When and if the Hattiesburg Marketplace subdivision at Lamar Boulevard and U.S. 98 becomes reality, no one will be able to say it wasn’t well planned out.
At the February 6 meeting of Hattiesburg City Council, council members agreed to take from the table and then re-table an item dealing with infrastructure matters. Council will re-visit the item at the February 20 meeting, by which point the site’s developers, city officials and the Mississippi Department of Transportation are expected to have more information before the project continues.
“We’re all kind of getting together and working out any infrastructure needs that might be put in place,” Ward 4 Councilman Dave Ware said. “We would have liked for this to have happened (by now), but there are some changes with MDOT, between the time the developer brought this project to them, and now that it’s actually being built out.
“So we’re hoping within the next week or week and a half, they can get together as to what needs to be put in place. We’re talking about turn lanes and signalization and that kind of stuff.”
Last month, council members agreed to table another item that would further subdivide the site in order to get more information on the matter.
“We’re getting with the developers to discuss some of the things within their traffic studies,” George said after that meeting. “This is a new request over anything they’ve asked for in the past.
“I think the council just has some concerns related to their traffic studies, so we’re just trying to get some answers before we move on anything.”
The request, which was filed by Hunter Andrews and Jason Graham, is for the approval a a preliminary plat for the marketplace, including the subdivision of lots 3, 4 and 5 of the development.
The subdivision would be located in the area east and south of The Citizens Bank and Hattiesburg Fire Department Station No. 8. It would consist of more than 30 acres of commercial space, along with two grassy common areas and a service road.
“If you look at the way they’re subdividing it, really they’re creating about four lots, because the road’s cutting down the middle,” George said in a previous story. “But you’ve got the two small lots up front and two ‘future development’ areas.”
In May 2023, council members decided to table a matter regarding the development, as George said Hattiesburg Marketplace is the first large commercial subdivision has done in a number of years.
The next month, that matter was again tabled by council after they received a recommendation from the developers’ attorney on proposed changes to the city’s conditions. That tabling also gave the city’s recently-appointed engineer, MaryBeth Bergin, a chance to get involved in the discussion.
Although a complete list of commercial tenants has not been nailed down, a Starbucks was discussed at the planning meeting. In addition, two drive-through quick service restaurants also have been reviewed for the U.S. 98 frontage road, and city officials are currently reviewing plans for a third on the highway.
The site has been cleared and utilities have been placed in a portion of the development, including sidewalks, stormwater infrastructure and water lines. Street trees are required for the development of new streets in the right-of-way, and development of private commercial sites requires trees along the frontage of the property.
“Obviously, anything someone is trying to bring new businesses into the city, I think that is a great thing for Hattiesburg,” George said. “We just want to make sure that when we’re subdividing over 30 acres, that everything is done correctly.
“So that’s why we’re exploring some conditions and various things that we can put on there to make sure it is done correctly.”
