Subdivision residents want out
A subdivision off Cayce Road near Highway 72 is surrounded by land that has recently been rezoned industrial.
Residents of the subdivision, on Jon Cris Road, say they want a commercial or industrial investor to buy them out. Every direction they look they see the back sides of development in Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park. The traffic on the road in and out of their subdivision consists mostly of heavy trucks entering and leaving the industrial park area.
The Marshall County Board of Supervisors feels their pain. The subdivision became surrounded by commercial and industrial development because no one had the foresight at the time to see what would happen to this subdivision.
The county board of supervisors paid for a study of how the property in the subdivision could best be used if it was rezoned. The residents who visited the board of supervisors recently said they would take a buyout in a heartbeat.
The problem is that if the property is rezoned, the residents would have no guarantee a buyer would step up. If not, their taxes would go up to commercial/industrial rates.
Zoning director Ken Jones said there are 43 properties in the subdivision, a lot of which are vacant. He sent out 43 letters regarding interest in rezoning, received 25 approvals, two in opposition, three letters were returned and 12 no responses.
One property is a church.
One step the residents can take is to have the subdivision plat removed from the courthouse, said board attorney Kent Smith.
“The subdivision will have to participate in getting the chancellor to approve it,” he said. “Ninety percent of those in the subdivision would have to agree to the subdivision being disbanded, then the residents could apply for rezoning.”
No investor would look at the property unless it is rezoned first, he said.
“You have no buyer right now,” Jones said.
“He told us nobody is going to look at us until we have it rezoned,” said one resident.
“We have the traffic; we get the noise,” said another resident.
“We want out of that bottleneck,” said Theresa Bolden.
Smith said there are hurdles to get over. There could be wetland issues; an archaeological survey would have to be done. The subdivision issues must be addressed, then the zoning issues.
The study of prospective uses of the properties included convenience stores, fast food places and hotels.
“It is a great location and convenient to rail and the highways,” Smith said. “We can’t vote to rezone until the subdivision is vacated. It’s just now getting time.”
Supervisors passed a motion to take the matter under advisement.