NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson is warning property owners that the city is cracking down harder on imposing fines on those with dilapidated houses, unkempt yards and other public nuisances.
“We’re sending a message to everyone that … we need people to get serious about cleaning up their properties,” Gibson said.
Meeting Tuesday with the Natchez Board of Aldermen, the mayor said a list has been compiled of more than 150 neglected properties reported to city officials in the past 18 months. As owners continue to ignore the city’s demands to take corrective measures, they will be taken to court, Gibson said.
“At some point, we’ve got to do more than just take down the complaints. We’ve got to make sure action is taken, tickets are written, fines are imposed and the city knows that we mean business,” he said. “The warning time is over. Citations will be given.”
The owner of a property deemed “an unsafe or unclean nuisance” will be ticketed by the city’s code-enforcement officers, but it’s up to Municipal Court Judge Christina Daugherty to impose the fines.
Gibson noted the judge has expressed concerns about the number of rundown Natchez properties in violation of city laws regarding property maintenance.
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Plans are underway by the city to erect 15 signs marking Natchez’ historic district. This is mainly to show residents living in the area that they’re subject to regulations governing structural changes to their houses.
“Some of them are not aware when they purchase a home that they’re purchasing in the historic district,” said Frankie Legaux, the city’s director of planning and zoning. She reviews building alterations proposed by property owners in the city’s historic district for the Natchez Preservation Commission to approve.
“That’s been some of the problems that we’ve had as people don’t realize, for exterior renovations or changes, that they need to come before the commission,” Legaux told city aldermen Tuesday.
They approved the historic district signs contingent on final approval by the Preservation Commission of their design and locations.
The sites for the street signs designating the historic district include Homochitto at Metcalfe, Martin Luther King at Orleans, MLK at Main, St. Catherine near Jefferson and MLK, Canal near the Mississippi River bridge, State at Canal, Cemetery Road by the National Cemetery, North Union at Elm and seven other locations.
The Mayor and the Board of Aldermen have not ever approved these historic district designations. The only historic district designated by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen was in 1951 in alignment with our city codes. That district is around downtown, but does not include downtown.
I asked the city planner in 2021 to show me the ordinance designating these 6 other “historic districts.” The only one he found was the original one. The 6 other “historic districts have never been approved by the city. To do so, the requirements many fold and have never been presented to the Mayor and Board of Alderman an ordinance to approve these historic districts. Mimi Miller at the Historic Natchez Foundation did get approval on a national level, but the city and its inhabitants have never been presented with designating these 6 “historic districts” for approval. Therefore, the Natchez Preservation Commission has no right to tell citizens what they can do with their properties outside of the original 1951 ordinance approving this district around downtown and including Rosalie and the Elms and the Burn. And the committee shirked its responsibilities by allowing a structure to be demolished at the Elms which was one of the few old “privies” and one with three seats! I alerted the code enforcement, but there was no response. Here is the city code regarding historic landmarks and districts. None of these procedures were followed to designate the other 6 districts and are therefore cannot not be enforced by the city.
LANDMARK OR LANDMARK SITE: A building, structure, object, and its appurtenances and historically associated land or water, or an unimproved or improved parcel of ground designated by the City Preservation Commission and approved by the City A-23 through an ordinance, which possess particular archeological, architectural, cultural, geological, or historical significance, and as further defined herein.
Preservation District: A district designated by the commission and approved by the city through an ordinance, which contains a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration of sites, buildings, structures, or objects associated by past events or by plan or physical development, and which meets at least one of the following criteria:
SEC.102-4. DESIGNATION OF LANDMARKS, LANDMARK SITES, AND IDSTORIC
DISTRICTS
By ordinance, the city may establish landmarks, landmark sites, and preservation districts within the area of its jurisdiction. Such landmarks, landmark sites, or preservation districts shall be designated according to the following:
( 1) The commission shall initiate a continuing and thorough investigation of the archaeological, architectural, cultural, and historic significance of the city’s resources. The findings shall be collected in a cohesive format, made a matter of public record, and made available for public inspection. The commission shall work toward providing complete documentation for previously designated preservation districts which would include:
a. An inventory of all property within the boundary of the district, with photographs of all sides of each building and an evaluation of its significance to the district. Building evaluations are to be used only as a reference or guide and shall not be used as the determining factor for issuing or denying a certificate of appropriateness.
b. An inventory which would be in a format consistent with the statewide inventory format of the Historic Preservation Division of the state department of archives and history (SHPO).
(2) The commission shall advise the city on the designation of preservation districts, landmarks, or landmark sites and submit or cause to be prepared ordinances to make such designation.
(3) A resource or resources may be nominated for designation upon motion of three members of the commission or by an organization interested in historic preservation or by any owner of the property being nominated. A nomination shall contain information as specified by the commission. The commission must reach a decision on whether to recommend a proposed nomination to the city within six (6) months in the case of a preservation district and two (2) months in the case of either a landmark or landmark site.
NATCHEZ PRESERVATION ORDINANCE HP-7
( 4) If the commission votes to recommend to the city the designation of a proposed resource, it shall promptly forward to the city its recommendation, in writing, together with an accompanying file.
( 5) The commission’s recommendation to the city for designation of a preservation district shall be accompanied by:
a. A map of the preservation district that clearly delineates the boundaries;
b. A verbal boundary description and justification;
c. A written statement of significance for the proposed preservation district; and
d. Approval of site plans by the city engineer.
(6) After the nomination of a resource to the commission for possible local designations, the resource shall be fully protected by the provisions of this ordinance for a period of six (6) months, as if it were already designated.
(7) With the adoption of this chapter, any property designated under a previous city ordinance shall remain designated.
(11) The city shall conduct a public hearing to discuss the proposed designation and boundaries thereof. A notice of the hearing shall be advertised and published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a regular newspaper published in the county. The first publication shall be made not less than twenty one (21) days prior to the date fixed for the public hearing, and the last publication shall be made not more than seven (7) days prior to such date.
NATCHEZ PRESERVATION ORDINANCE HP-8
(12) Within sixty (60) calendar days after the public hearing held in connection herewith, the city shall adopt the ordinance as proposed, reject it entirely, or adopt the ordinance with modifications. Failure to act shall constitute rejection.
(13) Furthermore, the commission shall notify, as soon as is reasonably possible, the appropriate state, county, and municipal agencies of the official designation of all landmarks, landmark sites, and preservation districts. An updated list and map shall be maintained by such agencies and made available to the public.
(14) Previously designated properties may have their designations removed only by following the procedures for designation as those set forth in this ordinance.