The struggle of Green Oak Nursery to survive in Northeast Jackson is a perfect example of the challenges businesses face in Jackson. JJ reported last week the nursery was plagued by thievery. No object was safe outside the store even if bolted down. However, Green Oak is involved in another fight and that is a fight against blight.
A vacant home sits across the street from Green Oak at 5012 Old Canton Road. The owner, Amber Arrington, lives out of state. The house has no power or water. However, such a lack of cozy amenities didn't stop squatters from living in the home. Complaints were made to Arrington but she took no action. The owners of Green Oak offered to buy the home but Arrington would not even speak to them. Karen McKrie stated to JJ last week:
The terrible house is directly across the street from Green Oak garden center and Florist. Address is 5012 Old Canton Rd, on record as owned by Amber Arrington, living somewhere near Chicago, I think. We have been notifying the police every time we see activity coming and going. Officer XXXX is our go to officer. He has been great about responding every time. He goes in the house and drives them out. Trash is accumulating outside in the carport. There is no water or electricity in house. My husband wanted to buy the house to protect our business, but the owner who lives out of state won’t talk to us. We have been told that the man and woman who we see coming and going are relatives and have the owners permission to stay there. Lots of arguing between these two, but I guess nothing to arrest for. Some of the neighbors and ourselves, have reached out to the city, and Mr. Foote to get action. Got a response forwarded today saying the grass will be cut soon.
The entire neighborhood is familiar with this blight upon the land as the squatters hung out there for over a year. It is probably no coincidence the Alfa Insurance office across the street burned down just a few months ago. The grass was several feet high until JPD showed up last week. A man with a lawnmower showed up soon after JPD arrived and cut the grass.
Arrington showed up as well. The McKries spoke to her and offered to buy the property. However, she rudely told them she would not sell the home because she wanted to fix it up and rent it. Of course, she has taken no action to do so over the last three years. Arrington instead boarded up the windows with plywood. Classy.
Jackson honestly does not know how to function as a city. Bums and vagrants take over large sections of town, running off customers who are tired of the harassment and seeing their vehicles vandalized. The businesses eventually follow the customers. Blight proliferates yet all the city can do is come up with excuses. Such a property in a prominent location would have never been allowed to get to this level of deterioration in the burbs before someone stepped in to fix the problem. The city finally did something about this home but that was after nearly a year of work by the neighbors and unfortunately, the fix is probably only temporary.
The home will probably sit there vacant as it has for years, a true blight upon the community. It will be only a matter of time before the bums remove some of the wood and set up camp inside yet again. Rinse, repeat.
59 comments:
"Jackson honestly does not know how to function as a city."
This.
There are a lot of derelict properties in Jackson owned by out-of-staters. Many inherit them and do not have the means or desire to actually fix them up to be rented. There has to be a solution to this. Some, like this, are on absolutely prime real estate. In the absence of any help from the worthless mayor, is there anything that can be done?
Seen this scenario in other parts of Jackson play out before. Arrington should reconsider and sell before the only thing left to sell is the lot.
I grew up in that neighborhood just off Ashley Blvd. I used to have friends that lived in that house. Jackson is broken and beyond repair. I can't believe that Jackson Academy still occupies that campus in that area. It's only a matter of time before they vacate it to move elsewhere and give it to JPS.
Check out the prop tax records on that one KF.
Competent leadership would have been prosecuting code violations against the owner to force something to happen.
This is going to sound mean but give me a break. How much sympathy are people supposed to feel for these business owners that constantly complain about doing business or getting anything police or utility related in Jackson? It’s like a woman who refuses to leave her abusive husband. At some point you have to blame the person who refuses to help themselves. Move. Your. Business.
the two houses on Kimwood across from whole foods have been sitting empty for year...at least 20.
10:56 is right, time to GO
The best outcome for that specific piece property is for the house to burn down. No more squatters!!
Nor have property taxes on this eyesore been paid in 5 years.
On prominent display is how ineffective Ashby Foote is.
Why doesn't hizzoner have his folks run a query of tax delinquent properties and begin forfeiture proceedings? Have an auction every month and give investors a chance to either improve these filth-ridden shitholes, or fast track them for demolition and turn the properties into green space.
Some of that "Asia Minor" lightning needs to hit that house.
@10:56 AM
Wait just a damn minute! This business (and others in Jackson) have been loyal TAX PAYING businesses for well over 50 years and you think just because some low life slum lord refuses to maintain their property that Green Oak should pack up and leave? YOU ARE THE PROBLEM! Continue to live in your rat infested residence if you want, just pick it up and move it to an area where nobody gives a damn about property value, pride in appearance and personal safety. Sheeze Louise!
