Early plans OK'd for 41 townhouses on Ocean Springs Front Beach

Early plans OK'd for 41 townhouses on Ocean Springs Front Beach

OCEAN SPRINGS -- Developer Lee Brumfield has received an early nod from city aldermen Tuesday night for a townhouse project on Front Beach that got approval from the Planning Commission.

Brumfield is proposing 41 individual townhouses on 5.6 acres along Front Beach and Martin Avenue at 265 Front Beach.

Before Katrina, the acreage held a 112-unit apartment complex.

The new project would be a zero lot line development with townhouses starting at 2,200 square feet at roughly $350,000 to up to 4,000-square-foot homes in the $1 million range. The concept would be to have two- and three-story units, some elevated with parking underneath.

Brumfield sees it as a less dense development than a standard condo project. The units would be custom-built with buyer input.

He said the idea is to build and sell them as they go.

What is called the sketch plat, a conception of the project, is what city leaders approved. What's next would be a preliminary plat that has engineering and more details.

Five people from the Martin Avenue area asked the Board of Aldermen to slow down, gather more information, reconsider placement of structures on the property and reconsider the limited entrance to the complex. They expressed concern it doesn't fit in the neighborhood.

Alderman Matt McDonnell assured residents that there are still several stages of city approval the project will have to go through and the mayor said the future design review process would be strict.

Brumfield is not asking for any city variance for the project, not even for height.

"What he is proposing is within the code. He's within his legal ability to develop the property," city planner Carolyn Martin told the Sun Herald.

The city does have height requirements along the beach, and it is expected to meet those as well.

With the approval Tuesday night and the following process, Brumfield estimated it would be at least six months before work would begin on streets, lights and utilities.

Butler Homes would build the townhouses.

"It's going to be a beautiful project," Brumfield told the Sun Herald.

A cluster amid single homes

At the Planning Commission hearing on the project in early December, people also expressed concern about traffic on Martin Avenue, where the entrance would be. The streets are older and not particularly wide.

One neighbor estimated the project would bring 80 more cars to the block, along with a number of children and pets.

John Godsey, another neighbor, said he sees the design as a cluster of large structures in a residential neighborhood, where the surrounding homes are single-family.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 7:43 PM with the headline "Early plans OK'd for 41 townhouses on Ocean Springs Front Beach ."