JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Councilman Ashby Foote and the Ridgewood Park Homeowners’ Association feel there is still a lot more discussion needed when it comes to the expansion of M-Bar.
The communities around Ridgewood remain very concerned as the entertainment venue continues to expand bringing more traffic to the area.
“If communication was better from all angles we wouldn’t be here tonight and we wouldn’t have left with a lot of unanswered questions, so we actually got nowhere.”
The northeast Jackson community surrounding the night-spot remain at odds following the groundbreaking of a new addition to M-Bar.
“How long will it take before drug sales are rampant? How long will it be before another body is on the parking lot of that facility just like it was before.”
“I am aware of the actions that young man has taken in order to increase security, be in constant communication with the Jackson Police Department, and to say why did he come to Jackson? We will not have a capitol city if people don’t invest in Jackson.”
However, crime is not the only concern troubling people in the community.
“Eight million dollars, ten million dollars to build an amphitheater. You can buy a building for that amount of money.”
“Anybody who says don’t worry it’s not going to get noisier, they’re either idiots or liars.”
Neighbors in the Ridgewood community posed concerns of zoning and coding violations.
“This was a by-right approval, there was no zoning action, and it didn’t go before the planning board it is one of the things that is allowed by-right in the c3 commercial zone,” said Jordan Hillman.
“We need to revisit some of the zoning laws to make sure that they are really protecting the people, the businesses and the citizens and the residences that they are designed to protect,” said Councilman Foote.
Representatives of the M-Bar assures people in the community that the expansion is not an amphitheater and the live music will not violate noise ordinances.
The owner of M-Bar has donated more than $20,000 for blue light surveillance cameras linked to the real time command center.