After an 11th-hour objection by the Lamar County Board of Supervisors, a new brew pub located across the street from the Hattiesburg city limits must face legal arguments in 10th District Chancery Court on July 30 before it can attempt to apply for a license to sell alcohol.
The Lamar County Supervisors, represented by Hattiesburg attorneys Tim C. Holleman and Patrick T. Guild, filed its objection this past weekend before Monday’s hearing on the inclusion petition. R. Andrew Foxworth, the Columbia attorney representing Joshua Lon Mathis, said at the 9 a.m. hearing that he did not become aware of the objection until that morning.
Tenth District Court Judge Ronald Doleac received the motions Monday at the Gamble Chancery Courthouse in Purvis and continued the case until July 30. He set aside two days to hear the issue.
The property in question is owned by Hattiesburg real estate developer Darian Pierce, who is building The Colony at Turtle Creek Crossing and Conway’s Family Pub. Pierce, president of Pierce Realty, Inc., is building five star-shaped structures at 5173 W. Fourth St.
“I have had some opposition,” Pierce said after the inclusion petition was filed. “I hope that people see how this would benefit the area.”
According to the response filed by the Lamar County Board of Supervisors, “The proposed inclusion of the territory into the City of Hattiesburg is not reasonable and a public convenience and necessity would not be served by the inclusion of the territory in the City of Hattiesburg.”
In another of the nine affirmative defenses of the response, the Supervisors claim, “The citizens of Lamar adjoining the area sought to be included expressed to their elected Supervisors their objections to the same.”
The Lamar County Board of Supervisors also demanded that the action should be dismissed and that all costs should be assessed against Mathias “and for any such other general relief to which it may be entitled.”
The Hattiesburg City Council voted earlier this month not to object to a petition that would allow the property into the city limits. Attorney Jerry Mills of Mills, Scanlon, Dye and Pittman – who is representing the City of Hattiesburg – offered no objection to the petition.
Mathias of Lamar County filed the inclusion complaint March 29 in Lamar County Chancery Court as the only qualified elector living on the property. According to the plat drawing included with the complaint, the unincorporated portion includes two parcels owned by Pierce Family Holdings LLC of 3.5 acres and 11.34 acres.
Conway’s Family Pub, which will be housed in the structure now standing on the Fourth Street site, is named after St. Fabian Catholic Church’s Father Tommy Conway.
The pub will have a full menu of choices for every meal, any time of the day.
Amenities at The Colony are expected to include exercise, walking paths, gardening, yoga and proximity to the Longleaf Trace.