Many of us have stated, "It is on her now". Wonder if and when she moves. Let me add someone had to bring up Competent Leadership and Jackson in the same paragraph. Jeez, you make me laugh.
“ Wait just a damn minute! This business (and others in Jackson) have been loyal TAX PAYING businesses for well over 50 years“
August 10, 2020 at 11:24 AM
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And you know who doesn’t care? The city you’ve been paying taxes to. You think you are owed something because you’ve been a sucker for all those years?
I understand the point of @10:56. But I'm going to disagree. Since Green Oak is a tax paying business, is it wrong that they expect the city officials to do their job? Of course it isn't wrong. So moving isn't the answer. The answer is the city doing their job.
Now where @10:56 is correct, is that we all know in reality, the city will never change. They will never fix their problems. So yeah, you might as well move to a place where the mayor cares, the police care, the water/sewer is run in a competent manner, the schools are better, etc.
&2600 taxes for that dump?
Ashby who?
"However, she rudely told them she would not sell the home because she wanted to fix it up and rent it. Of course, she has taken no action to do so over the last three years. Arrington instead boarded up the windows with plywood."
Some people simply can't afford to be a landlord and it's one of the biggest problems with renting.
Another terrible deserted house is next door to Finian's Pub. The people that hang out there throw food out on the sidewalk. The yard is full of beer cans and whiskey bottles. You have to walk right by this place from Finian's parking lot to their entrance. It is disgusting!
@11:21
Agreed. Sell the properties to investors or turn into green space. I'm guessing we'd see lots of green space.
@10:46
JA has put too much money into that campus to move. They're not going anywhere.
Who knows........ She might think if she waits long enough her lot will be zoned commercial, and she will make big bucks off selling it. There is no solution to escaping these kind of problems in Jackson but leaving.
I have no sympathy for the residents and business owners in Jackson, their own stubbornness has put them in this position. Most of the residents are there simply because they refuse to sell their houses at a loss. The businesses are likely the same. Although, I do hope they all remain. As long as there’s a few hold outs refusing to see reality, then the thugs won’t bother coming to my area further away.
@10:46,
Years ago JA made a decision. Either move to a safe area, or buy the slum apartments next door. The choice to buy the slum apartments won, because the people who made the choice lived in the area, and they knew if JA left then their home values would plummet (even faster than they already have). Not much else drove the decision there.
It should be worth noting that the city was not responsible for the grass being cut. Amber hired that person herself and had no knowledge of the city's "intention" of getting it cut.
10:56 & 11:04 Assuming that Green Oak actually decided they'd had enough and decided to try to move, you DO realize they'd have to sell the business first, correct? So unless you're implying you'd like to pay them a sufficient amount of money for their current property to motivate them to move, I would suggest things are not NEARLY as easy as you seem to think they are!
I don't know about Ridgeland, Flowood, Pearl or Brandon...But I know exactly what would happen if this bullshit scenario were to rear its ugly head in Madison, The City. Say what you will about cookie-cutter, stucco...This crap would not last half of one day in Madison! And that's the difference in a properly run city and a ship full of hull-holes with nobody in the wheelhouse. Oh....and no propeller.
This is relatively simple, business owners (like myself) depend on a stable and somewhat predictable environment in which to do business. When city leadership became (even more) erratic and irrational, and when it appeared that my employees' safety and security may become compromised, I moved out of Jackson.
Over the years I've personally paid a couple of hundred thousand dollars in damages and losses from burglaries and vandalism both to my facility and my employees' property; but when the police refuse to investigate crimes and provide even the most basic law enforcement services, I felt as though my investment in the city was not providing any return. I still own my property in the city (it's been in our family for three generations) but I don't see any scenario that would bring me back to Jackson.
Unless and until the city gets crime under control, fixes the infrastructure and executes a realistic strategy for growth, the exodus will continue. And who can blame us? The last thing I want is for one of my employees or family members to get hurt or killed.
Jackson, get your shit together and maybe businesses will consider staying.
Jackson should be renamed New Detroit
There is one more solution that is not being considered here - besides the bilateral choices of (1) staying and expecting the City's (quote quote) leadership address these problems of blight, homelessness, and more important lack of adequate policing and failing infrastructure, or the alternative (2) leaving.
Its time for the citizens that care about the area, those that enjoy the benefits of living in the area south of County Line Road but east of the railroad.
Its time to succeed from the City of Jackson and form a new city. It will take some work; it will take some money; it will take a little time. But Mississippi law allows for it, and all the good people (black, white, and latino) that are trying to live in this deprived section of the Radical New City need to form together and make this happen.
