Ocean Springs wants to spend $1.5 million on a beach walkway. Why some say it’s a bad idea
A prominent Coast attorney is on the case for Ocean Springs residents opposed to a sidewalk the city proposes along East Beach, where some of the city’s priciest residential real estate is located.
The Biloxi attorney, Jim Reeves, also happens to own property on East Beach, a quieter stretch of sand on the Mississippi Sound than Front Beach to the northwest, where beachgoers generally congregate.
“Nobody wants this project,” Reeves told the Sun Herald. “It’s expensive. I guess some contractors will make some money off of it.”
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources will hold a public hearing on the city’s proposed pedestrian walkway at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Bolton Office Building on Bayview Avenue in Biloxi.
The city wants to build a 10-foot-wide walkway that would run for more than a mile along the sand off East Beach Drive, from Weeks Bayou east to Halstead Road. The estimated cost is $1.5 million, according to the city.
The city says it wants to build the walkway for safety.
“The proposed project will move pedestrian traffic off the existing, narrow roadway with no shoulder and onto a sidewalk constructed solely for pedestrian use,” the city’s permit application to the MDMR and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says. “This will improve traffic flow as well as increase the level of safety for those walking, running, biking, rollerblading, etc., along the frequently traveled route.”
Ocean Springs objections
This isn’t the first time the city has tried to build a sidewalk along East Beach. A previous attempt led to a years-long and pitched battle between the city of Ocean Springs and two residents in opposition, attorney Buddy Gunn and Chancery Court Judge Neil Harris.
The city prevailed when the Mississippi Supreme Court declared in 2018 that the beach belongs to the public. But much of the grant money to build the sidewalk was no longer available after the eight-year legal battle.
Reeves said he doesn’t know of any residents on East Beach who support construction of the walkway.
In a letter to the MDMR, he listed a number of reasons why the cement walkway is a bad idea.
It will cover most of the sand in spots where the beach is only 20 feet wide.
It will require ongoing maintenance that is not in place, judging from the work that has been required on a Front Beach walkway.
There’s no room for parking.
The city should consider making the road one way and using the other lane for pedestrian traffic.
Rising sea levels will cover the walkway in a matter of years, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration research shows.
As for safety, no evidence could be found that anyone had been hit on the roadway.
An engineer who examined the project for Reeves, Joseph N. Asarisi, questioned whether the Army Corps would allow the city to fill an estimated 1.5 acres of wetlands for the sidewalk without offering to mitigate the loss. Asarisi also questioned how the walkway could be maintained when water covers the beach about four times a year.
