RESIDENTS WILL soon have an opportunity to weigh in on Ridgeland’s plans to rewrite an ordinance protecting the historic Old Agency Road Corridor (OARC).

The mayor and board of aldermen recently set a public hearing for August 19 to discuss the proposed changes. If passed, the amendments would take effect in 30 days.

The changes include moving OARC from a preservation district to an overlay district, extending its boundaries to Livingston Road, increasing the minimum size for residential lots not in platted subdivisions, and changing home occupations from permitted to conditional use.

After the work session on July 14, Alan Hart, the city’s director of community development, said the amendments would better protect the scenic character of Old Agency and clear up some errors in the original code, listed under Section 320 of the Ridgeland Zoning Ordinance.

According to the code, Old Agency is considered a “canopy road,” because of the trees lining both sides of it. “The road itself is a historic resource, since it was part of the original Natchez Trace.”

The code states that it was also the second site of the Choctaw Indian Agency, giving the road its name. It is a registered Mississippi landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The original ordinance was passed around 1998, after the Old Agency Road Preservation Society was formed. “When construction began and people wanted to change the road’s name, we signed a petition to get included on the historic registry,” said resident Nancy Batson.



AFTER DIGGING through records at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Batson said they discovered that the road was already included. “We got a description and its history of the road and took it to the board of aldermen and formed the Audubon Woods Homeowners Association.

“We started work to make sure the road was preserved,” she said. Hart said the recent changes to the ordinance would continue to maintain Old Agency’s integrity for years to come.

While the ordinance is being rewritten to move Old Agency from a preservation district to an overlay district like that of West Jackson Street, Hart said strict regulations in the updated code will still be in place to prevent an increase in traffic and to protect the area’s tree-lined façade.

The first of those will extend OARC from the previous city limits line to Livingston Road. Amendments will also require a two-acre minimum for residential lots outside of platted subdivisions.

New amendments would also provide that developments have no entrance or exit points along Old Agency when other roads are available. And new home-based businesses like bed and breakfasts, attorneys’ offices and day cares can’t open without approval from the board.

The amendment would move home-based businesses from permitted to conditional use.

Hart said that would allow surrounding residents more say in what can and can’t open within the historic corridor. “It would help us preserve the area and keep traffic down.”