Why doesn't Ashby Foote ever speak out and raise hell about things like this?
I was surprised last year bums were living out of the old Express Printing building. I didn't know it was that bad. I thought Northeast Jackson was the place to be.
4:02, that's precisely what I did...I succeeded (sic) from Jackson, and I'm succeeding in Rankin County!
Interesting idea, but how will you keep criminals out? Are you going to erect (unconstitutional) de Blasio-style checkpoints, encourage extra-constitutional traffic stops, and employ a goon-squad style of policing? Good luck, because you will be up to your eyeballs in lawsuits and strangled by consent decrees from the first perceived violation of a thug's "right" to act like a thug.
@4:21 Because he's a nihilist
I looked her up. Reminds me of the lady who "purchased" Metrocenter Mall. Wonder if those taxes are paid up?
4:02....it will take putting your name on such posts to get any traction. And it will take including the capital and governors mansion. Our state government is not going to stand for being left in whatever remains.
Its already in the works for the two judicial districts in Hinds County to split into different counties.....meaning Jackson vs everybody else in the county (Byram, Raymond, Clinton, Edwards)
NE Jackson, you might get screwed in that deal
@12:32
I agree regarding Fenian's Pub. I wish Fenian's ownership could buy that dilapidated house and tear it down. Maybe even expand Fenians into that lot to make it larger restaurant for Jackson's only Irish Pub. But then again the city should have to deal with that eyesore.
4:21, Ashby is a nice guy, but I can't name one thing that he personally has led or accomplished since he's been in office.
If I'm wrong, please enlighten me/us.
Its time to succeed from the City of Jackson ...
How does a neighborhood 'succeed' apart from Jackson?
4:21, Ashby is a nice guy, but I can't name one thing that he personally has led or accomplished since he's been in office.
If I'm wrong, please enlighten me/us.
August 10, 2020 at 6:33 PM
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He’s got the best job. He does nothing and keeps getting elected by people who I guess are impressed with all that he does. Which is nothing.
Understand, I am not suggesting or condoning any illegal activity, but rather stating fact. A short in the insurance wire would solve most of these problems and that is a problem frequently caused by squatters.
8:46, You didn't by any chance work at that erstwhile Alpha Insurance office across the street, did you?
I shouldn't be surprised that all of you seem to think this state of affairs is the Mayor's problem or Jackson's problem.
The problem is State law and the inability of cities and towns and neighborhoods to do more than force property owners to mow.
Even neighborhoods with covenants still in force ( another legal issue here as there is an automatic expiration that makes it difficult to reinstate covenants), find it to be " Mission Impossible" to enforce them or even get new builds to comply.
The construction codes and laws in this State are abysmal. The responsibilities of property to maintain their properties are all but non-existent.
It's been that way so long, that I suspect the reason is that " planters" didn't want to worry about maintenance on the field hand's shacks. Now it's the slum lords and low rent apartment owners.
Do none of you ever bother to wonder, " How and why did this come to be?" before forming your opinions and casting blame?
FYI There is a serial house abandoner in Jackson who has plenty of money and lives in a house until it runs down and then buys a new one. It's 3 and counting and all are in high end neighborhoods. Any and all attempts to force him to do more than mow and pick up limbs fail because there are no laws on the books to do more than that.
You fall for the " Nobody has a right to tell me what to do on my own land" argument. You like that and you don't want to change it. It's on YOU.
Other States have laws to protect landowners from sorry no good slum lords and absentee owners, but not here!
It is simple. Businesses are leaving Jackson because violent low IQ thugs scare away their customers. And the same thugs don't make good customers themselves. It is sad how all the civil rights leaders marched for equality and desegregation. But the content of the character of Jackson's criminals have cultivated de-facto segregation since everyone decent who can leave does leave.
KF, why don't you put in a request for a list of city properties with multiple complaints?
Do start with northeast Jackson. You'll be surprised at the names. But, to be fair, pick another city.
And, get a copy of VA loan inspection requirements when building a house financed by them, and contrast and compare it to building codes.
8:39 AM just repeats the same excuses that Jackson officials always use to justify their failure to enforce its own adopted codes on property maintenance. Just because it might be easier to bring the hammer down on a blighted property in another state doesn't mean it can't be done here. And if there is some state law that is preventing it, work with your state representatives to get the laws amended. Sitting back and crying "woe is me" and accusing others of racism isn't fixing the problem, but is so typical of Jackson leadership.
