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City of Vicksburg denies rezoning to allow liquor store in Marcus Bottom
On Friday, Vicksburg’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously against rezoning property in Marcus Bottom to allow a liquor store.
Sukhbeer Singh requested the property, located at 2600 Halls Ferry Road, be rezoned from C-1 to a C-3, which would allow the opening of a part laundromat and part liquor store at the location.
The resolution denying the request reads in part, “…there was no manifest error in the ordinance, no changed or changing conditions in the area, that change is not reasonably necessary to the promotion of the public health, safety, or general welfare and that the character of the neighborhood has not changed to such an extent to justify reclassification and there is no public need for rezoning of this area.”
Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs, Jr. weighed in on the reasoning for his vote against the rezoning.
“My vote represents two things,” began Flaggs. “One, I didn’t want to open the door for spot zoning. Two, I didn’t see enough economic impact of this business to the community that warrant us looking at this zone different than what it was already classified.”
Ward 1 Alderman Michael Mayfield also gave his opinion and cited the amount of vehicle and foot traffic in the area.
“You have to be very careful when you start changing the zones to meet certain requests because if it’s in a neighborhood, which this liquor store would have been, then you always have to look for the enhancement of that community,” said Ward 1 Alderman Michael Mayfield. “When you start rezoning you are opening a can of worms that you may not be able to close.”
“The overall goal you should look at from the very beginning is ‘Am I doing something as an elected official that has a vote in what happens in that community will enhance what is there?’,” Mayfield added.
Ward 2 Alderman Alex Monsour echoed the rest of the board’s concerns.
“While we are very, very business-oriented here in the city of Vicksburg, we want to do everything we can to increase revenue but at the same time we’ve got to protect the integrity of residential with it,” said Monsour. ” This is the best decision we can come up with.”
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