Ocean Springs moves forward with marina & event space plans. Is Front Beach going commercial?
The city of Ocean Springs is hoping to win state and federal approval for a proposed $23 million Front Beach Event Space and Marina north and south of Front Beach Drive at Jackson Avenue.
The city needs permission from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the project because it would disturb the shoreline and waterway along Biloxi Bay. The MDMR will hold a public hearing on the proposed project at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first-floor meeting room at its state offices in the Bolton Building on Bayview Avenue in Biloxi.
Mayor Kenny Holloway said the project would be completed in phases, because the city needs funding in addition to the $11 to $12 million already gathered from federal and state sources.
A parking area will be built on the northwest corner of Front Beach Drive and Jackson Avenue, near Fort Maurepas Park, while a pavilion would sit on 1.2 acres on the beach, with a marina on Biloxi Bay that would have 54 to 88 slips.
“It’s going to give residents more access to the beach,” Holloway said. “It’s going to give us a place for different events. We’re just trying to improve the city. That’s all we’re trying to do.”
Ocean Springs residents react to marina plans
Not all residents are happy about the proposed event space and marina, judging from comments on Facebook. While some claim the project is too large and costly, supporters say the city needs more boat slips.
Some residents object to commercial development on a beach with a laid-back vibe.
“This commercialized project in the center of our family beach is totally unnecessary,” said Robbie Carter, who is raising four children in the city and has a boat docked in the small craft harbor. He believes the marina will primarily serve transient boaters.
“The community, we need to be prioritized, not outsiders,” Carter said. “We don’t want to be overtaken.”
Holloway said the Ocean Springs Small Craft Harbor generally has 50 to 75 people on a waiting list for slips. The city says in its submission to the MDMR that the wait for a slip is 18 months.
Holloway said most of the slips in the new marina would be permanent slips with a minimum one-year lease, although 20 to 25 slips could be rented to transient boaters who would shop and spend money in Ocean Springs. The marina would not have a separate fuel dock. Instead, boaters would find fuel around the corner at the small craft harbor or across the bay in Biloxi.
Event space, marina timeline
The 1.2 acres where the pavilion would be built on the south side of Front Beach Drive is the former site of Ocean Springs Seafood Market Inc., destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and again in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. The city tried for years to buy the property but the price was too high. Holloway said the city and Jackson County were finally able to buy the land for the appraised value of around $1.2 million.
In addition to the pavilion, the waterfront area would include spaces for food trucks, a patio and seating, restrooms and green space. The parking area north of Front Beach Drive would be gravel and landscaped with native vegetation, city plans show.
The MDMR owns the property on the north side of Front Beach and has agreed to let the city use it for a nominal fee.
The city’s permit request to MDMR and the Army Corps includes a new bulkhead along the shoreline, dredging for a boat channel, and installing the marina and a breakwater to protect it. The marina would have metal, flow-through decking with pre-cast concrete pilings.
Holloway hopes construction can begin on the parking area in the first quarter of the year because no permits are needed north of Front Beach Drive. Funding is available for the event space, so construction plans could move ahead if the bulkhead permit is granted. The city has no time frame for completing the marina, he said, because of the need for additional funding.
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
