The Oxford 2100 Visioning Project is a strategic planning exercise to first envision the Town of Oxford having successfully met predicted sea level rise and then to determine the necessary infrastructure steps that would have taken place in order to have achieved this vision, including a timeline for these steps.

This project is under development through grant funding from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Chesapeake and Coastal Service program with the following identified Task Outcome:

“A series of designs will be created that envision the Town of Oxford in the year 2100 utilizing adaptation and mitigation practices that account for rising sea levels. A list of the adaptations and infrastructure improvements will be developed along with their intended construction date. The Town will at the conclusion of the project have a report that will enable them to draft an 80-year capital improvement plan; to prioritize infrastructure needs based on urgency and feasibility; and to review current planning regulations in order to implement limits that will meet the lifetime of proposed new construction.”

The initial phase of the project included University of Maryland Landscape Architecture students through the PALS program, who following a visit and investigation developed individual concepts of what they thought Oxford would look like in 2100. These concepts will be included in the final product.

The current phase of the project is being implemented by Preservation Green LLC., in coordination with GMB Engineering. Following award to the winning bidder, the project involves incorporation of the viable components of the students work into a final vision for the town, prioritization of the infrastructure needs to achieve the vision, and a proposed timeline of infrastructure improvements over an 80 year span of time.

On June 10, 2023 a public workshop held at the OCC gave residents the opportunity to review the overall Concept Vision, hear from the design/engineering team, and to provide input regarding the work. The design team will continue to translate the vision into the final infrastructure timeline and produce a draft report to be presented to the Commissioners of Oxford for review and comment. 

Below you will find the many concepts discussed during the workshop. These visions and concepts will be incorporated into the final report due at the end of September 2023.

Please visit https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/ where you will find a sea level rise viewer you can use to view the potential impact of sea level rise in your area.