Balancing Preservation And Enforcement

I’m not a licensed architect just yet, though my family and friends might argue otherwise, given how much I study. I’m constantly studying and learning by doing, failing, and eventually teaching a professional cohort. This cycle of adaptation is how we navigate life: we fail, then we learn to be better. Legally, out of respect for the profession, the Mississippi State Board of Architecture and NCARB, I cannot be referred to as a registered architect. Yet!

Still, I perform the rigorous work in my position at my current firm. In my rural office, I coordinate physicists’ reports, engineers’ drawings, and client design preferences while reviewing submittals. If you’ve renovated a home, you know the headache of coordinating utilities; architects manage that complexity tenfold daily to make an idea a reality.

While I work for clients in cities like New York or Boston, I live in Water Valley, where I’ve always wanted to be. Pastures are peaceful. This balance allows me to bring a piece of home with me whenever I travel for work.

Sitting with big-city professionals, I try to represent our state well. If a contractor gives me a hard time, I simply ask them to hold a chair for me before the meeting, reminding them we sit at the same table. We usually find we are more alike than different, joking about our accents and the many meanings of “bless your heart.”

Mississippi is full of brilliant minds, but my favorite is the late Sambo Mockbee, a fifth-generation Mississippian and architect. Mockbee cofounded the Rural Studio at Auburn University, teaching students to address poverty and substandard housing through practical, hands-on architecture in underserved areas. His “genius” was recognized with a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and numerous other awards. I’ve returned a couple of times over the course of my career and life, always landing back in my hometown of Water Valley. Every time I’ve looked around and thought, this would be a playground for Sambo Mockbee. He would’ve fallen in love with this place. I just know it. He was the ultimate Citizen Architect. That’s why I work so hard to achieve licensure. I’ve always been deeply inspired. I want to try to make amazing things in Water Valley one day.

So, last week, when I got wind of the public hearing, I had a few thoughts, and being a reluctant public servant, the predominant thought was, well, I’m gonna wait and hear what everyone has to say. I prefer to take an observational approach. I believe the best solutions are usually formed from narrow parameters. Architects are solutions-based creatives.

I admittedly haven’t been keeping a finger on the pulse of blighted property laws in Mississippi. Currently, I am the appointed Chair of the Water Valley Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), a volunteer position. The HPC is a regulatory commission, and it is non-political. There is some overlap with the Planning Commission, as the Historic Preservation District acts as an overlay district encompassing the commercial core along Main Street, from Young Street to Market Street, and requires property owners to obtain approval for exterior modifications, signage, or demolition.

Reviewing the proposed blighted property ordinance, I have concerns about punitive language. While the City must track properties with disconnected utilities, we must be careful how we enforce it. In truth, while it’s nice to leave the lights on to give the appearance of an occupied home and deter vandalism, it’s just as important for the health of the building. Yes, buildings must breathe. I think all of us remember the first week without power during the ice storm was certainly an inconvenience. The second week without power? I think everyone’s houses started getting a little funky. In some ways, we all experienced the importance of building science.

The National Park Service’s Preservation Brief 31 explains how to “mothball” a building. Electricity is vital to controlling humidity and preventing decay. Electrical service is a meaningful indicator of an owner’s intent to preserve a building; without it, a property becomes exponentially more vulnerable.

To avoid uniform enforcement that might lead to the demolition of salvageable buildings, I recommend establishing categorical assessments:

Category A: Hazardous or irreparable. Requires expedited enforcement by the City Building Official to protect public safety. A monitoring track with a registration requirement.

Category B – Deteriorated but structurally sound, repairable with intervention. A monitoring track with a registration requirement.

Category C – Mothballed or neglected but stable. A monitoring track with a registration requirement.

We must also consider Mississippi HB 1201, which launched redevelopment incentives in 2026. This legislation encourages municipalities to assess properties eligible for extensive developer tax credits. I don’t believe there was any mention of Mississippi HB 1201 at the public hearing. Most of the program became effective on July 1, 2025, when the Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue were directed to begin establishing and administering the redevelopment incentive program. The tax credit program itself became available on January 1, 2026, allowing qualifying developers to claim the new tax incentives after meeting the statutory requirements.

Many municipalities are drafting blight ordinances in response to this, which makes sense. There needs to be a localized effort to categorize properties eligible for these credits, which are designed for taxpayers developing state tax-forfeited properties into owner-occupied dwellings or commercial buildings.

I also understand that not every blighted property qualifies. The property must satisfy both of these requirements:

It must be declared blighted by the city or county.

It must be tax-forfeited property that has been certified to the State of Mississippi.

Once these two requirements have been satisfied, a developer can submit a redevelopment plan, complete the work, and the redevelopment must result in either:

an owner-occupied residence, or

a commercial building that is placed back into productive use.

The program provides a state income tax credit of up to 25 percent on eligible rehabilitation projects and a 75 percent rebate, up to the statutory limits. It offers a maximum of $50,000 for residential properties and $100,000 for commercial sites. If the developer cannot use the entire credit in one tax year, the unused portion may be carried forward for up to 10 years.

My main concern with the ordinance draft is the accrual of escalating registration fees. For neglected properties, this feels punitive. If the state is incentivizing developers, our municipality should incentivize owners through fee waivers for active rehabilitation to retain their properties. Thoughtful design matters deeply to our community’s future; this place matters.

I hesitated to voice these professional observations publicly, but then I remembered Sambo Mockbee’s famous advice to his students before his passing: “Proceed and be bold!”