Section 6: Community Character Plan

The City of Oakwood is an attractive and distinctive community characterized by quality neighborhoods, historic homes, tree-lined streets, compact commercial areas, extensive landscaping, and a variety of public and institutional amenities. Oakwood’s traditional image and character help distinguish it from neighboring communities and make it a more desirable place to live, work and do business.

This section highlights several of the physical features that help give Oakwood its special community character. Several of these are illustrated in Figure 7.

Neighborhoods

Oakwood developed over a period of many years and its neighborhoods reflect the City’s different stages of development. Oakwood’s neighborhoods are among its most important visual assets, and neighborhood image and character should be preserved and enhanced.

However, Oakwood is experiencing a trend common to many mature, affluent communities. The City is beginning to see some interest in subdividing large estate properties and the development of new homes on smaller lots. Many similar communities are also experiencing the replacement of older, smaller existing homes with larger residential structures. A related trend is the construction of major additions to existing homes.

While residential improvements and new construction serve to upgrade the community’s housing stock, the City should strive to ensure that residential improvements and upgrades complement existing neighborhood character in terms of bulk, setback, building height, lot coverage, and other key design and development characteristics.

The City should also ensure that all new single-family and multi-family developments and major residential additions are compatible with and complement existing neighborhood character and provide overall value to the community.

Building Conditions

The structural condition of buildings in Oakwood is very good, as is the overall level of property maintenance. However, several of the business and commercial uses should be upgraded. Most of these structures have minor deficiencies related to painting, roofs, and windows.

The majority of Oakwood’s housing stock was constructed between the 1920s and 1940s, and it is important that the older stock be adequately maintained and upgraded. Since adoption of the Property Maintenance Code in the late 1960’s, the City has vigorously enforced property maintenance, which has been very effective in maintaining properties and promoting repairs and improvements when required.

Historic Properties

Oakwood has a number of homes and public buildings with historical and architectural interest, and these add significantly to the charm and character of the community. Currently, the Schantz Park Historic District is the only National Register Historic District in the City. There are three individually listed National Register of Historic Places properties. They include the Long-Romspert Homestead, the Adam Schantz Sr. House, and Hawthorn Hill, the former home of Orville Wright, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.

In late 1999, several Oakwood property owners established The Oakwood Preservation Trust (OPT). OPT is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is “To preserve and maintain the history and architecturally significant resources in the City of Oakwood through education,