Aldermen agreed Tuesday to empower the city to nullify permits given to businesses locating in certain sections of Natchez if they violate conditions set out in their licenses.
This comes after the Mississippi Court of Appeals in August ruled city officials in 2024 didn’t have the authority to revoke a permit for the Truth Lounge nightclub to be located on Franklin Street. The Natchez Planning Commission and Board of Aldermen canceled the zoning permit amid complaints of criminal activities in or near the nightclub.
The board on Tuesday also approved an anti-blight measure specifying the time given for landowners to fix properties deemed by city officials to be unkempt, unsafe or in serious disrepair. The timeframe to address code violations can be extended before property owners are forced into an adjudication process.
However, aldermen frowned upon a suggestion by Mayor Dan Gibson to require owners of vacant buildings to pay an annual registration fee and ensure properties don’t degrade “to the point that’s beyond repair.”
Such a mandate would “disincentivize someone to just sit on abandoned properties” and let them become chronically dilapidated, Gibson said. However, Alderman Valencia Hall said she doesn’t want to “micromanage” property owners with such a heavy-handed measure. She noted the city already has “demolition by neglect” regulations aimed at derelict property owners.
In other action at Tuesday’s city board meeting:
— aldermen issued a taxi-service license to Linda J. Gardner. The Vidalia resident was required to get a city permit to provide rides to people in Natchez on a fee-paid basis. Operating as River Cities Taxi Service of the Miss-Lou, Gardner said she’s on call daily to transport people in her Toyota Camry. The mayor noted Gardner’s taxi enterprise is much needed in a community that’s lacked such services for years.
— the mayor discussed his plans to go to Washington, D.C., later this month to meet with Mississippi’s congressional members. He’s pursuing federal funds the city needs that include $2.6 million to help build a bridge on Canal Street and $5 million for drainage-improvement projects. Gibson also mentioned he might meet with federal urban development officials to discuss projects that include plans for a new retail facility on city-owned land by Walmart.
Comments