Board axes marina for Ocean Springs Front Beach; other project plans still alive

After residents made it clear they do not want a marina on undeveloped Front Beach, the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday night to cut the marina from a project that would still add an event space and parking at Jackson Avenue.

A number of residents opposed the marina, saying it would commercialize a family-oriented beach, require too much dredging and maintenance, leave an oil residue on the water where beachgoers swim and create other problems.

The aldermen voted 5-0 Tuesday night to scrap the marina from a permitting process for the other project elements. Aldermen Ken Papania was not at the meeting and Alderman Bobby Cox did not vote because he was serving as mayor pro-tem in Mayor Kenny Holloway’s absence.

“We’re not pursuing the permits for a marina at that location,” Cox said after the meeting. Instead, permitting will move forward for a finger pier, bulkheading and dredging of the boat channel.

Cox said an expansion of the harbor or another location for the marina would be considered instead. One potential marina location, he confirmed, would be between the two bridges over Biloxi Bay.

Ocean Springs event space, parking still planned

The Ocean Springs Yacht Club anchors the beach on the northwest end and there’s no development along the stretch of beach that runs for about 1.2 miles southeast along the waterfront and ends at an asphalt parking lot.

Those opposing the project include the recently formed group Save Ocean Springs, which wants to protect the city’s “charm and historical character.” The group has started a website, is handing out yard signs and is compiling records of city action related to development.

The marina was supposed to be the final component of a parking lot and event space that are still planned on Front Beach. The city paid $1.3 million for a former seafood factory, the only commercial site on the beach, where the event space would be located. In addition to a pavilion, the 1.1-acre event area would have space for food trucks, and a patio and seating, Mayor Holloway has said.

Across Front Beach Drive at Jackson Avenue, the city wants to turn a conservation area owned by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources into public parking. However, the one-acre lot was deeded to the DMR with the written restriction that it be preserved with its natural features. Save Ocean Springs has posted a copy of the deed on its website.

The DMR has amended a use agreement with the city of Ocean Springs allowing it to maintain a “green parking lot” on the property at Jackson Avenue. City plans describe a gravel parking lot with natural landscaping.

The city has spent almost $600,000 with Cypress Environmental Services LLC on designs for the project with a marina, according to records Save Ocean Springs posted online.

Holloway says about $12 million in state and federal funding has been gathered for the project, with no city funds in the mix. The total includes marina planning, the mayor has said. He recently estimated the total cost of the project, with marina, would be $23 million.

Numerous residents spoke out against the marina project before the aldermen voted.

“The commercialization of this area will be harmful to the beach, our water and the entire ecosystem,” resident Ginger Stennis said.