Local Politicians Crush Small Businessman
MOSS POINT - Moss Point board denies home-based diesel mechanic business
The Board of Aldermen voted to deny a special exception for a resident to run a mobile diesel mechanic business from a home on Anderson Street, citing the city's inability to enforce its own codes.
At the Sept. 2 meeting, the Ward 4 alderman, believed to be Victor Bovastro, whose ward includes the affected neighborhood, told fellow board members that residents remained opposed to the request. "The citizens in that uh neighborhood are still against it... I have to agree with their concerns because we lack the ability to enforce the codes. I don't feel we being represented adequately in this situation... I came to the board to say that we turn down the request... because I feel that and the neighbors feel that it's going to slip through the cracks and I don't see how this is going to benefit the city," the alderman said. The board voted to deny the request, with one abstention and the remainder in favor of denial.
The item had been tabled from an Aug. 18 meeting after the Jackson County Planning Commission denied the same request on Aug. 10. The alderman's stated reason for recommending denial was not a flaw in the applicant's proposal but the city's admitted lack of enforcement capacity for its zoning codes.