Update #2: Latrice Rogers, the owner of Taste Fondren, emailed a comment that is posted below.
Update: Approved. Stokes played the race card. Vote was 3-2 with Hartley, Clay, Stokes voting aye while Foote and Parkinson voted nay.
Check out what is on the agenda for today's meeting of the Jackson City Council Zoning Committee:
The meeting starts at 2:30.
Latrice Rogers Statement
I’ve read the comments, and I have one genuine question: What exactly is so bad about FONDREN Taste? Have you actually been?
FONDREN Taste has never left. We have invested well over seven figures into our business and into this property. So the suggestion that we fought this hard and invested this heavily just to bring “prostitution” into the community is not only ridiculous, it’s a new level of imagination. It is insane that there is such a fight to build and improve our local economy and especially the Black economy. Is the real issue fear of the improvement of Black economics? I beg this question because, at this point, the fight seems to be rooted more in WHOM than WHAT. So here we are battling over an Airbnb…a mere commercial property in a commercial area that has somehow been turned into a hub for prostitution, crime, and the downfall of FONDREN?? At some point, you have to ask: is the issue really the business model, or is it who owns the building?
And since we’re clearing things up, the only thing we sell at FONDREN Taste is pasta. Not prostitution, not crime, and definitely not the outrageous narratives being created online. FONDREN Taste is not a club. We are a restaurant and bar that welcomes everyone, from families with toddlers to seniors. And despite some of the narratives being created online, we have not had a single crime occur at FONDREN Taste. If you have never stepped foot inside our establishment, experienced our business, or spoken to us about what we are actually doing, then respectfully, your opinion based on rumors carries very little weight with me.
And that same standard applies to the journalism surrounding this story. The journalist responsible for this article should have researched the facts before publishing ridiculous statements and allowing speculation to be presented in a way that gives it credibility. There is a difference between reporting legitimate concerns and repeating inflammatory accusations without proper context. When you’re writing about people’s businesses, reputations, and investments, facts matter.
What many of you also don’t know is what we have had to fight through just to operate our business. The resistance started before FONDREN Taste ever opened. We have dealt with attempts to block us at nearly every turn, along with harassment, threats, and assumptions about who we are and what kind of business we run. The City Council made its decision after hearing the facts and understanding exactly what was being proposed. Some of you may not like the outcome, but not liking a decision does not make the decision wrong.
And to those saying, “If they didn’t want you there, you should leave” I never left. If you felt this strongly about what should happen with this property, perhaps you should have purchased the building when you had the opportunity. We did. We invested in it. And we have every right to responsibly operate and improve our property. Lastly, if you want to address me, address me with the same confidence I’m addressing you with your name and your face attached. I’m speaking from my full page, standing behind every word I say. I’m not interested in going back and forth with “Anonymous.”
If you know FONDREN Taste, let’s have a factual conversation. If all you know is what you heard, there really isn’t anything for us to discuss.
31 comments:
Gosh they really want that rent by the hour hotel rooms above Club Taste don't they?!?!?
Stokes approves prostitution. You saw it here live.
Well, it's officially passed. Stokes used the race card to push this through. Hartley, Clay and Stokes voted in favor. Perkinson and Foote voted against. By the hour hotel rooms will be available at Club Taste in Fondren.
@2:35 - That sort of arrangement made Biloxi boom in the 1950s.
Imagine the $$$ that could have been made above the. TGI Friday's that was once in Highland Village if such was available then!!!
Once again, Stokes reaffirms what a wonderful, non racist, fair thinking, intelligent representative public servant serving for the city of Jackson.
Hey I like stokes. He makes me laugh
Initially, I thought Hartley was a solid guy- It didnt take long to see his true racist colors- He just cant help it, I guess.
Best little W House in Fondren. Capitol Police might as well just post up a block away…. 24/7.
The Planning Board voted 9-2 against it, then the city passed it anyway?
What's the point of even having a Planning Board vote?
Demand Stokes go 'Taste' his vote. Pop's Salloon no different but Pop'sHo Cribs put to the side, not upstairs.
Fondren should sue for name appropriation: that place is not Fondren!
Eleven members on a Planning Commission? Are you serious? What's with the ball caps?
