Owners of homes on a list for demolition got a chance to make their case before the McComb city board Tuesday for saving their property from being torn down.
After the hearing, city officials removed two of the 13 homes from the list, at 917 N. James Ave. and the other at 1058 Martin Luther King Drive, Zoning, Inspection and Permits Director Henry Green said.
Green said someone representing the home on James Avenue was from a foreclosure company who noted that the home was on forbearance due to the pandemic. That means the company cannot foreclose, so Green decided to give the owner a temporary reprieve.
Angela Moore argued that her father's home on MLK should not be on the list, acknowledging that grass is overgrown but insisting the building is salvageable.
Green said the building is dilapidated, and the cty notified Moore a year ago.
“I do not agree that that house needs to be torn down,” Moore said. “I came and talked to you last year, so it is not like you had no clue about the house. ... What exactly are you asking me to do now?”
Former McComb Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson, Moore's uncle, spoke in support and said there are many other homes that need to be demolished.
Johnson presented a list of 25 homes that he believes are in worse condition. Green said he had a list of about 70 homes that the city plans to address, but the city can only afford to demolish 13 now.
“We are not picking on you. I don’t know why you all are so upset about it. I have a list of 13 properties,” Green said, adding that the purpose of the hearing was for the owners to tell the city what they planned to do about the properties.
“But you all came in such defense over the property being torn down, but the property is dilapidated. There is no argument about that.
“If you all want to rehab it, you can, but it is a matter of asking if you can get such and such days to work on the property.”
Green also said that Moore had yet to give him an answer of what she was doing to the property.
“The house does not need to be torn down. I am not quite sure what I am going to do with it,” Moore said. “McComb does not have the right to come in and tear my house down. And, no, I didn’t come in here trying to be defensive. I listened to my uncle as he was talking and listening to you. It is not fair.
“I have a lot of health issues, and I had every intention of being a good neighbor and getting it cleaned and refurbished, but I am not sure quite when or how long it’s going to take me to do it.”
The discussion ended with Green giving Moore an unspecified amount of time to start the renovation of the home, and the city would re-examine the property at a later date before moving forward with the demolition.
