Ocean Springs residents file civil rights suit, say urban renewal vote ‘blindsided’ them
Four Ocean Springs residents and Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church are suing the city of Ocean Springs, saying they were “blindsided” by an urban renewal plan that could cost them their homes, a business and church property.
The church and three of the residents own property in the historically Black Railroad District downtown. Two of the homes have been in the same families for six generations each, while a combat veteran owns a third home he bought for his family in the 1970s.
The Board of Aldermen on April 4 approved six urban renewal areas in the city, including the Railroad District properties, declaring them “slum” or “blighted.” They would be eligible for restoration or redevelopment under an urban renewal plan that Mayor Kenny Holloway’s administration is proposing.
“The plan provides scant details on what the city intends to do with properties in the areas,” the civil-rights lawsuit says, also noting none of the property owners who are suing want to sell their homes, business or, in the church’s case, land.
The aldermen established the urban renewal areas without notifying property owners, who then had only 10 days to appeal under state law. Residents fear the city will use the designation to take their properties by force through eminent domain. Although Holloway says that won’t happen, the city’s actions are following a process that would allow property redevelopment and make funds available to assist.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, says the state’s legal process for designating urban renewal areas violates the 14th amendment to the constitution by denying residents the right to be heard before being “deprived of their property.”
The city also violated the residents’ rights by establishing the urban renewal areas without proper notice and without evidence of slum or blighted conditions, the lawsuit says.
Holloway released a statement about the lawsuit Thursday evening, saying state Attorney General Lynn Fitch will address claims about the state’s urban renewal statutes. But that the city has not violated anyone’s rights.
“It is unfortunate that our residents have chosen to file a lawsuit instead of having a constructive discussion with the city,” Holloway’s statement said. “I have personally invited residents to my office to explain and answer questions. I have addressed the concerns regarding eminent domain. We have given the option that residents can remove their property from the proposed plan.”
What Ocean Springs residents want
Ocean Springs attorney Elizabeth Feder-Hosey and the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia, filed the lawsuit. They are asking a judge to declare invalid the aldermen’s vote that established the urban renewal areas. They also want the state law governing the process deemed unconstitutional.
In addition, they are asking the judge to prevent the city from establishing any urban renewal plan based on the April 4 vote and from establishing future urban renewal areas without proper notice to residents. They also want the city to pay their attorneys’ fees, expenses and nominal damages of $1.
The Sun Herald will have more from a news conference the group is holding at 11 a.m. Thursday at Macedonia Baptist Church.
The individuals who have filed the lawsuit are Cynthia Fisher, whose family has owned a home downtown on Robinson Street for six generations; Esther “Faye” Payton, who owns a home downtown on Cash Alley that has been in the family for six generations; Edward Williams, who was born in the Railroad District and bought a home downtown on General Pershing Avenue in 1976; Macedonia, a “pillar” of the Ocean Springs community established in 1891 and with four lots included in the urban renewal area; and Robert Zellner, who owns two business parcels on Franklin Road just off Bienville Boulevard in a different urban renewal area.
