Preservationists clash with developers
Preservationists and developers are clashing over a proposed convenience store on Gluckstadt Road near the historic Chapel of the Cross.
The plans will go before the Mannsdale-Livingston Overlay District at their meeting next month.
“Both sides want to be heard so I imagine there will be some discussion,” District 4 Supervisor Karl M. Banks said.
Banks said that opponents felt a convenience store would have deleterious effects on the area while developers have had plans for that land for 16 or 17 years.
“They say that this mercantile store will destroy the area though it is hard for me to understand what they mean by that,” Banks said.
The overlay district was established in 2003 to protect the historic character of the area and specifically cites the Chapel of the Cross, constructed in 1848, and the China Grove AME Church two miles down the road.
“Remnants of this lifestyle still grace the uniquely picturesque countryside,” The ordinance reads. “The Board of Supervisors of Madison County hereby recognizes that the Mannsdale-Livingston area is known for its extensive and concentrated historical buildings.”
Ellen O’Neal, a former attorney who specialized in county government and a member of the church and former Vestry member, said that a convenience store is strictly prohibited by the guidelines of the overlay district.
She is part of a group including church members who are opposed to the proposed convenience store.
“The county said it better than anyone else could say when they established the overlay district,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal said that she first heard about the issue in September when a church member stumbled upon a Planning and Zoning Board Agenda that included the project.
She said that they brought it to the attention of the P&Z board that the item had not been approved by the historic overlay district.
Section 1903 of the zoning ordinance establishing the overlay district includes prohibiting fast-food restaurants, mechanical garages, apartment buildings and service stations.
It specifies that service stations and convenience stores are only allowed on Highway 463 within 500 feet of Highway 22 to allow for the Livingston Mercantile at that intersection.
O’Neal said that developers are trying to subvert the definition by calling their project a “general mercantile store” a definition that O’Neal said no longer exists in the county’s zoning definitions. She said that no matter what they call it, the proposed business will have outdoor gas pumps that will be visible from the church property.
“From a legal standpoint that is exactly it,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal said that the church itself recently had to make multiple trips to the overlay district to get approval for improvements and additions they made to their church.
The Journal could not reach anyone with the Cress Group to confirm if the service station was part of the 25 acre Village of Mannsdale development that will include office buildings and a grocery store that is also slated for the northeast corner of Mannsdale Road (Highway 463) and Gluckstadt Road.
O’Neal said her group is not opposed to the other buildings being proposed and does not believe that they violate the regulations of the overlay district.
If this project is approved, O’Neal and others believe that it will “open the door” for other prohibited developments like fast-food restaurants.
Material on the church’s website under the title “We must protect the Chapel,” including letters from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Heritage Trust that oppose the development. The page includes a history of the church itself and includes information for contacting local officials to voice opinions on the matter.
The overlay meeting will be in the Parish Hall at the Chapel of the Cross on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. If approved, the item will go before Planning and Zoning and then to the Board of Supervisors