Lot buyers upset over access to subdivision

Some people who have purchased lots off Jesse Drive subdivision say they have no ready access to their lots and cannot afford to spend $40,000 for a driveway to connect to another road.

April and Cory Hoffman, owners of subdivision lot #1, spoke on the issue before the Marshall County Board of Supervisors at the May 6 meeting. She said five lots and one

house are located in the subdivision developed by John Porter, but there is only one driveway approved by the board of supervisors to access Jesse Drive.

“One easement serves three lots and one easement serves two lots,” she said. “We have learned that these easements do not exist according to board attorney Amanda Whaley Smith. Porter wanted all five lots to have access to Jesse Drive.”

But the board of supervisors said lot owners could not connect four other driveways to the one approved driveway built by Bob Whitlow.

The Hoffman’s learned at the May 6 meeting that they would not be allowed to attach a driveway from their lot to the driveway Whitlow built that attaches to Jesse Drive.

Hoffman said she and her husband put a halt on construction of their house until they find a solution to access their lot after they learned they would have to have another way in.

“So, our question is, Mr. Porter, should he have put in an access road from Goodman Road to the other remaining four lots?” Hoffman asked the board of supervisors.

She said she knew it was disclosed that Rob Whitlow, owner of lot #2, had an easement on his property that would allow access to her lot, lot #1.

“But now we have been made aware that easement does not exist as it was never approved by the board of supervisors,” Hoffman said.

“It was only approved for one lot, one residence, right?” Cory Hoffman asked.

“You are correct and that property connects to another road. The back side of the property connects to another road,” District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor said. “He (Porter) didn’t want to build a road in. He didn’t want to build a road in and he came to the board one access, one house.”

“The thing is like, how in the world did we even get a loan on this thing?” April Hoffman asked.

“I own the first lot,” Whitlow said. “I spent 40 grand (to build a driveway).” Ken Jones, former zoning administrator, said there is another road that the Hoffman’s property touches.

“There’s a ditch in there that he (Porter) didn’t want to build a road across (the ditch),” Jones said.

Taylor asked if, when the Hoffman’s bought their property, were they under the impression the easement was for one house, one lot, that being Whitlow’s lot.

“We were never told prior to closing on our sale that this was the only lot approved and for one easement,” April Hoffman said. “We only discovered this after we closed on our lot.”

Cory Hoffman said he was not made aware that the other lots, as advertised on Zillow, did not have an easement.

“No, Sir, because it was listed on Zillow,” Cory Hoffman said.

“That was his (Porter’s) advertisement,” Taylor said. “He was told by the county, you can only have one drive, one house, because the ordinance we have, you can’t tag on to an existing subdivision with another subdivision.

“That was so the established subdivision of Jesse Drive wouldn’t have 50 new lots behind it. More traffic. I don’t know. Let us get with our attorney,” Taylor said.

Whitlow said he purchased the lot that connects to Jesse Drive in July 2023 and built his own gravel road at his own expense. The intent was for three lots to share the road and the cost to build it.

He cleared woods for about 150 feet to get to his house site and has already begun to build his dream home.

He paid for a culvert, grubbing the trees out, and for 60 loads of dirt and gravel to build his drive to Jesse Drive.

Whitlow, who works with Architectural Stone Works in Hernando, that makes cabinets and countertops, said he has lived in Mississippi since 1999. He and his wife sold their home in Nesbit and are renting in Memphis until they get their house built. It will be a 2,800-square-foot home with a detached garage sitting on 7.4 acres of land.

His lot is the only one that has approved legal access to Jesse Drive, he said.

The subdivision, he later learned, was not laid out and approved by zoning, he said.

Whitlow said if an access road was built from Goodman Road to the back of the subdivision, three lots could be built on the access road.

His lot touches Jesse Drive, but he said he is not sure the survey to his lot is accurate. Another lot touches his lot. The Hoffman’s lot is located behind his lot such that two of the five lots in the 35 to 40 acre subdivision will not touch his drive. Those two lots will need a different access, perhaps off Goodman Road.

He said everybody who purchased a lot assumed the subdivision was laid out and title searches had been done on their lots.

“We’re building our dream house,” Whitlow said. “I told my wife, I have two lots, one to my house and the other is in the graveyard.”

The Whitlows have about 10 more years before retirement.

He said the other lot buyers are bamboozled.

“We’re basically landlocked,” April Hoffman said.

Whitlow said the subdivision rules do not allow the other lots to tie into his driveway.

“People who bought the land are stuck with a mess and are having to try to figure it out,” he said. “It is very, very strange. Most subdivisions can’t be built until the infrastructure and utilities and the lots are plotted.

“Porter knew it was not done correctly and did it anyway,” he said.

Taylor said in the meeting that he told Porter he would have to build a road from Goodman Road to the other lots, Whitlow said.

“He also said Porter didn’t want to do it because he had to go over a big ditch,” Whitlow said.

In a separate interview, April Hoffman provided a narrative of how they were affected by not having an access road to their property.

First, she said they paid $20,000 an acre for 6.9 acres of land.

She and her husband, who owns his own business, now live in Germantown, Tenn., and will be commuting to Memphis once they get settled in their new home.

She said they bought the land with the idea of building their dream home and living in the country.

“You want to escape the city,” she said. “We had no idea the subdivision was not built up to specs. The thing about it, the realtors provided us a survey.”

“They said the only way they would approve this is if he (Porter) provided an access off Goodman Road,” she said.

She said Porter didn’t want to provide the easement off Goodman Road and sold them their lot, saying they could get access off Jesse Drive.

“The zoning board said we will allow one house and one drive but you cannot subdivide,” she said.

That measure was set in place in June 2023, she said. But Porter went ahead and subdivided the land and created a subdivision, she said.

“Mr. Whitlow got his legal,” she said. “Whitlow’s lot appears to be the only lot with legal access.”

She said she assumed they would be able to connect to Jesse Drive when they purchased their land.

As for her property, Hoffman said it is very beautiful.

“Mr. Porter should be ashamed and should not sell someone a dream that they can’t even realize,” Hoffman said.

In executive session held at the May 20 meeting, the board of supervisors approved a motion to allow all five lots located at the end of Jesse Drive, which are not part of Southeast Collierville Farms Subdivision, ingress and egress through Jesse Drive. The motion made by Terry and seconded by Zinn passed 3-2 with Walker and Bennett voting nay.