Local ordinance causes possible conflict for property owner
By Emily Kirby
STEVENSON- The Stevenson City Council heard from local resident Margie Waldrop during last Thursday’s council meeting. Councilman Bob Spencer led the meeting in Mayor Ricky Steele’s absence.
Waldrop, who recently sold an acre of property next to Stevenson Elementary School to the Jackson County Board of Education, came before the council to discuss the relocation of a mobile home currently still on the property. Waldrop came to Thursday’s meeting with hopes of moving the home to another property she owns adjacent to the one acre recently sold.
“I would like y’all’s permission, if I might, to move this mobile home over there,” Waldrop said. “I have checked with everybody that I know of to find another place to park this mobile home.”
Waldrop said she could not find anywhere else to move the home to, so she would need the council’s permission due to the city’s 2001 Mobile Home Ordinance already in place that could prevent a mobile home from being moved into city limits.
“When I sold [the land] to the school, I didn’t know about the ordinance,” she said.
Waldrop said after moving the mobile home, the school system will be able to move forward with removing an old structure on the property, along with “cleaning up” the overgrowth.
“It’ll just make the community look so much better,” she said.
Waldrop said there is a mobile home currently on her land where she hopes to move this one, but the family renting the lot is moving their home off of the property.
The ordinance that could cause conflict in the council’s decision states that any mobile home brought in to replace another must be “five years or newer than the trailer being replaced.” Spencer said the gray area is how the wording of the ordinance is interpreted.
Councilwoman Glenda Taylor said since a similar situation on a nearby property came before the council in recent years, the council’s previous decision would also need to be taken into consideration.
Spencer and the council agreed to present the situation to the city lawyer and give Waldrop an answer by the end of the month.
“I think we need to bounce this off the city attorney to make sure what the difference between what we did before and if it lines up with what we do now, so there’s no problems,” he said. “I’ve got to talk with the city attorney and find out why we made that decision before in the same type of scenario because it’s not perfectly clear to me right here, so we need to get him to interpret it if that’s okay and come back on [December 28] and let you know or sooner.”
The council also:
- approved the minutes from the November 9, 2023 and December 7, 2023 meetings.
- discussed an unpaid bill. The council approved for the city attorney to proceed with collection.
- decided on a contingency plan for the Stevenson Christmas Parade, with a decision to be made at noon on Saturday, December 16 depending on the weather.
- approved parade float winner awards for $250 for first, $175 for second, and $100 for third.
- discussed changing the policy for renting the park building. Look for a story in an upcoming edition of the North Jackson Press on the new reservation policy, along with recent building updates.
- discussed the downtown Main Street holiday pole decorations. Spencer said the city enjoys the decorations, but they will need to develop rules for the future, with the council taking inspiration from Main Street Alabama and creating a guideline for the city.
- approved Resolution 2023-07 declaring a motor as unneeded property.
The council is expected to meet again on December 28 at 6 p.m.
