Taylor development centered on artists

Daily Journal
10/26/2005

During the next decade, developers are hoping to turn this small arts community into an "old-fashioned neighborhood" reminiscent of the days before automobiles and large residential lots kept neighbors apart.

Campbell McCool, who lives in this southwest Lafayette County hamlet, said his idea for the arts-centered community has grown slowly over the past two years, and he estimates it will be another 10 years before the "Main Street Taylor" project is completed.

"Taylor is really known for its artists," he said. "Many years ago, the town rolled out the welcome mat for artists, and one by one artists moved here.

"Now there are a couple of dozen really serious artists living in a community of a couple hundred people. That's why the entire project is focused around the arts."

Preliminary plans call for more than a dozen artist studios and a special Montessori school focused on art education. The facilities will accompany a new community center, various businesses, an antique mall, bank, an old-fashioned cinema and about 150 homes.

The concept of creating small arts communities has been successful in other parts of the country because of the focus on walking neighborhoods that encourage people to leave their cars at home. This is one of the designs discussed recently by nationally respected architects about rebuilding some Katrina-raved Gulf Coast communities.

"The idea is an old-fashioned neighborhood with a traditional town center," McCool said. In such a setting, "residents can get out and walk to a restaurant or the grocery store or the post office or wherever they need to go."

"Nationwide there is an enormous appetite for that type of environment," he said, "but there are fewer and fewer of those places around these days."

The issue of growthThe plan for Taylor joins dozens of new developments springing up across the county, in part due to the growth in Oxford.

The issue of growthThe plan for Taylor joins dozens of new developments springing up across the county, in part due to the growth in Oxford.

Already this year, the city has issued building permits for projects worth $60.34 million, and the final total is likely to exceed the 2003 record $60.88 million.

Government officials in both Oxford and the county have been forced to constantly review and evaluate building codes to be sure that existing infrastructure can handle the construction and population surge.

Lafayette County is revising its subdivision regulations, while 11 months ago the city approved a comprehensive plan for growth.

Despite the planning and attention, issues still creep up, like deciding which governmental body is responsible for reviewing the plans for the Taylor project.

It was presented in conceptual form to the county planning commission in September because of an agreement drafted between Taylor and the county body years ago, said county administrator Richard Copp.

The agreement gave the county planners jurisdiction over Taylor because the town did not have the resources to establish its own planning commission.

Copp said the county is still waiting for its attorney to determine whether the agreement stands. If the project proceeds before the county planning commission, preliminary plats are likely to be presented during the November meeting.

Inevitable change

Even without McCool's ideas, Taylor has an old-fashioned feel. Modest houses are sprinkled through the pastures and farmland. Downtown consists of just a few buildings, including the famed Taylor Grocery restaurant and a nearby house that has been coverted into an art gallery.

But city officials also realize that some growth is inevitable and have taken the reins with the establishment of a city planning committee.

The group will meet with McCool and citizens this weekto discuss plans for long-term growth, said Taylor alderman Lyn Roberts.

Some Taylor residents have been open to the overall project, although a few object to any changes to the sleepy little town that exists contentedly in Oxford's shadow.

"The initial response was people were very unhappy, but part of that was because it was completely unknown," said Roberts, who also is a member of the planning committee.

However, many of the questions were answered in a meeting with the developer recently, she said.

"Taylor's a really lovely place, and there are a lot of people that want it to stay exactly the way it is, but I think everybody recognizes that's impossible," she said. "It's just not going to happen."

In fact, changes to the town could begin soon. McCool said his goal is to begin building by the spring of 2006, which would make the first houses ready to be sold in the fall of 2006. The development will be on a 60-acre lot at Main Street and County Road 335, about a half mile from Taylor Grocery restaurant and the Taylor art gallery.

McCool and his partners plan to develop and build each of the lots individually so the overall process could take as long as 10 years.

"The whole deal is that Taylor is going to grow," he said. "It's going to grow, and we want to make sure that it is the right kind of growth - smart, intelligent growth."