City approves waivers for developers investing $4 million or more in projects
Published 1:46 pm Monday, March 1, 2021
- Mayor George Flaggs Jr.
Developers looking to invest $4 million or more in construction in Vicksburg will get a break in their building fees under a new ordinance approved Monday by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
“This is a game-changer,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “This is how you incentivize the opportunity for developers to come to your city and develop in your city.”
The ordinance becomes law 30 days after it has been published. Under the ordinance, the city will waive the building permit fees, application fees, tapping fees and utility connection fees for any developer investing $4 million or more in new construction or renovations in the city.
The waiver applies to the cost of construction, not the purchase price of the property or any professional fees involving the property.
“It’s not a big-ticket item for those builders but sometimes that’s the thing that makes it work on the builder’s side,” City Attorney Nancy Thomas said.
After the meeting, Flaggs said five developers contacted him with projects involving an investment of $4 million or more.
One of those projects is the proposed plan to develop condominiums in the downtown area on Mulberry and Washington streets representing an investment of $10 million to $11 million. Flaggs declined to name the other four projects.
“I’ll just roll them out as they’re ready to move forward,” he said.
In other action, the board approved resolutions upgrading the lights in the Fostoria and Wildwood neighborhood to LED lights. Under the resolution, the residents in the neighborhood agreed to pay $32.61 per light to have the LEDs installed.
Fostoria is getting 44 lights at a total cost of $1,434.84. Wildwood’s total cost is $1,304.40 for 40 lights.