Larry “LD” Prentiss was granted approval from the Vicksburg Board of Architectural Review Tuesday to build a walk-in cooler and fence around his restaurant on Mulberry Street.

Prentiss had approached the board before about the cooler and fence at LD’s, but was asked to bring back architectural renderings of proposed work, which he provided Tuesday. He said he did not know when construction would begin. Prentiss is also working to have the electrical sign at the City Front restaurant repaired.

In other business, Inspection Director Victor Gray-Lewis asked the board about an apparently abandoned Walnut Street house that the inspection department proposes to raze if the owner cannot be located.

Records list Jessie Belle Williams Norfort as the owner of 812 Walnut St. However, Norfort has not responded to a published legal notice about the property’s condition, nor to a certified letter sent by the city about the house.

“We’ve been working on this for some time now, and just can’t seem to find the owner,” Gray-Lewis told the board. “We don’t like to take houses down if we can find the owner and have the problems addressed.”

Gray-Lewis said he believed the city has not been paying to have the grass cut at the property. City land rolls show there is no tax balance due on the property.

“Which would lead me to believe the taxes are being paid,” said Gray-Lewis. “Why would someone pay taxes on a property and not take care of it? It comes up a lot, and I don’t know the answer.”

The board approved a mandatory 180-day stay on making a decision to raze the property, and agreed to advertise the potential demolition on the city’s cable television channel in an attempt to get a response from the owner.