The fate of the 15-bed assisted living facility proposed to be built adjacent to the recreated town of Livingston in Madison County remains to be determined.
The Mannsdale-Livingston Historic Preservation District (MLHPD) recommended to the Madison County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 20 that Chad and Crystal Garner Phillips be denied a certificate of appropriateness for the proposed 15-bed facility they sought to build adjacent to Livingston.
The MLHPD Commission met on Jan. 30 and received comments from the public, arguments from the appellants’ counsel and the Phillips’ counsel, comments from the Madison County Planning and Zoning administrator and the Planning and Zoning attorney and heard presentations by both Chad and Crystal Garner Phillips. The meeting was the fifth one MLHPD had with the Phillips.
“We carefully considered all the information and all the facts presented by the Phillips and their attorney, including but not limited to information that would normally not be relevant,” said Phyllis Doby, who spoke on behalf of MLHPD.
“The board of supervisors charged us with the duty of resolving all issues.”
Doby presented the supervisors with a 271-page document that included a letter of findings and recommendations.
During the Jan. 30 meeting, six members of the MLHPD Commission voted against the project and one voted present.
“Under Article 1900 of the Madison county zoning ordinance, it was impossible for MLHPD to approve the Phillips’ petition,” Doby said. “The Phillips contend that group housing is authorized in commercial areas within the district. From the inception of MLHPD, the MLHPD Commission, the Planning and Zoning Board and the Board of Supervisors, we all have consistently denied similar requests.”
She told the supervisors that MLHPD found “the character of the proposed building is incongruent, inharmonious and out of character with the existing visible features of the district” and that “the proposed use is also incompatible with the current uses in the recreated town of Livingston.”
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Heritage Trust wrote letters supporting MLHPD’s decision that were included in the document presented to the supervisors.
Also problematic was that the documents originally submitted by the Phillips depicted five buildings on the five-acre property, but the current submission showed only one building and an abundance of green space.
During their Feb. 20 meeting, the supervisors voted twice about the issue but failed to come to a decision.
The supervisors did not have enough votes to deny the certificate of appropriateness and they did not get enough votes to send the case back to the Madison County Planning and Zoning Commission for it to reconsider.
“It goes nowhere,” said Gerald Steen of District Three, who serves as president of the board. “We’ll take it under advisement and move it from there.”
Casey Brannon, who represents District One, pushed for the supervisors to take a vote and settle the matter after hearing the recommendation of MLHPD.
Steen favored having the planning and zoning commission review the case again in case the matter should end up in court.
Chad Phillips applied on April 1, 2023, for a conditional use for a public/quasi-public facility with 15 beds that he would like to build and operate at 3265 Highway 22. The property is zoned C-1 Commercial District with a Planned United Development (PUD) overlay.
The planning and zoning commission approved the application on Aug. 10, 2023, on the condition that the MLHPD approve it.
The MLHPD reviewed the application on Aug. 14, 2023 and denied it because there was a lack of information about landscaping and the site elevations for the building were inappropriate.
Steen said on Jan. 18 that MLHPD did not give the proposal the due diligence it should have and asked the MLHPD to review it again, which it did on Jan.30.
