LETTER EDITOR TO THE

On June 20, 2017, the Starkville Board of Aldermen will reconsider and vote on a new Comprehensive Plan for the City. As a north Starkville property owner, I encourage taxpayers to attend this meeting and express your views on the Plan and, on a related matter, the recent decision to allow M1 zoning for industrial development in north Starkville. Nearby landowners/taxpayers were led to believe the north Starkville expansion under the Plan was for a nice research park similar to Thad Cochran Research Park. Instead, the approved zoning allows for literally anything from heavy manufacturing to strip clubs and landfills—on one of the only remaining large areas of “green” agricultural and residential land in Starkville. This rezoning “leapfrogs” current zoning—inappropriate under zoning laws or prudent city planning. The proposed industrial park is based on a premise of new jobs for the City which would be great except that a study has shown that the relevant labor pool is not available. Per commonly cited wisdom, “Hope is not a strategy.” Importantly, the City, County and surrounds have thousands of acres of land already designed and available for industrial development— why propose additional industrial sprawl? Why would we think a different location, with even fewer nearby amenities (e.g., adequate access roads) than those already available, will be attractive to companies with the right jobs? This is a far-fetched field of dreams without valid business case support for the investment. Who will pay for this $14 million (and probably much more) gamble? Taxpayers. Who benefits? A few landowners and agents. Who suffers? Our children and grandchildren who lose green space and potential air and water quality. If you care about the future of Starkville and prudent use of tax dollars, let your alderman know today.

Susan Bell Morris, Atlanta