Judge finally decides fate of Biloxi B&B. Is it too late to save plans?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sides with city and proposed B&B hosts, citing neighborhood change.
- Home’s owners hope to move forward with sprinkler system and other B&B work.
- Most neighbors welcome the B&B, owners with hospitality experience.
Two years and five months after residents filed a court appeal to block a bed and breakfast that the city of Biloxi approved, a judge has sided with the city and the couple who wanted to open the business.
Property owners Dan and Heidi Hoye just hope it’s not too late to realize their dream to open a B&B in a spacious home with views of the Mississippi Sound. They were running out of money and time when they put the house on the market for $1.65 million in the fall.
The initial Circuit Court judge had to recuse herself from the case after receiving a mysterious package in the mail, the contents of which have not been revealed. The current judge, Larry Bourgeois, had the case for 19 months before ruling that the city’s zoning change to allow the B&B should stand.
The Hoyes were in touch with the city Monday morning and are trying to determine if they’ll have the money for a sprinkler system and other work they’ll need to open the B&B. They’ve had to spend savings meant for the work to stay afloat while they waited on the court decision.
Still, Heidi Hoye said, the couple is “thrilled” about the judge’s decision. They bought the house in November 2021 after an extensive search. Both the Hoyes have experience in the hospitality industry.
“It’s just really unfortunate that people spent money and time on delaying this,” Heidi Hoye said. “We’re just very excited to move forward. We really love this area, and we were just brokenhearted we had to leave, and now we don’t.”
Biloxi decision sound, judge decides
The Hoyes would be on-site hosts at their two-story bed and breakfast, which has seven bedrooms, seven baths, generous porches, a swimming pool, pool house and additional living quarters over the garage.
The house sits in a residential area, but a business district sits to the west and high-density, multifamily residential property is to the east. The area was hard-hit by Katrina. The Hoyes fought for two years to get a zoning change from single-family to low-density, multifamily residential, and for a conditional use permit to operate a bed and breakfast.
After initially rejecting the couple’s application, the Planning Commission and City Council approved the plans in the fall of 2023. City officials reasoned the Hoyes’ home was in a transitional area suited for a bed and breakfast. The Hoyes also presented a petition, emails and letters from neighbors in support of the project.
But four Biloxi residents appealed the city’s decision to Circuit Court.
Judge Bourgeois noted that his authority to overturn the decision of a governing board is limited. The board’s action would need to be unsubstantiated by evidence, beyond the board’s authority, or in violation of the constitutional or legal rights of an aggrieved party.
In this case, Bourgeois found, the city acted within its authority based on the evidence presented to the Planning Commission and City Council.
“In this matter,” the judge’s opinion said, “evidence was submitted that there was a change of character of the neighborhood due to an increase in construction and growth in the area. Also, there was a significant increase in support for the creation of a bed and breakfast in the neighborhood.”
