Rankin supervisors approve multiple rezoning requests, impose conditions on water service and screening

Rankin County supervisors on Tuesday approved three separate zoning actions, granting rezoning for two parcels owned by developer Brandon McKay and rezoning a one-acre auto-repair site for Wixson Automotive while attaching conditions intended to limit downstream infrastructure and neighborhood impacts.

The board reopened a public hearing and approved a request to rezone about 26 acres at Highway 481 and Harold Road from A-2 to R-E-1. The applicant revised an earlier plan from an eight-lot subdivision to a seven-lot layout and set aside an additional 1-acre parcel intended for the Leesburg Water Association. The board approved the rezoning with conditions requiring documentation that the water association will provide adequate service before any preliminary plat approval.

The action matters because the parcels sit in a largely rural District 4 area where opponents said roads, schools and water infrastructure are already strained. Kayla Logan, a nearby resident, told supervisors the local school has ‘‘two full grades and portables’’ and that she worries about active-shooter response plans and increased traffic from farm equipment and large trucks. She also said Leesburg water frequently runs discolored and that no water-impact statement had been provided.

Brandon McKay, the applicant, told the board he had reworked lot sizes and discussed water service with the Leesburg Water Association but had not supplied the county a formal water-impact letter. He said most lots would be four acres or larger and that the developer intends a 2,500-square-foot minimum house size and would encourage houses to be set back from roads and screened with trees.

The board then approved a second McKay rezoning on Lewis Prestige Road — roughly 20.26 acres from A-2 to RD-1 — for a proposed six-lot residential development. That application likewise includes a 2,500-square-foot minimum-house-size proposal and a mix of lots the applicant described as four acres or more. Supervisors said final plat approval will require engineering studies and documentation of water service.

On Highway 471, supervisors rezoned one acre at 1768 Highway 471 from RU-1 to C-2 for Wixson Automotive, a long-standing auto-repair site that the staff said operates as a legal nonconforming use established before the county’s zoning ordinance. The rezoning clears the way for the owner to replace older buildings and add a new structure; the applicant also asked for a conditional-use permit to allow outside vehicle storage behind the buildings. Neighbors asked the board to require a visual privacy screen; Zach Katzenmeyer, who lives at 1780 Highway 471, requested ‘‘a privacy fence or some sort of partition… not a chain link fence’’ to block the view and limit visual spillover.

County staff told the board they will require site-plan review, stormwater review and a screening condition for the outside-storage area. Supervisors approved the rezoning and the conditional-use permit with screening and other conditions; staff and the applicant will work out technical details during site-plan review.

Votes at a glance: the board carried motions to approve all three zoning actions during the Sept. 2 meeting. The transcript records those motions as carried; individual roll-call tallies were not read into the record.

The decisions conclude an extended local debate about development pressure in Rankin County’s rural districts. Several residents urged the board to restore stricter lot-size rules in its zoning ordinance; county staff and supervisors said the county’s comprehensive plan remains in effect as guidance, but that the zoning ordinance controls enforceable development standards and that the county currently lacks the “5-acre minimum” zoning authority that some residents had previously sought.

Supervisors said plat-level approvals will require additional documentation — especially written confirmation from the Leesburg Water Association that water can be provided — and that county engineering requirements and driveway permits (MDOT where state highways are affected) will apply.

Officials and neighbors may return to the board later with site plans, water letters and stormwater studies.