More discussion ahead on Southaven rental property ordinance

There will be more discussion about the city enacting a rental property ordinance in Southaven, but at this time, Mayor Darren Musselwhite is not ready to support enacting an ordinance. 

Cities across the country have dealt for years with problems with rental homes and property not being taken care of and resulting disrepair and blight. At Tuesday night’s Board of Aldermen meeting, Musselwhite said Southaven has been dealing with rental issues for at least nine years. 

While some aldermen said a registry of rental property and a $200 fee from each would help address the disrepair and blight problem, Musselwhite wasn’t ready to support it.  

“We have a property maintenance code that we passed in 2015 and we will continue to address that, but you can’t add a fee just because you want to discourage a block investor from out of state from buying a bunch of homes in Southaven,” Musselwhite said. “You can’t do that.”

The mayor also believed that a $200 fee would not discourage investors from buying rental houses. 

No action was taken but aldermen plan to hold a workshop to discuss the issue further at a future date.  

Horn Lake and Olive Branch aldermen have also held discussions in recent weeks about enacting rental property ordinances in their efforts to cut back on the problems that can occur with some rental properties owned by out-of-state investors.  

In other action, with help from the state, Southaven first responders will be getting an extra $1,000 in premium hazard pay for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The extra pay is going to firefighters, police officers, and EMTs.

Three applications for conditional use permits were approved. There were two separate applications for full service spas and the other was to allow auto repair at a location on Highway 51 North, north of Stateline Road West.  

Aldermen also moved to provide ARPA funds to the Horn Lake Creek Interceptor Sewer District.