Old roads delay new Banks plan
| Author/Source: | DeSoto Times Today |
|---|---|
| Published: | Dec 11, 2007 |
| Link: | View the article |
HERNANDO n Some old roads dating back to the Chickasaw Indian days have delayed plans for one of the biggest, ambitious new subdivisions in the DeSoto County seat.
Hernando West, an upscale 3,900-unit development that architects say will rival Harbor Town in Memphis, will go forward despite some land title issues that remain to be settled.
“Their (Katz Developers) lawyer is trying to get the original legal description for the land,” Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson said Monday. “There are no problems. They are just having to do a lot of research. They still have full faith in our market in Hernando and we still have faith they will do a quality development for us.”
Johnson and other city officials said Monday abandoning the old roads, laid out by land speculators more than 175 years ago, would clear up any “clear title” issues and allow the land development deal to close soon.
City Planning Director Bob Barber unfurled a well-worn copy of the tattered, yellow original town map in his office. The original is located in Chancery Court Clerk W.W. “Sluggo” Davis’ office.
“The southern portion of Hernando West is part of the original town square,” Barber said. “It included some streets that were never built. That clouded up their (Katz) title.”
Barber said the territory was opened up based on the Chickasaws ceding their lands to the federal government during the Treaty of Pontotoc.
“Migration began in this area and the Boston Land Company bought up land around here,” Barber said. “The State of Mississippi gave the DeSoto County Board of Police the area where the town square is located with the purpose of erecting a courthouse. They divided lots all around the square.”
Barber said many of the lots stretched all the way across what would later be known as Commerce Street north to Robertson Road.
Ironically, Hernando West was marketed by developers as an “extension of the square,” something that has more basis in fact than mere salesmanship.
Ward 3 Alderman Gary Higdon said aldermen would likely declare the old roads abandoned at the board’s next regular meeting, slated for Dec. 18.