Outgoing Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn is expected to lead a discussion Tuesday on Starkville’s development regulations after the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors penned a letter asking the city to relax landscaping and sidewalk requirements in Cornerstone Park.
The letter was written by County Administrator Emily Garrard after County Engineer and Pritchard Engineering owner Clyde Pritchard and Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority President Jack Wallace approached supervisors last month. They said landscaping rules were preventing Pritchard from moving forward with building a new base of operations for his business.
Other developments, they said in May, are not likely to come to fruition because of similar obstacles.
“Current property owners and prospective buyers have expressed that the cost with complying with the current regulations are too stringent and expensive, which prohibits relocating their businesses to the park,” the June 9 letter states. “Furthermore, the public needs to see that economic development is progressing in Cornerstone Park. With modifications of the regulations, current property owners can announce plans to start construction of new facilities in the park, which will reflect to the public that economic development is progressing at that location and keep the public upbeat about the new industrial park.”
Pritchard himself told supervisors he was, at the time, “bogged down in landscaping and parking requirements that do not fit my facility” that will “cost me an inordinate amount of money,” while Wallace said the city’s requirements for accepting streets as public thoroughfares is preventing maintenance efforts in the area.
Other issues exist in Cornerstone Park, Wallace said in May, including leaky water and sewer infrastructure.
Community Development Director Buddy Sanders was traveling Monday and could not confirm specifics of the Cornerstone Park issues, and Pritchard did not return a call.
“We’ve met with the city about filing a final plat for Cornerstone — we want them to take over the sewer system and accept the streets — but we’ve got to get these regulations eased so we can get activity going out there,” Wallace said Monday. “Hopefully it will work.”
Developers can appeal for variances from Starkville’s zoning and development rules through the city’s board of adjustments and appeals and the board of aldermen. It is unknown if Pritchard has submitted any such requests for relief.
Wynn said she will speak on behalf of two or three entities looking to locate at Cornerstone Park and confirmed she will bring a motion to the table Tuesday. She did not, however, say what the motion would entail, but the agenda item listed for discussion specifically targets sidewalk requirements.
As in previous administrations, aldermen have instituted a policy where two public hearings are held on proposed changes to Starkville’s ordinances. That policy, however, is not law, and aldermen could potentially make changes Tuesday, which is the last regularly scheduled meeting of the term before Wynn, Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard and Mayor Parker Wiseman vacate their seats.
Wynn has unsuccessfully tried to amend development ordinances this term, and no public hearings on her proposal have been held.
“This measure of relaxing regulations, if embraced by the (board), could be a game changer. It has been stated numerous times that the landscape and sidewalk measures are too strict and costly for developers. It is my belief that these ordinances are negatively impacting our city’s development reputation and negatively impacting our city’s economic growth,” Wynn said in an email to The Dispatch. “While there have been many apartments that have recently been developed, we need retail development. I’m afraid that if the modifications to relax sidewalk and landscape regulations for the park and within the city are not addressed, we will be very limited on retail development and other potential development.”
Cornerstone Park
The roughly 230-acre, OCEDA-operated Cornerstone Park has failed to attract significant investments since its opening more than a decade ago.
In 2013, OCEDA donated a parcel to the Mississippi Highway Patrol for a new substation, but the project has been on hold due to a lack of funding from state lawmakers. Two years later, DPM Fragrance announced a $5 million expansion project that would locate at Cornerstone, but that effort was also put on hold after the company was acquired by Spring Thymes Holdings LLC in 2016.
Wallace confirmed OCEDA is working to help the U.S. Army Reserve locate at Cornerstone. Although the proposal is far from finalized, he said Monday OCEDA hopes to sell the government almost 15 acres at $12,000 per acre. Wallace said if the deal goes through, those funds would be used for clearing trees and other infrastructure improvements.
The Golden Triangle Development LINK has cited the location’s lack of power as one contributing factor for the lack of development, and 4-County Electric Power Association has committed to install a new transformer in the area next year, increasing the area’s supply from a residential load — about 2-5 megawatts — to 10 megawatts.
This spring, 4-County Manager of Engineering Lynn Timbrook said his organization estimates placing a 15-megawatt peak load on the new substation in its initial operation, but the site will be built to handle a second transformer if residential, commercial and industrial developments in the area require more electricity in the future.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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