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Rankin County declares five Plantation Shores properties uninhabitable under state code, orders utilities disconnected
Summary
After a public hearing with no owners present for five properties in Plantation Shores, the commission declared the parcels unfit for human habitation under Mississippi Code §43-35-103(c), directed that utilities be disconnected and noted that liens or other encumbrances may complicate cost recovery.
The Rankin County Planning Commission voted July 3 to condemn five properties in the Plantation Shores neighborhood as unsafe for human habitation and to direct that utility services to those parcels be disconnected.
Staff and fire-coordination personnel presented photographs and life-safety findings for five properties for which certified letters were sent; staff reported no property owners appeared at the public hearings. The parcels included (as listed in the meeting materials): 126 Greenleaves Drive (Anita Overby), 132 Mistoteau Drive (Marquee Manifestations LLC), 164 Airlie Drive (Damon Hoffman), 144 Mount Repos (James Parrish), and a property associated with Wendellyn Wright. Staff said these properties show severe structural deterioration and life-safety hazards and recommended condemnation.
The board’s attorney explained the condemnation process is distinct from nuisance enforcement: condemnation is a formal life-safety procedure that can lead to removal of structures but requires additional due process and notice to interested parties and lienholders. "You may be asked after having reviewed all these, you may be asked to make a formal declaration on each of these properties that they are not safe for human habitation, which means they've been condemned," the board attorney said during the meeting.
A motion to condemn the five parcels under Mississippi Code section 43-35-103(c) was made and seconded; the chair called for a voice vote and the motion carried. The commission also recorded direction to notify utilities that serve or attempt to serve the properties that service should be disconnected in light of the condemnation declarations.
Staff warned the public and the HOA that the county cannot unilaterally remove liens or alter recorded security interests. The county’s process can create a lien for costs associated with removal of unsafe structures, but that lien does not automatically take priority over other recorded liens. The commission discussed that recovery of removal costs may be unlikely in cases where properties are already encumbered and have little market value.
The Plantation Shores Homeowners Association president, Shondell Frederick, testified at the hearing and described ongoing problems in the neighborhood including squatters, drug activity and multiple tax-delinquent or investor-owned lots that have changed hands frequently through quick deeds. She told the commission the community would like to see the vacant and dilapidated structures removed.
Commissioners authorized staff to proceed with the condemnation process, including the notices and records filings required before removal or other irreversible action takes place.
