November 24, 2011 New city of 8,500 people may appear 30 miles southeast of Picayune From Staff Reports/MS The Picayune Item Picayune Item Thu Nov 24, 2011, 09:07 PM CST
DIAMONDHEAD — A city of approximately 8,500 people will appear, full-blown, only 30 miles from Picayune’s doorstep in January, if recent court rulings stand.
The favorable court rulings pave the way for the residential development of Diamondhead to incorporate and turn itself into a city.
Some are still hoping that a major casino will locate here, which would only be 30 minutes from Picayune. Diamondhead’s further development might impact Picayune economically. Diamondhead is 30 miles southeast of Picayune on Interstate 10, near the Kiln Community.
Opponents of the incorporation charge proponents spent $85,000 of Property Owners Association funds to clear the path to incorporation, and some residents are already complaining that it appears the POA monthly residential fee of $100 will continue even though those pushing the incorporation, opponents charge, plan to immediately put in place a 35-mill annual tax levy.
Diamondhead resident John Fletcher, who with some others challenged the incorporation in court, told the Sea Coast Echo’s Dwayne Bremer that the process has been a travesty. He charges that two-thirds of the residents don’t want to incorporate.
“Approximately two-thirds of the Diamondhead property owners did not support this undertaking, but the Diamondhead POA used their dues to finance the (incorporation). That the court would become a party to this travesty is beyond comprehension,” said Fletcher.
Getting approval for incorporation was a tortuous legal path, with judges recusing themselves and one judge who first heard the case dying before he could make a ruling.
The case has wound its way through court for three years.
The official incorporation petition was filed in Hancock County Chancery Court on Aug. 8, 2008.
All local Hancock County chancery court judges recused themselves from the case, and it was then placed in the lap of Judge Kenny Middleton of Natchez, who was appointed by the State Supreme Court to hear the case.
In January, 2009, Middleton heard the case but died a few months later before he could issue a ruling.
Following Middleton’s death, the State Supreme Court appointed Judge Billy Joe Bridges as a special chancellor in the case. Bridges approved the incorporation in January, 2010, and a group of opponents appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court a few weeks later.
After winding through the court process for 18 months and finding its way to the State Supreme Court, the Supreme Court on Oct. 29 upheld the lower court ruling and said the appellants’ arguments were without merit.
Opponents can still file a request for a rehearing, but the deadline for such a filing is fast approaching.
Fletcher said that the POA is perpetual, according to sections covering it in residential deeds and that the monthly fee, therefore, will never go away.
“The POA won’t ever go away and neither will the dues,” said Fletcher.
Fletcher said many residents in Diamondhead are elderly and on fixed incomes. He charged that they were told if the community incorporated the dues would go away.
“Surprise! Surprise!” he added.
Ultimately, the case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, if opponents are willing to challenge it again and have the financial resources.
Otherwise, the Coast will get another city in January, when Diamondhead officials plan to crank up for business.
The 2010 census says there were 8,425 people, 3,586 households and 2,507 families living in the residential development known as Diamondhead.
The census designates Diamondhead as a census-designated place, or CDP, and says it has a total square mile area of 11.7 sq. miles. Land makes up 11.3 sq. miles of the development and water makes up the remaining four-tenths of a square mile.
The development is named after Diamond Head in Hawaii and tries to portray a Hawaiian ambiance.
Several casinos have proposed locating at Diamondhead, which would have direct access onto Interstate 10.
A deal with Donald Trump at the front of Diamondhead fell through on May 1, 2007. Then again, on Nov. 8, 2007, construction plans by the Isle of Capri at the Kiln-Delisle I-10 Exit were canceled.
There are still proposals for locating a major casino at Diamondhead.
Diamondhead hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and practically all of the south side was devastated, but homes in the northern portion of the development received less damage. After Katrina, the population of the development actually surged with refugees from the storm.
Census figures for the CDP show median income per household is $51,361. The median family income is $58,533. Males had a median income of $41,725 versus $29,595 for females.
The per capita income for the CDP was $26,632. About 4.3 percent of the families and 7.2 percent of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7 percent of those under 18 and 2.7 percent of those age 65 or over.
(Reporting from Dwayne Bremer of the Sea Coast Echo was used in the compilation of this story.)
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