The Moss Point Board of Aldermen is slated Tuesday to make a decision about whether to approve a special exception permit that would allow a 64-unit Mississippi Cottage park to be built on Raby Street.
The Planning Commission denied a request May 7 for a zoning change from residential to planned unit de velopment, and now the issue goes to the aldermen, who are required to approve or deny all Planning Commission decisions.
The proposal is for 64 tenant-occupied cottages on about 7 acres on Raby Street in west Moss Point.
Donovan Scruggs, a plan ner and developer who represents Katrina Cottage Group LLC and Mercy Housing, originally pitched the idea to the board in January, although the land had not been purchased at the time.
Some residents in the area, however, protested the development at the Planning Commission meeting, saying the plan places too many cottages in one area.
At the Planning Commission meeting, Scruggs requested 84 cottages, although the city’s paperwork indicated only 64. Scruggs said the mix-up was part of a “miscommunication” and that he has since dropped the request back down to 64.
Samuel Mitchell, a local pastor, said he is preparing to build two houses on Raby Street within sight of the proposed development.
Mitchell said he’s on board with affordable housing, but he sees it turning into something more like the crime-ridden Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer parks that grew to have a poor reputation after Hurricane Katrina, and nothing like a nice neighborhood.
“If we’re going to do this in Moss Point and do some affordable housing, let’s do some nice homes,” Mitchell said.
Scruggs said he’s seeing the same thing happen in Moss Point that typically occurs when any new development is proposed. Neighbors to any development, Scruggs said, bring up concerns about space as a smokescreen for their true feelings.
“Oftentimes, when you propose anything in a neighborhood, anything is too much,” Scruggs said.
The location, Scruggs said, is close to Miss. 613 and would create a “walkable” neighborhood.
Mayor Xavier Bishop, who gave his approval to the plan in January, said he still thinks the development would be a positive step toward affordable housing in Moss Point. He said he imagines neighbors there sitting out on their porches, waving to each other as they come and go.
The units “don’t have much value” when they’re placed in a typical residential neighborhood, Bishop said, but they “create something quite nice” when they become their own neighborhood.
“The development is intended to create a sense of community, and that comes from density, and that comes from having the units close together,” Bishop said.
Bishop pointed to the Ocean Springs Cottage Square on Government Street also one of Scruggs’ projects as an example of a well-designed project, and of the quality of Scruggs’ work.
Scruggs recently was denied the opportunity to create a similar project in Gautier. The Gautier City Council earlier this month rejected a plan by Hickory Hill LLC, also represented by Scruggs, to build an 85-cottage development in Hickory Hill.
The decision in Moss Point, however, could be delayed if the board fails to reach a quorum of at least four members Tuesday, which falls on the night of municipal general elections. The board failed to reach a quorum at its last regularly scheduled meeting during the primary runoffs.
The Board of Aldermen is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