Clowns be on the left of us,
Clowns be on the right,
Clowns acting fools all day,
With all they might.
Here we see the difference in ‘saying’ they want a better Jackson and actually making decisions to deliver a better Jackson. This sort of decision does not attract decent people - it drives decent people away.
Fondren is doomed.
Just remember the city council vote (and going against the rec of planning), when the first incidents start occurring and things go to court. This is absolutely pitiful and I hope lawsuits are filed
This will be a great attraction for the new tenants at the high end Prado Lofts! Jackson is Rising!
Stokes like to slap big fat ass but it's hard for him today to get it up without a pill from a gas station.
How much do they expect to make from the hotel taxes from the 4 rooms’ hourly rates?
Kip and Latrice aren’t idiots. They also have a lot of money. That’s what my guess is as to what’s happened. They’ll also sleep easy in 39047 Brandon where none of this will be allowed.
Follow the money.
Time to disband the “planning commission” as the city council don’t care. Palms have been greased and Taste of Race is going forward…. Shame…
Good Lord! Most cities have residential areas on the upper floors of commercial buildings! Many are owned and have as much square footage as a house! Young people...yes , Virginia, young white people already do at the King Edward ! I suspect they do in other buildings on Capitol Street as well. These are young state government workers and college students and professors or those who just love being able to walk to restaurants and entertainment venues! Please stop acting like country bumpkins!
This bumpkin fully supports 8:39 and his goals for the direction of Fondren.
The majority have spoken.
I personally moved to an area where the majority supports my goals and beliefs.
I don't know how this new allowance for hourly hotels equates to young government professionals living in the Kind Edward, but I do think its smart to make certain areas of the city more inviting for such people. Especially if it keeps my area of the world free from them.
8:39 this is much different. This joint has a history of being a PITA to the residents living around it and shootings have happened in that area (8 shot a year or two ago). This is not the same as traditional urbanism. We are talking about good culture vs. the worst kind of people imaginable. A cafe/tavern vs. a practical strip club.
Is there an additional charge for clean sheets? Asking for a friend.
"Kip and Latrice aren’t idiots. They also have a lot of money."
0 for 2. Johnny, who is our next contestant on "People Post the Stupidest Shit?"
No smart person with a lot of money would get this deep into the weeds, along with pissing off this many people, over a few unlivable apartments over a "commercial establishment" like this place. The population of Jackghanistan can't even produce marginally competent trolls. Buffoons from amongst that sorry lot want to run a city?
A "dwelling" is formal structure used or intended for use via occupancy as a *residence* and "residence" is use of a "dwelling" by one or more people with the intent to remain there for some extended period of time. See, e.g., residency requirements for things like, ahem, running for public office. Therefore if these "formal structures" above this commercial location are in fact "dwellings," there should be no objection to a prohibition any form of temporary or short-term occupancy, for any reason. In fact, if they are "dwellings" a smart owner would not even consider short-term rentals on units that have not even been in the market for the intended use as "dwellings," because "dwellings" and "lodging" are two totally different types of "structures" with totally different financials, finish-outs, management requirements, maintenance requirements, security requirements, etc., etc., etc. Which is among the reasons a lot of airbnb and vrbo dreamers are waking up to the nightmares of reality.
I mean his bachelor party was in Bangkok before their marriage.....
For all of you people in NE Jackson who require regular tree trimming, the husband owns Kips Tree Service out of 39047 Brandon. If you don't support the bar/hotel, then use that as you see fit. There are a lot of really good tree cutters out there.
So, I suppose this is going to be a state lawsuit, as this clearly isn't a restaurant "making money the hard way", but a club, and clearly unreasonable by a regular definition. What is the correct approach? Or does this just become Exhibit A of an un-incorporation Petion.
All the defense in the world can't fix Fondren. Even these "rooms" on top of a known skeezer hangout. So it's really about the WHOM and the WHAT there lady. Every weekend these rooms will be slap full of partiers. And then shootings. It's Jackson.
Kinda hard to be a club without a dance floor. It’s clearly a restaurant. Heck the hotels in Jackson and the suburbs have a bars, food, dance floors, and many more rooms upstairs.
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