Black residents question Ocean Springs development plans that single out their homes

Mary Gipson was born, raised and married in the house on School Street near downtown Ocean Springs where she thought she would also spend her final days.

Now, the 73-year-old is not so sure. High-end residential development and commerce are overtaking downtown Ocean Springs between Government Street and heavily traveled U.S. 90, also known as Bienville Boulevard. The house that Gipson’s father built sits just off U.S. 90.

It is one of numerous Black-owned homes or lots in or near the downtown area that a proposed Urban Renewal Plan singles out for redevelopment.

The administration proposes a total of six urban renewal areas throughout the city where development would be guided and federal funding would be available for qualified projects. Within those areas, pictures and descriptions show dozens of houses, lots and businesses that are “blighted,” have redevelopment potential, or both.

Many residents were surprised to find their properties on the list and outraged that they learned only recently about the city’s plans. Residents of the Black community in and near downtown were particularly upset that a close-knit neighborhood with its roots in the late 1800s would be slated for redevelopment or labeled as blighted.

“It’s got the community in an uproar,” Gipson said.

The reaction has prompted Mayor Kenny Holloway to hold off on bringing the plan up for a vote before the Planning Commission and then the Board of Aldermen. Instead, the city will host a community meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Ocean Springs Civic Center on Bienville Boulevard to hear from residents.

“We take full responsibility for not rolling out this plan the way it should have been rolled out,” Holloway told the Sun Herald. “That’s why we’re pumping the brakes to get community input.”

Downtown Ocean Springs development under way

Government Street through downtown Ocean Springs is changing fast. The area has attracted investors who’ve constructed new buildings for restaurants, bars, a boutique hotel and high-end homes. One city block, at or near where a garment factory was once located, has been fenced off for construction of high-end condominiums and another boutique hotel.

Ocean Springs has the state’s No. 1 school district and has been included on regional and even national lists as a great place to visit. As a result, Holloway said, more investors have been attracted to the city with a population estimated at 18,662.

Less than 5% of the city’s population is Black. In the Black neighborhood downtown, known as “The Quarters,” families have handed down property for generations.

Many of those residents are older and lived through segregation. They’ve been called the “N” word and attended Elizabeth H. Keys Colored School, one resident recalled, they studied from outdated textbooks. Their experiences have left them skeptical of plans proposed by the city’s white leadership.

Their trust was even further eroded when a member of the volunteer Historic Preservation Committee was caught on a hot mic saying the old houses downtown should be “burnt down.”

Walter Harrison, an Ocean Springs resident who married into Gipson’s family, said Black residents once had to accept the way they were treated. But the right to vote changed all that.

“The feelings that people have on this are not going away,” Harrison said. “We’re not going to just turn over and let this happen.”

Black community questions Urban Renewal Plan

Based on community reaction, the mayor has already tempered the city’s plans. While the Urban Renewal Plan singles out properties to be bought by the city and offered for private redevelopment, Mayor Holloway now says residents can opt out of urban renewal areas.

He has promised the city, under his leadership, will not force anyone to sell their residential property through eminent domain. Instead, he said, residents will be offered the option of remaining in urban renewal areas so their properties might qualify for loans or grants.

Residents say they want the fabric of their community maintained. Holloway insists he wants to see the same, with a mix of residential and commercial development downtown.

The Gipsons are willing to sell the family home, Mary Gipson said, as long as they are fairly compensated.

“I don’t want to give it to them and have them just stick me somewhere,” she said. “I want to live comfortably. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Charles Burns, who owns multiple residential properties downtown, including the home where he lives, believes the city’s goal is to redevelop the entire area.

“They just want to get all the Black people out of here,” Burns said. “I know this. They want all the property.”