Gulfport agencies share ideas

SmartCode gets boost, Destin doesn’t

By TRACY DASH
tadash@sunherald.com

GULFPORT — Members of the city’s Planning Commission, City Council and Zoning Board of Adjustment and Appeals met Tuesday night to share ideas about how to plan for development in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The workshop among the three groups was the first time the current council had met with the two bodies that hear planning and zoning matters. Previous councils and commissions have met in the past.

Commissioners, council members and zoning members said they want to see development, but agreed it should be smart development. Several members talked about what they would like to see in Gulfport and what they don’t want a rebuilt Gulfport to look like.

Two cities that some council members said they don’t want to model Gulfport after are Gulf Shores, Ala., and Destin, Fla.

“The thing going for us . . . is that we’re not just a condo city,” said Claudia Keyes, a member of the Planning Commission and a real estate agent. “We have a family atmosphere. We can entertain them all year long.”

Keyes, however, said there is a demand for condo development. Gulfport has a few beachfront condo projects under way.

The group also discussed SmartCode, the benefits of it and how the city would oversee it if the council votes to adopt it. SmartCode, used as a guide for developing compact, walkable, mixed-use communities, was the subject of a six-day series of discussions in February that would provide diverse living options.

Mayor Brent Warr said he hopes to present the SmartCode recommendations to the council in the next 40 to 45 days.

Council President Barbara Nalley said the meeting was productive. She learned how the commissioners feel about SmartCode.

“I was pleasantly surprised that they agree with SmartCode thinking,” Nalley said.

---

Readers should know that the Saucier Community Plan includes provision for the unincorporated areas of Harrison County to adopt the SmartCode. This is a positive measure to help ensure that the future development in our area is a pleasure to live with.

posted by Steve Howard @ 8:10 PM