“The police had to come out here and give me my parking spot back. They’re blocking my business off. I’m not dealing with them at all,” he said of the contractors. “If I can take them to court, I am for loss of wages,” said Keith Fairfax. He has owned the barber shop since 2012.
He took his concerns to the city, and the city has tried to solve the problem by restoring one of the parking spaces.
“We hope we got it addressed to his satisfaction,” said City Manager Doug Elliott. “What happens in these projects is (the contractor) will rent out two or three spaces depending on the size of the project. We had three parking spaces here, with one north of the alley.”
Elliott had his staff call the contractor, Fishbaugh Homes, to restore the space north of the alley. One space in front of the business was still closed off, but another space had been reopened.
Dan Fishbaugh, the co-owner of Middletown-based Fishbaugh homes, confirmed that, saying, “When we took out our permit, there was a requirement to reserve the parking spaces through there so nothing would get damaged. We needed those because we’re bringing in semi-type trucks in there to remove debris, and it’s very difficult to parallel-park a semi.”
Still, Fairfax wasn’t satisfied with how the work was being done.
“A guy called me the other day and said, ‘Hey are you guys open?’ I said yeah, I’m open. They said, ‘They’ve got all the construction going on over there. We didn’t think you guys were open,’” Fairfax said.
The Princess, which was the only theater in or near Oxford for about 10 miles, had been closed ever since a fire struck it on Green Beer Day in March 2014. That fire caused extensive smoke damage.
Its owners plan to construct a new building at the same location, but they want to retain the historic canopy part of the building with the arch that says "Princess," said Sam Perry, the city planner. Plans call for the building to house not only a theater, but a banquet hall and residential space. The owners hope to be open next year.
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