Video: Booneville Mayor Says Comprehensive Zoning Plan is Long Overdue

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BOONEVILLE, MISS. (WCBI) – Municipalities are always looking at ways to attract commercial and residential development.
And it’s important to have plans in place to deal with future growth.
But the mayor of one Northeast Mississippi city says the lack of a land use strategy is hurting the area, and he is taking action. WCBI’s Allie Martin has more.

Booneville Mayor Derrick Blythe is upset. Concrete was supposed to be poured for the foundation of this house on Robert E Lee, but the city put everything on hold.

“Due to some things with the zoning, we had to stop it,” Blythe said.

The site for the new house sits on land that is zoned for agricultural uses. That means the front porch must be at least 35 feet from the road. Because the front porch is two feet over the line, the work had to stop.

That’s one reason Mayor Blythe wants to get a comprehensive land use and zoning plan in place.

He says when the city annexed large parcels of land 30 years ago, there was no plan on the books.

“If there wasn’t a house sitting on it, they zoned it agricultural, and even in some places, they zoned it agricultural with a house sitting on it, that makes it hard to change,” he said.

The mayor says the lack of a comprehensive zoning plan is also hurting the city in other ways, this two and a half acre tract of land, right off of highway four is being eyed by a business, but for now they can’t develop here because the land is zoned agricultural, even though property all around it is zoned commercial.

“Right now our commercial development on land zoned anything but commercial, is none, it has stalled everything,” Blythe said.

Rezoning land from agricultural to residential will increase property values, and taxes for homeowners, but Mayor Blythe says the city and its residents will benefit in the long run.

The mayor says the board of aldermen will choose a company to help develop a long range zoning plan. That could take place next month..