Officials from the City of Hattiesburg have agreed to accept and treat the domestic wastewater from the highly-contested Love’s Travel Stop that is proposed to come to the Dixie community in the near future.
That decision was made at the September 5 meeting of Hattiesburg City Council, where council members voted 3-2 to provide the service to the truck stop that would be located at the intersection of Ira Hudson and Elks Lake roads. Ward 2 Councilwoman Deborah Delgado and Ward 5 Councilman Nick Brown voted against the measure, with Delgado saying she needed more time to talk to Forrest County officials, as the development would be constructed in the county, slightly outside of city limits.
“At this time, until maybe this group has had an opportunity to address the county, (we should hold off on this),” she said. “The people who are complaining about (the truck stop coming) are residents of the city.
“If the facility is going to impact residents of the city, do we have any basis for not doing this right now?”
Randy Pope, who serves as attorney for the City of Hattiesburg, said the city does accept sewer from a number of entities outside of the city limits.
“In that sense, to my knowledge, this is not different from any other (sewer) that we accept,” he said. “As far as what folks may have said to the county, we don’t have any jurisdiction there; this is outside the city limits, but we do accept sewer from a number of entities from outside the City of Hattiesburg.
“This is not, from that sense, unusual. I know some of the residents are (in the City of Hattiesburg), but the facility itself is not in the city limits. I guess you could say that sewer that is accepted from somewhere else certainly affects the city in one shape or form, but I don’t think this is unique.”
The idea of the truck stop has been a contentious matter over the last few months, with several residents from the Homestead Ridge Community in Dixie showing up to oppose the matter at council meetings and those of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors. However, supervisors have advised residents that the county features no zoning laws preventing businesses from locating to the community, meaning county officials have no legal measures with which to stop construction of the travel center.
“I would say that these neighborhoods surrounding Love’s are not in the city either, and I think that’s kind of the rub here,” Mayor Toby Barker said. “You’ve got people outside of the city who want protection the city would afford, if they were inside the city – whether zoning or other building codes – but they don’t want to be in the city.
“So Forrest County doesn’t have zoning – that’s a county decision, and folks that live out there, that’s kind of what they want. For us, Love’s could use a spray field (for sewer treatment), Love’s could use a septic tank, or we could make the decision that I think is economically advantageous to us, which is to charge them double, which is what we do for people that operate outside the city. This is a county decision – the lack of zoning from the county is what I think brought this to us.”
Council president Jeffrey George said he wanted to clear up the misconception that if the city did not approve sewer service, the Love’s project would effectively go away.
“I’ve done projects where there’s spray fields, and then there’s underground septic (tanks), and there’s other things that can be done,” he said. “They could build their own sanitary sewer lagoon, and the county doesn’t have an ordinance or anything that would stop them from doing that.”
The group opposing Love’s Travel Stop is represented by Hattiesburg attorney Michael Adelman, who recently asked supervisors to “dig deep” to find a way to prevent the truck stop from locating there. Because there are no zoning stipulations in the county – which gives residents and businesses free enterprise over their property – Adelman suggested passing an ordinance against that particular kind of business in the community.
“That would take into consideration the nature of the different communities, like Dixie, and maybe be able to control it that way,” Adelman said at a recent supervisor meeting. “I think the place to put it in Forrest County is somewhere close to the roads, but away from residences, and those areas exist.
“Once you get drive down (U.S) 49, there’s a lot of areas that aren’t highly residential. The only reason (Love’s officials) want it (in Dixie) is because of the confluence of the highways.”
Dixie residents have steadily addressed their concerns at previous two board meetings, where issues such as crime, drug use and other safety concerns were discussed. A Facebook page called “No Love for Love’s in Dixie” has been created, which currently features 93 members.
For a few weeks, supervisors were unsure whether the truck stop was indeed locating to the area, but the parcel of land has since been sold to Holliday Construction of Poplarville for construction of the site.
“Dixie is one of the oldest communities outside of Hattiesburg, and it’s centered around (Dixie Attendance Center),” Adelman said. “Contrary to statements that we’ve heard from Love’s, we believe that the construction of a truck stop … would essentially destroy the essence of Dixie.
“The community has always thrived on being a safe, healthy community. We all know there’s a drug crisis in the United States, and we all know the preferred method of transporting drugs across the border from Mexico – and throughout the United States – is trucking.”
One Dixie resident suggested that the county could deny the widening of Ira Hudson Road, which may be necessary to facilitate 18-wheeler traffic to the truck stop.
“There may be an opportunity for this board to make a decision on whether or not that is a sustainable entrance and exit for those trucks there on Ira Hudson Road,” said David Hogan, president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors. “So there may be an opportunity there for this board to weigh in.
“But besides that, as the law stands right now with Forrest County, we do not have zoning in the county.”
District 5 Supervisor Chris Bowen said he did not believe county-wide zoning would meet with approval from other residents.
“Until we’re petitioned to put county-wide zoning on the ballot – which I’m convinced the vast majority of my constituents who live outside the municipalities don’t want – I’ll continue to support each individual’s right to have dominion over their own property,” he said.
District 4 Supervisor Rod Woullard told Dixie residents they should think hard before requesting such a measure, as it could come with unwanted consequences.
“I hope everybody in here understands exactly what you’re asking for,” he said. “Once the zoning and the ordinances start, every time you want to do something that you’re not zoned for, you’re going to have to come back before this board (for permission).
“Right now, you have the right to do what you want to do with your land, however you want to do it. But once you get the county involved, it doesn’t go away; it usually just keeps perpetuating.”
According to the Love’s Travel Stop website, the business was founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It owns more than 600 locations in 42 states, with more than 38,000 employees throughout the company.
“I can’t say I blame (the residents for not wanting the truck stop), and that’s why I live inside the city limits, where there are those protections,” Bowen said.
