Hoods Coming Off Downtown Parking Meters

Another sign that life in Oxford is returning back to pre-COVID-19 days will be the lack of red hoods covering several parking meters on the downtown Square today.

On Tuesday during its regular meeting, the Oxford Board of Aldermen voted to remove the hoods from the parking meters that were covered up last year when the pandemic hit Oxford.

The hoods were placed on the meters to reserve free parking spots for customers picking up food when restaurants closed their dining rooms and offered curbside pick-up for food.

“Now that all sporting events are at full capacity and restaurants are at full capacity, I’ve has business owners mention they’d rather have those parking spots for their customers since curbside (food pickup) is not being offered as much,” said Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill.

Several parking spots are still being taken up by outdoor dining seating that the Board voted to extend until at least the end of April and will consider whether to extend it further during their April 20th general meeting.