Developer, Hillsdale homeowner’s association working on agreement

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, March 20, 2019

The trailers once parked in front of Hillsdale subdivision have been moved.

Mark Gibson, owner of the trailers and hundreds of lots in the subdivision, said the trailers previously parked at the entrance of Hillsdale subdivision have been moved as of Tuesday.

“Hudson (Holliday) gave me his word, and Joe Montgomery gave his,” Gibson said without elaborating.

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Hudson Holliday, District III Supervisor, said while he and the Board of Supervisors did not have the authority to make Gibson move the trailers, which the homeowner’s association decried, he met with both parties to attempt to diffuse the situation.

Holliday said that the negotiations center on the homeowner’s association wanting Gibson to pay the back dues on the property he purchased via tax sale. Gibson confirmed that the homeowner’s association made that request, but an agreement is being worked out. Holliday said in previous coverage that it was his assumption the trailers were parked there as intimidation in response to the homeowner’s association request.

“I want to make Hillsdale great again,” Gibson said. “I own 600 lots up there, who would I advance other than myself?”

The trailers, spray painted with the words “Free golf,” were unwelcome to the homeowner’s association, prompting them to contact Holliday, according to previous coverage.

Holliday said that Gibson owns the property on which the trailers were parked, so he could not make him to move them.

Holliday said he became involved because he wants to help the north end of the county grow because it can be an asset to Pearl River County. In that regard, he also wants to work to reverse a decision made in the recent past that moved children living in the north end of Pearl River County from the Poplarville School District to the Lumberton School District.

“(Hillsdale) could be a place for people to have a good quality of life,” Holliday said.

Gibson said his plan for the lots he owns is to combine them into one and a half acre lots in an effort to recoup his $6 million investment.