As in many 3rd world countries, the culture/attitude is this. If you have a position in the Government or Authority that can be used to your advantage, bribes, extortion, inflated fees, & you don't use it, many times you are looked at as a fool, because everyone else would do so. That's where we are in our government now.
As to the home at 5012 Old Canton Rd...All Public Record
The taxes are around 2400 because the owner doesn't live in it & doesn't get a homestead exemption credit. It appears the previous owner didn't get the exemption either.
507-210 2018 1 ARRINGTON AMBER P 3,545.74
507-210 2017 1 ARRINGTON AMBER P 3,983.34 05/18/2020
507-210 2016 1 ARRINGTON AMBER P 3,121.72 12/20/2017
507-210 2015 1 BARNES WILLIAM A JR 3,466.66 12/20/2017
507-210 2003 1 BARNES WILLIAM A JR 2,096.68 01/27/2005
It's been a number of years since I dobbled in Tax Sales, & the market has changed dramatically. 5 years ago, corporate buyers emerged buying almost anything because some were public companies with stockholders looking for ROI. Now almost all tax sales are online, & the "Overbid" has become big business for cash strapped counties. Many people don't want the property, just the 1% a month penalty that whoever redeems the taxes pays to keep it.
When you pay the delinquent taxes on a property, sale usually in July - August, it has already accumulated January until the sale penalties per month. If the owner redeemed the taxes the next day, you will get a check from the Tax Assessor for the tax amount + the penalties. If they go 12 months before paying, you have made 12% on the tax amount you paid. Now there is so much corporate competition, the Overbid came into being. The Tax Assessor sets a minimum over bid increment. Its like Ebay in most auctions now, you can set an amount & forget it, or watch & keep over bidding the increased overbid amount. But depending upon why you want the property,..IE, for ROI, you don't want to over bid more than you are going to receive back, including penalties. You can lose money if you over bid too much.
You will not receive any overbid amount back. That is a premium You are willing to pay, to buy the taxes. That overbid goes straight into the County Coffers.
But if you want the property, & you think the taxes will never be redeemed, you want to be the person who buys the taxes the 1st year they are delinquent. If they aren't redeemed the 2nd year, & someone else pays them, they are entitled to the taxes & penalties for that year going forward. If a 3rd person pays the taxes the 3rd year, & the owner doesn't redeem all the taxes & penalties at that time, the property is sold, & a tax deed can be obtained. Here's how that used to work. The 1st buyer is offered the chance to pay the other 2 years of taxes & penalties & own the property.
If they don't want it, it is offered to the 2nd year buyer, then the 3rd. If any of the other 2 want the property, they have to pay the other tax buyers the amounts owed.
This owner who apparently lives out of state, never let the 3 years go by. They redeemed it later, paying all taxes & penalties.
As shown above, she paid 3,983.34 on 05/18/2020 for tax year 2018. The 2019 taxes are still owed + monthly penalties, but Hinds County hasn't had the 2019 tax sale yet.
Another thing that makes rental homes attractive is the corporate rental companies. With Section 8 housing vouchers & rent to own plans, they use a maintenance company for minimum upkeep. In some subdivisions, in just about all states, you may find 25% or more homes owned by these corporate entities. When looking at an area you aren't familiar with, it's good to check the ownership of each property online. If the percentage of Renters & vacant is increasing, home values are going to go down.
I've said many times, Green Oak Nursery should have left a long, long time ago.
I hate what's happening to them, but I have no sympathy.
If they can't understand that it will only get worse . . . they have no sense of reality.
(And I have been a lifelong customer).
But I have no intention of shopping there as long the owners remain in Jackson, Mississippi.
You probably blame rape victims for being beautiful and having big boobs.
" You probably blame rape victims for being beautiful and having big boobs."
I do blame them . . . if they are showing their boobs to anyone that will look . . .(and are hanging out in an unsavory part of any town at 4:am).
Putting unsecured garden items out in front of one's "yard and garden center" is no different.
So 4:39. You want business to leave Jackson according to your comment
Since some of you believe Madison to be paradise, I want someone to clearly explain what would happen if this house were in Madison instead of Jackson.
Belhaven Heights has similar issues.
As someone who invests in property and spends a lot of time researching land ownership, about half of trashy properties belong to owners living in Madison or other suburbs, while the other half live out of state.
@ PittPanther, this house wouldn't be in Madison because it is not brick and under 1800sqft.
Madison has their code enforcement pit bull, Marian Ethridge. She's like that Cynthia on the insurance commercial busting all the neighbors for minor infractions. She LOVES her job, and could care less that she's detested. Widow of a much older doctor that died broke. She does get the job done. Don't cross her.
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