By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
Chandler Towing was given the OK to put barbed wire around an expansion of its impound lot by the Oxford Planning Commission Monday.
Generally, the city’s Land Development Code only allows barbed wire in agricultural and industrial settings.
Property owner Larry Chandler told the Commission the barbed wire was needed for extra security along the fence around the lot.
The current impound lot, off Rickey D. Britt Sr. Drive, has a 6-foot fence with barbed wire. The request Monday was to allow the barbed wiring on a new expansion to the lot that will be used for electric cars that need to be separated from nonelectrical cars due to a fire hazard.
Chandler has a contract with the Oxford Police Department to use the lot for impounds when vehicles are towed after wrecks or arrests. The cars could contain evidence needed in a criminal case or insurance investigation, which is why the extra security of the barbed wire is needed, Chandler said.
“If there’s a crime, you all would bring that vehicle and impound it in your lot, so you’re the custodian of that evidence, right,” asked Commissioner Kirk Milam.
“Yes,” Chandler said. “If you have a $75,000 car out there, you don’t want someone jumping the fence and messing it up either.”
Chandler also asked for a variance from the city’s code that regulates the height of fences in a front yard to 4 feet to put in a 6-foot fence like the one on the rest of the property.
OPD Chief Jeff McCutchen sent a letter asking the city to consider approving the two variances.
“Per the tow contract that the city of Oxford adopted last year, approved companies are required to have security wire attached to the top of their fence to protect the property that was seized by members of the Oxford Police Department,” the letter states.
The Commission unanimously approved the two variances.
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