BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - A new spin on development may be coming to one Biloxi neighborhood.
Developer Ivan Spinner and Bloxx Building have partnered to construct seven container homes near the MGCCC access road. mobile homes in
“They’re container, so they’ve been in really really good shape, but they don’t look like containers,” Spinner explains. “And then we’re going to make it like one big community. We have seven of them designed different to do different areas, and the in the middle of it will all be turf. We’ll put a pickleball or basketball court. There will be gated for the entryway. [It’s] really designed for professor, students, or small families.”
Brittany Kahler with Bloxx Building says homes will range from 370 to 800 square feet.
“On the inside, it’s very conventional construction,” she notes. “It’s sheetrock, we have spray foam installation, wood framing, all the same things you’re going to see in a house. It just has the advantages of a shipping container on the outside.”
In order to get the ball rolling, Spinner is requesting conditional use (multi-family residential) and variances in neighborhood business zoning on the property. However, a majority of homeowners in Edgewater Estates and Cove Drive are pushing back on the idea.
“I don’t believe it needs to be rezoned. I think the city really needs to keep the integrity of the zoning for what it already is,” counters Wendy Lally.
Lally says a petition was started to prevent the approval of this project. There are over 100 signatures. She adds the community isn’t against development — they simply want the property to occupy something else.
“Seven shipping container homes doesn’t really benefit the community as a whole. At most, if it had two occupants in it, it’d be 14 people. If you do a restaurant, a pizza shop, a nail salon, any sort of neighborhood-type business.”
“I’ve talked with some of the residents in there and they would like to see a container bar,” Jarrod Lewis Fusco said. “Somewhere they can go, bring dogs, socialize, live music. Something where they can walk to it, gather and go home.”
Other concerns on the list include quality of the design, maintenance, and safety and health standards.
“We want to bring [facts to the meeting] and talk about what the actual project is, what it’s made of and actually show them the substance of the product,” Skinner responded.
The petition will be presented during the Biloxi Planning Commission meeting on May 2.
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