The Starkville Board of Aldermen voted to amend the city’s zoning ordinance after having the board’s second public hearing on the matter Tuesday night.
The board also held its first public hearing on adopting a new ordinance to regulate certain areas of commercial and residential outdoor display and requested a title search by the city attorney for property near the Carver Drive ditch.
City Attorney Chris Latimer made slight changes to tighten the wording of the zoning ordinance amendment before it passed 6 to 1 at the board’s first meeting this month. Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas voted in opposition to the amendment.
The amendment adds an exception to the current ordinance that will allow non-conforming residential buildings that are damaged “by fire or other causes” to be built back to conditions prior to the damage. Latimer added a few phrases to the amendment to ensure it applied to only residential structures, and making clear property owners are only allowed to build back to previous conditions.
Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins, who proposed the amendment last month, said he was comfortable with the change in the language because none of the content of the amendment was changed. Perkins brought the proposed amendment to the board after Ernest Minor requested approval to begin repairs on a four-unit apartment building that was destroyed during a fire in January on Carver Drive, but was deterred because of the arduous process of getting the area re-zoned. Perkins said he hoped the amendment would prevent this from happening in the future.
During the first hearing, Dumas recognized Minor’s improperly-zoned property and the need to accommodate it, but expressed his concerns over jeopardizing the strength of the zoning code as whole.
In other business, the board held its first public hearing on a new ordinance to regulate outdoor displays, storage and sales, and to reduce the number of yard sales allowed a year. Dumas, who proposed the ordinance, said the city has had issues with structures, both residential and commercial, that have had yard sales go on for months, and with having indoor furniture being left outdoors for extended periods of time. He said he hopes this will remedy the problems.
Only two citizens spoke during the public comment period, one in opposition, and one indifferently. Mike Allen spoke in opposition to the ordinance, and voiced his concern about the number of ordinances the board passes or amends every month.
“I feel like we are getting death by paper cuts here with all these ordinances,” Allen said. “There has to be a more reasonable way to tackle these issues.”
Allen also said after the meeting that the board had attempted to pass a similar ordinance a couple years ago during the fall, but failed because of the potential ramifications on the student population, especially the Cotton District, which has a long history of keeping couches and other indoor furniture, outdoors. This could not be confirmed.
Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver said he thought the ordinance was a pretty good idea, but wanted to know how the board planned would deal with the ordinance administratively.
Mayor Parker Wiseman said there would definitely need to be a physical file kept, but that the city would look into an electronic file as well if the ordinance passed.
Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn, did not voice an opinion either way about specifically about the ordinance, but agreed with Allen’s position about the number of ordinances the board passes.
“Every time we come in here an ordinance is being made or one is being amended,” Vaughn said. “Why are we trying to continually tell the citizens what to do? You can’t tell me what to do in my own house.”
The board approved asking Latimer to conduct a title search to verify the owner of the portion of the Carver Drive ditch that is piped and covered in order to mow and clean the area, after the board went into a closed session.
The original motion Perkins made called for the use of city employees and equipment to mow the portion of the ditch.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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