The proposed addition of a Love’s Travel Stop in Dixie has many residents of the Homestead Ridge neighborhood area up in arms, with several fearing the truck stop would bring problems such as increased traffic, environmental issues, drug use and prostitution.
A handful of homeowners in that subdivision showed up to the May 15 meeting of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors to inquire about what could be done to prevent the business from opening near the intersection of Elks Lake Road and Ira Hudson Road.
“I would venture to say that everybody that bought homes in that community bought them all for the same reason: it’s quiet, and we’re an average neighborhood and we all know each other,” one resident told the board. “It’s just not something that is even viable to our community; it’s not going to benefit us in any way.
“Even though we’re a small community, we have a lot invested in our homes. We look to retire here, and we’ve lived in this house in this community for almost 22 years. It’s very, very discouraging. You say that everybody has a right to build … but that’s to a point, because when it starts affecting other people, then we need to have some rights or something to fall back on. Whether it’s zoning or whatever, we need to have some rights, because our rights are being infringed on.”
But options for that may be limited, as the county does not have zoning regulations such as those imposed by municipalities, which in turn allows for free enterprise.
David Hogan, who serves as the president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors and also is a Dixie resident, said he has mixed feelings himself about the prospect of the truck stop locating in the community, which is less than a mile from his home, but the county’s hands are somewhat tied in the matter.
“That’s one of the advantages to living in the county – people can do with their property what they choose, unless it affects the health or safety of the public,” Hogan told the residents. “There’s nothing, by law, that says we can prevent someone from coming in and buying property and opening a business.”
In addition, Hogan said he is not 100 percent sure the truck stop is even locating to the area, and in fact, the board has not received requests for necessary documents such as flood plain or stormwater permits. Hogan and board attorney David Miller said one course of option would be to go before members of Hattiesburg City Council, who would in theory have the power to deny sewer access to the business, although that would be unlikely.
“(We have disapproved measures for businesses before), so I don’t want you to think I don’t care about our community – I do,” Hogan said. “We also had another … sewer proposal, and a garbage transfer station on that property, which the board had control over and did stop.
“So I don’t want you to think that I don’t fight for our community and that I don’t care. Even if there was zoning in the county, I believe that that property at the intersection of Highway 98 and Elk’s Lake Road would be zoned for a fueling station.”
Another resident addressed safety concerns with the ingress and egress of trucks that would come with the new business.
“We’re concerned about the traffic on Elk’s Lake Road, with these 18-wheelers using a thoroughfare,” she told the board. “The roads are not built for these big 18-wheelers.
“Can the county do anything about that if Love’s does come in? Can we widen the road or something?”
Hogan said the station’s ingress and egress would have to meet specifications by the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
“I believe we can put up signage to prevent them from coming out there and turning north, towards the homestead,” he said. “That bridge on Elk’s Lake Road toward (U.S) 49 is posted (with a weight limit), and we can put additional signage up closer to where (the truck stop’s) location is, to prevent them from going that way.
“But Warren Paving is right there (one Elk’s Lake Road), and those trucks are heavy when they come out of there pulling that asphalt, and we have on a regular basis kept them from running some of our county roads. And we’re not just picking on them – we get on to everybody … because we try to keep heavy truck traffic down.”
Although board members advised the residents to attend the May 15 meeting of city council, none showed to speak at that meeting’s Citizens’ Forum.
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.
