City Sees Growth Potential in Underused Industrial Land\u00a0<\/p>\n
The city plans to annex about 1.3 square miles surrounding the Long Beach Industrial Park, which\u2014despite its name\u2014is not currently within city limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Proposed-Annexation-Area-City-of-Long-Beach-Mississippi.jpg\")
The City of Long Beach aims to annex 1.3 miles of land from Harrison County, including industrial and residential areas. This map shows what the city\u2019s future boundaries may look like. Photo courtesy City of Long Beach<\/p>\n
Mayor Tim Pierce said the goal is to support business growth and draw new attention to land that has remained largely undeveloped for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years\u2014since back in the \u201990s\u2014there\u2019s a lot of empty land in there, and I think it\u2019s going to take some attention and some planning to help it grow,\u201d Pierce said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he plans to work with the Mississippi Development Authority to help move the project forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMDA is big about growth, industrial growth, and so I think those are going to be good conversations going forward on how I can help that industrial park,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time Long Beach officials have discussed expanding city boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2021, leaders floated a broader annexation plan<\/a> that would have extended the city west and north toward Interstate 10. That effort fell through<\/a> after officials said they needed more time to study the costs of a larger expansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n The current proposal is a scaled-down version focused on the industrial park and surrounding area.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing the finances of our city, I can incorporate the industrial park and the existing residential area within what (our budget) can handle,\u201d Pierce said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Homeowners Worry: Taxes, Utilities and Losing Say\u00a0<\/p>\n If the annexation moves forward, more than 40 homes would be brought into city limits, shifting residents from county jurisdiction and potentially changing their taxes, utility options and public services.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pierce said the city already provides fire protection to the area, which improves fire ratings and can lower homeowners\u2019 insurance premiums. He added that access to other city services would expand gradually.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a day one you\u2019ve got to be ready to start paying bills,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to take our water when you\u2019re annexed \u2026 they will not be charged for those services unless we provide it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Several residents in the proposed annexation area currently rely on private wells and septic systems and worry they\u2019ll eventually have to connect to city utilities at their own expense.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joanie Barker said losing her well is one of her biggest concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have a well. I\u2019d have to do away with the well, and then I\u2019d have Long Beach water,\u201d Barker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She\u2019s also worried about rising costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest problem is taxes,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m retired. I can\u2019t afford these expenses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Resident Misty Hopkins said many are frustrated about the lack of representation in city decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBeing out in the county, you know, we don\u2019t get to vote for (the) mayor,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n State Law Followed, But Residents Say They Weren\u2019t Informed\u00a0<\/p>\n Mississippi law requires cities seeking to annex county land to follow a public process that includes a vote by city leaders, a petition in chancery court and advance notice of a public hearing published in a newspaper of general circulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Public records show the Board of Aldermen voted<\/a> to pursue annexation on Sept. 15, 2025. The city filed its petition the next day. On Dec. 10, a legal notice<\/a> ran in the Gazebo Gazette ahead of a Jan. 29 hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Long Beach followed the required procedures, Hopkins questioned whether the notice reached the people affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey could have mailed every single one of us because there\u2019s only 48 (homes),\u201d she said. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t cost that much to slap a couple \u2026 letters in the mail and mail us and formally inform us\u2014you know, give us a heads up.\u201d<\/p>\n Barker said the notice wasn\u2019t effective.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c(City leaders) said that they advertised it in the paper for three months,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it was in the Gazette, a Pass Christian newspaper that none of us (are subscribed to).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A trial in chancery court is scheduled for June 15-17. A judge will decide whether the annexation is reasonable and whether the city can provide adequate services, as required by state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pierce said he plans to keep meeting with residents and businesses before the court date.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBetween now and June, I\u2019ve got a lot of homework to do,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to work with them and come to some type of agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on RHCJC<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons\u00a0Attribution 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG BEACH\u2014Residents in a west Harrison County neighborhood say they were caught off guard after learning their homes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[15992,131,133,132,4453,82412,82413,1704],"class_list":{"0":"post-172080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-harrison-county","9":"tag-long-beach","10":"tag-long-beach-headlines","11":"tag-long-beach-news","12":"tag-mississippi","13":"tag-mississippi-gulf-coast","14":"tag-rhcjc","15":"tag-wire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Annexation_Image_Long-Beach-Industrial-Park-Sign_RHCJC-News-only.jpg\")
Long Beach Industrial Park, despite the name, is located outside city limits. Tim Pierce, the mayor of Long Beach, aims to change that. Photo by RHCJC News<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Annexation_Image_Tim-Pierce_RHCJC-News-only.jpg\")
Long Beach Mayor Tim Pierce stands on the balcony of City Hall. He says annexing the Long Beach Industrial Park and neighboring homes would provide more economic opportunities for the city. Photo by RHCJC News<\/p>\n![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770742870_552_hqdefault.jpg\")
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