Fearing wrath of DAR, lawmakers turn down proposed change on Natchez Trace

JACKSON — Mississippi House members decided Thursday they’d rather reject a Senate bill allowing buildings inside the Natchez Trace Parkway than risk the ire of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Senators had approved legislation that would let businesses get around the state’s restrictions on buildings, billboards and the like that stand more than 35 feet tall within 1,000 feet of the Natchez Trace Parkway’s boundaries.

The legislation, which senators approved without a dissenting vote, would let businesses ignore that restriction if the building was blocked by hills from the view of travelers along the parkway.

Supporters said a business wanted to build an assisted living facility, blocked by a hill but still within the 1,000-foot boundary.

The measure, like every other bill House members considered Thursday, appeared to be headed toward easy passage in the House until state Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, rose to argue against it.

The Natchez Trace runs through Holland’s Lee County district.

Holland, who has been a state representative since 1984, noted that the Daughters of the American Revolution organization is a major supporter of the Natchez Trace and fought his re-election one year after he had angered the group over a change concerning the parkway.

“I wouldn’t want the DAR breathing down my neck either,” said Rep. Robert Johnson III, DNatchez and chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who was promoting the bill.

The measure failed on a vote of 54- 62.

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs 312 miles across the state from northeast Mississippi to the city of Natchez along the Mississippi River.

The 444-mile parkway, established in 1938, begins just west of Nashville.

The parkway follows the route that Ohio River Valley boatmen, called Kaintucks, would use as they returned from Natchez to Nashville.

The trek would take the boatmen about 30 days to complete by foot.