Mississippi Export Railroad officials hope to eventually develop a public/private partnership with Jackson County to develop a 207-acre tract that the railroad owns on Saracennia Road that is zoned light industrial.

"We're working in a direction that would work very well for the county," said Greg Luce, Mississippi Export Railroad president and chairman of the board.

"We assume that this would be a site ultimately that railroad-type customers would be interested in, but we wanted to do what is in the best interest of the county," he said, "even if the customers end up there that are not railroad customers. We want things that are in the best interest of the county."

At this time no formal discussions about such a partnership have occurred.

The property, which is on the northern end of Saracennia Road, was rezoned I-2 light industrial in October 2002 by the Jackson County Board of Supervisors after a highly contested hearing on the railroad's appeal of a county Planning Commission recommendation to deny the rezoning request.

During both hearings, railroad officials conveyed a sense of urgency to change the property's zoning from A-1 agriculturalesidential to light industrial.

Since the supervisors' decision, however, no work has been done on the property.

The property, Luce said, is in the same condition it was at the time of rezoning.

"There was a sense of urgency at the time to get the property rezoned and developed," he said. "There was an urgency because of the shortage of property that was zoned light industrial that was in Jackson County."

At the time the railroad was seeking the rezoning, he said, there were a number of companies trying to get a contract with Northrop Grumman Ship Systems to do outside steel preparation for shipbuilding at the yard.

"We thought that site certainly would have been acceptable to that, because they needed to bring in steel by rail; it was something that was clean, it didn't smell bad," Luce said. "That has not come to fruition as far as Jackson County is concerned. That was the only that I can remember at this time that there was any urgency about. That was the big push and that went on for a long time."

Since then, he said, progress on the property has been slow. The only activity on the land is the growth of pine trees which were planted to serve as a buffer between any proposed industry and the residents living adjacent to the property.

"When we bought the property somebody had gone in and clear-cut the trees," Luce said. "We went in and planted 200,000 trees for a buffer.

"Those trees are getting taller and it only means that in time as industry goes into that site that was rezoned, the buffer will be thicker and taller than at the time we did it. "By the time we find industry, there will be a thicker and taller buffer, which I think is healthy."

George Freeland, Jackson County Economic Foundation Executive Director, believes the property has the potential to be an economic development asset for the area in the future.

The Foundation, however, did not recommend that the property be rezoned during either the July 2002 Planning Commission hearing or the supervisor's October hearing.

According to a letter to the commission written by Freeland on behalf of the Foundation, "it would be in appropriate for this economic development board to make judgments or assertions regarding matters of land use zoning."

Such decisions, according to the letter, are the exclusive area of the supervisors and the Planning Commission.

Freeland made similar comments during the supervisors' hearing.

"I think the property could and should occupy a significant role in the economic development future of the county," Freeland said. "But we're looking at 5-10 years into the future. It has upland area, it is in the Interstate corridor and has rail access, but it has drainage and other serious issues that need to be addressed."

Those issues include the planning and cost of routing a service line from the Port of Pascagoula's Industrial Water Pipeline that runs south along Miss. 63, and sewer service and treatment for industries that may be in the park.

Although Luce does not see Saracennia Road as a problem, the two-lane county road is not suitable for the potential heavy truck traffic that an industry or industrial park would generate.

Much of the property in Helena lining Saracennia north of Coda Road is residential and many of the homes along the route are close to the road, which could make four-laning Saracennia an expensive project.

A bridge on the road just south of the railroad property has a 10,000-pound weight limit.

Freeland said two prospects interested in the property dropped their interest after seeing Saracennia Road.

And at this time, the railroad property would take a lower priority on the Foundation's development list, which is not headed by the International Paper property in Moss Point and the Trent Lott International Airport property on the south end of Saracennia Road.

The railroad's decision to seek a partnership with the county is the latest chapter in the property's history.

The supervisors' decision to rezone the property came almost one year after an attempt by the railroad to rezone the property for heavy industry was denied by the Planning Commission and the supervisors.

Both rezoning applications were met with fierce opposition by Helena residents.

Luce believes a public/private partnership would provide the best means for eventually developing the railroad's property.

"It's going to have a happy ending as far as how we work with the county," he said. "The real happy ending is when we get something up there that has jobs. We know it's going to cost the railroad money, we know it's going to cost the county money but it's going to all be in the public good over time."