as a beauty salon, despite the zoning ordinances set in opposition to the building’s business functions during the first 11 years of its existence.
Park Avenue District
The Park Avenue district started developing simultaneously with the Far Hills Avenue Business District; it was planned as a government center and continues to house the police, fire, sewer, and city administrative offices. Aside from the government building, the area consists of several single small commercial buildings and single residences. Similar to the Far Hills Avenue Business District, a generous proportion of the nearby
residences have been converted to business usages, often service-oriented, such as medical, travel, and beauty establishments. The government building does not lend itself to the building types established for this guideline; it is residentially styled, but is not of residential scale. Built toward the beginning of the development of the city, it typifies the character of Oakwood at the time: solid, somewhat traditional, but forward-thinking.
The Park Avenue District differs from the Far Hills Avenue Business District in several operative ways which effect the application of the guidelines to the building types. In most cases, the small commercial buildings house retail uses, several per building, and rarely exceed one story in height. The single nature of the buildings allows for alleyways, which allows immediate access to rear parking, but compromises the street edge. The overall impact of these two factors—low massing and space between buildings—is residential; it creates the impression of a yard around the building, albeit one of asphalt. The relationship with the street is also impacted by the presence of diagonal and parallel parking along the streetedge. While located in a more immediately residential area, this district seems more vehicularly oriented, due to the perceived width of the street and the visual and physical barrier established by the line of parked cars.
The character of the district provides an effective compromise between the density of the Far Hills Avenue Business District and the open nature of neighboring residential areas, and the building scale is considerably nicer for the pedestrian. The main aspect for consideration in this area is the street relationship and the integration of pedestrians and vehicles, which was effectively achieved in the Far Hills Avenue Business District.