Secretary of State sues Biloxi over proposed entertainment pier at Veterans Avenue
Even before the Biloxi City Council voted Wednesday night to extend a lease to RW Development for a pier at Veterans Avenue, the Secretary of State had a court order preventing any construction.
RW Development operates Big Play Entertainment Center near the site and the pier could provide a way to achieve the company’s decades-long quest to build a casino there.
The temporary restraining order was granted in part Wednesday by Judge Jennifer Schloegel in Harrison County Chancery Court.
The order said neither Secretary of State Michael Watson nor the City of Biloxi could convey a lease to RW Development or anyone else until the court decides the ongoing lawsuit.
That lawsuit was filed in July 2019 by former Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann when Biloxi first voted to sign a lease with the developer.
That lawsuit argues that before a pier is built, a Public Trust Tidelands Lease is required through the Secretary of State.
The city contends a lease is not required.
A hearing in the case is set for May 5.
Once the date was set for the hearing, Biloxi put a resolution on the April 7 agenda to lease the land to RW Development . It passed unanimously.
The judge ruled her order didn’t specifically restrain the city from negotiating the lease, but said Biloxi’s vote does not allow the project to proceed until the lawsuit is decided.
“Rights and interests which are in question and arguably do not exist cannot be conveyed,” the ruling says. “ This is true regardless of any resolution passed by the Biloxi City Council.”
What kind of pier is proposed?
RW Development proposes to construct and operate food service, entertainment and recreational businesses on the pier.
The company — owned by Ray Wooldridge, former owner of the New Orleans Hornets NBA team — has go-karts, bowling, miniature golf, laser tag and many other family attractions on Veterans Ave., north of U.S. 90.
Parts of Biloxi’s pier at Veterans Avenue is still in ruins more than 15 years after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Hosemann said he had no issues with the city rebuilding the pier.
“I have offered a rent-exempt lease to the City of Biloxi for the pier,” Hosemann said in 2019, “and the Secretary of State’s Office is not opposed to, and is in fact in favor of, a public pier at this site.”
The lease approved this week says RW Development would build the pier but can’t use it for a casino.
Leasing the property to RW Development rather than the city could establish the company’s control of the property to the water’s edge and allow a casino to be built on land owned by RW Development.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission voted three times against casino-site approval and denied the fourth application in 2017.
In December, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the rulings of the Gaming Commission and Harrison County Circuit Court. The ruling said the RW site at 1820 Beach Boulevard isn’t a legal casino site because the company couldn’t show that RW owned or leased the land contiguous to the water and its proposed casino site, and that the land would play an integral part in RW’s project.
Other beach attractions on the way
Watson said Wednesday he couldn’t comment on any lawsuits.
He attended the ribbon cutting on phase two of the West Beach Boardwalk that now extends from Rodenberg Avenue to near Treasure Bay Casino.
“It’s just fun to be from the Coast and come down and see a project like this,” Pascagoula native said. It was built in partnership with the state, county and city and using tidelands funds.
“This truly is a boardwalk,” said Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, looking out over the winding boardwalk that he said survived the 11-foot storm surge of Hurricane Zeta in October.
The design was one of the last projects done by Walter “Buzzy” Bolton IV, a Biloxi engineer who oversaw many projects in the city, and who died last year.
Gilich is working to build a boardwalk along the entire beach from DeBuys Avenue at the Gulfport line to Point Cadet, and around to the Back Bay. The next section is from Oak Street to the Small Craft Harbor in East Biloxi, he said, and it will be part of his design to build a knee-high wall and keep the sand off Beach Boulevard.
Harrison County Supervisor Beverly Martin brought plans for a West Biloxi boat launch at Camellia Street, near Treasure Bay. It will have two boat slips and parking for 60 to 80 trucks and trailers, she said.
She also asked Watson to help provide money to complete the project.
This story was originally published April 9, 2021 at 3:06 PM.
