The organizer of a proposed new neighborhood organization continues to work.
Stan Flint, a Belhaven resident and lobbyist who is leading the efforts to establish what is being called the Woodland Hills Good Neighbors Association, said he is working on scheduling a neighborhood get-together to determine the next steps to get the group up and running.
“COVID-19 has put a damper on that but we are now moving forward again cautiously,” he said.
The organization was proposed when concerns were raised during a community meeting about erecting public access gates in Woodland Hills in Jackson.
The Woodland Hills Conservation Association ended up withdrawing its application after it realized the location of the gate and an island needed for a gate’s mechanism would significantly impact a resident on Glenway Drive.
The proposed Woodland Hills Good Neighbors Association hopes that technology can provide ways to deal with issues about security and crime so that neighborhoods can remain open and accessible to vehicles, walker, joggers and bicyclists, Flint said.
The Good Neighbors Association would like to be an organization to move Jackson forward, Flint said.
“We’re not just for one specific area but want to provide a vehicle for the greater Jackson area o engage with city officials and others,” he said. “None of us are going to be safe, our property values aren’t going to be as good as they could be until everybody’s concerns and issues are given consideration. The biggest hope is that we can do something that isn’t limited to one area but takes a bigger view of how community and neighborhoods work.”
The Fondren Renaissance Foundation already covers the area Flint considers greater Woodland Hills. The foundation’s boundaries, which include a socially, economically and racially diverse area of about 2,500 residents and 200 small businesses, stretch from Woodrow Wilson to Northside Drive and from West Street to I-55.
