Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Derelict Properties topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Long Beach board adjudicates multiple derelict properties after no-shows at hearings
Summary
The Long Beach Mayor and Board of Aldermen adjudicated several derelict-property cases in hearings where owners did not appear, authorizing follow-up cleanups and noting statutory authority to reenter properties that fall out of compliance within 12 months.
The Long Beach Mayor and Board of Aldermen voted to adjudicate a string of derelict-property cases after property owners failed to appear at public hearings.
Clerk (speaker 6) read hearing notices and the board moved to close and adjudicate several properties. "Notice of hearing was posted on subject property 316 East 4th Street, Long Beach, Mississippi on 10/27/2025 by zoning enforcement officer Dale Stogner and mailed to Kevin Sawyer," the clerk stated at the meeting. The notice for that address was returned to sender and no representative attended the hearing.
The action followed similar outcomes for 111 Buena Vista Drive and multiple parcels on La Rosa Road. At the La Rosa Road item, board members discussed photos of debris and testimony that a contractor intended to clean part of the site. One board member noted there is a standard timeline before enforcement; staff confirmed there is generally a 10-day turnaround before adjudication action is carried out.
A board member also cited the city's nuisance authority under state law and the practical effect of adjudication. As one member summarized during discussion, "If the property falls back out of compliance within 12 month period, the city has clear authority to reenter and address the nuisance again without having to start this process all over again." That legal interpretation was offered as the basis for adjudicating each parcel individually while allowing uniform enforcement where parcels are contiguous.
At a public-comment period tied to the La Rosa Road matter, a representative for the Riddick Family Trust (Public commenter, speaker 13) told the board a sale may consolidate ownership of the front units, which could simplify future compliance: "There is, we are in fact, the whole front, which is Sheila and my my parent my mother's, 3 units, are possibly gonna be bought by 1 person," the representative said, and added that negotiations were ongoing.
The board voted to adjudicate the listed parcels and directed staff to follow up on cleanups and coordination with police when evidence indicated third-party dumping. No fine amounts or exact enforcement dates were listed at the meeting; the board left follow-up and monitoring to city staff.
