Planning and Zoning Meeting - Regular Meeting

If y'all have any questions, y'all can raise your hand. Yeah, but not say it's a robust meeting, but not that long.

Are we ready? Alrighty, we're gonna get ready and start. Good evening, and thank you for coming to the City of Bay St. Louis zoning and planning meeting. Today is July the 15th, 2026. Before we start, I'm going to ask you to silence your cell phones and pagers for me. And we're going to move into a prayer, so if you can join me. Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together today. We ask for wisdom, patience, and clarity as we discuss the matters before us. Help us to approach each decision with fairness, respect, and genuine desire to serve our community well. In your name we pray, amen.

All right, we're going to move to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Our Pledge of Allegiance to the Father.

If you are planning on speaking at any time besides if you're representing your case Please sign up go ahead and sign up on our sign up sheet. It helps us also keep track of who all spoke We did have a withdrawal today it was Keenan yeah, Keenan withdrew their application and And just so I can remember, the next meeting is going to be August the 12th at 530 in this building, regardless if your application is denied or approved. All righty, we're going to start.

Oh, we need to. The city council meeting.

The city council meeting, my bad, sorry. It's going to be Tuesday. Tuesday. Well, no, the next zoning and planning meeting is going to be in August, but regardless if you're denied or approved, the next city council meeting is going to be Tuesday, July 21st at 530. All right, thank you. And then we're going to go ahead and approve last meeting. This was May the 13th. Motion to approve May 13, 2026 meeting. I'll make a motion. Motion by Mr. Romano. All those in favor? Well, a second.

I'll second.

A second by Mr. Breland. All those in favor? Aye.

Aye.

Aye. All right. Aye. Meeting passes.

All right, first action item is Fitzsimmons, application for variance to the zoning ordinance submitted by Ryan Fitzsimmons. The applicant is requesting a nine-foot variance resulting in a 14-foot front yard and a 13-foot variance resulting in a seven-foot rear yard to construct a single-family dwelling. going to be is 4051 fourth avenue um it's owned r1 single family so the the variances seem large by when you read them but the issue is is this is fourth avenue and shoreline park there's a survey attached fourth avenues where the it's gonna have to be faced because it's actually a corner lot per the survey but it's Avenue F which is not constructed and when it's not constructed I mean it's not ever been cleared it is a completely wooded lot no water no utility services no nothing um going down it so guess for building department wise and for him to go say hey I want to I'm gonna have an Avenue F address so I can do this by right he could have done but that wouldn't make sense for fire police protection just so we get a variance so he submitted complete plans, which is part of the documents. It's about a thousand square foot footprint for a house. But because he's having to turn it to the side, he only has 52 feet to work with for a front yard and a rear yard. So it just doesn't make sense. So to make things more clear where he has to request a variance, but essentially it's it's going to look like a normal house in any of the lot. It just so happens that he's having to use a 4th Street address instead of Avenue F, which is an unopened road. Administration recommends to approve the variance. The reason is the variance is needed for this corner one because it's an unopened road for Avenue F. If Avenue F was open, water and sewer, this dwelling could have an Avenue F-like address, and this person would not even be here for a variance. And then The front of the house would be in line with the actual adjacent house, which is the neighboring one. And this parcel is on a canal. So the rear yard is actually, I guess, technically the side yard. And where it is positioned on the lot, it would be further enough away from the canal. So if you want to.

my name is Ryan Fitzsimmons I'm the property owner of this property yes we tried to get this permit a few years ago and we got held up with just the world we live in at the moment but anyway there is no there is no street like you were saying with Avenue F I believe it is so we turn the property to face uh 4th street they gave us an address on 4th street again we didn't follow through with the permit so now we're trying to follow through and that's why we're here for the parents to get approval to turn the property uh change the property lines uh setbacks and whatnot to face 4th street okay okay um did anybody from the commission have any questions for mr fitzsimmons it's not yeah I guess it's not even a road it's just grass it's not even right it's trees there's nothing there I didn't even know there was a road until there was a survey done yeah I didn't know there was a road there or supposed to be yeah these are trees this is like forest yeah nothing's been cut through any other comments

Yeah, this is Dean, can I make a comment?

Yes, please.

I've lived in that area since 2007, and the city annexation created all sorts of issues with single lots, and I'm excited to see somebody that's got the timidity to move forward with something on one of these, and I support it fully.

Thanks. Okay. anybody else okay um was there anybody in the audience that wanted to speak on this uh case okay um all righty i'm moved that we pass it all righty okay we got a motion by mr romano um do i have a second I got a second by Dean and then all those in favor all right next Tuesday 530 here second application

Aaron Davis application requesting a variance of nine foot to the front yard resulting in a 16 foot front yard setback. A variance of two foot variance resulting in a six foot side yard and a 14 foot variance resulting in a six foot setback to the rear yard allowing to construct a property on the 400 block of Webster Street. Property is zoned C three I'm sorry the property is owned are three multifamily um No, it's R3.

So state your, are you done?

Well, I'll just go give my rundown real quick on this. So the parcel that she has, and there's not an address to it, it is by some storage units that are near Dunbar Avenue, like the adjacent property. But the lot that she has is only 60 feet deep from her property line back. So if you have to have 25 foot in the front, 24 in the rear, that only leaves you five foot. In order to construct a house, you have to have a variance. I was about to say, the administration recommends improving the front yard variance and the rear yard variance. but also recommends denying the side yard variance request. The front and the rear yard variance is a reasonable request because there's no way to do a front in order to build a house on it. The side yard variance isn't necessary. Like for the house that they want, they would need one, but I think cutting it down two foot or shifting the house over a little bit on one side of it can be done. So our recommendation would be proving the front yard and the rear yard variance but denying a side yard variance. All right.

Okay. State your name for us.

Yes. Good evening. My name is Naomi Davis. I'm co-owner of the property with my husband Aaron. He's out of town right now. The main reason we wanted the variance is the lot is small but it has a huge oak tree that sits in the front left so we're having to push the house back to the back right and we're trying to get as much space as possible to build the house and stay away from the tree's drip edge that's the main reason we bought the lot is we like the tree and i don't want to damage the tree the roots anything like that so i really appreciate the front and the back being approved but i would like the sides because we more or less have a plan already and i could show you the pictures of it because it's going to be a house with a carport and a shed and it wouldn't

sitting in your front yard to do these things.

So the variance you're asking for is on the right-hand side. No, no, you wouldn't have it on the left-hand side because that's a detached one, so you can have that by right.

It's only the house on the right, that side. Okay. Yeah, so... Go to the podium, because we're trying to record all that. And I want it to look nice.

I don't want to have these buildings... A minute ago, how would that fit?

no and this is just what she yeah what she submitted to me on a site plan i just looked at it and i thought to myself like if you move what she has existing over one foot which allow by right and then just squish one house over by whatever like it would work without having a side yard variance like you just move everything over one foot on the plant and then just move your house only another foot one foot left right yeah yes

So you're talking about taking the house and moving it one foot this way?

Well, the carport.

Yeah, moving it closer. Okay, the carport will move closer to the neighbor. Yes. So that would be five foot. And then the house would move one foot as well?

Would be two foot. So you're already shifting everything over one foot. Okay. Okay. like you like eight or nine foot for you but like a side yard for us is kind of I'm just I don't vote I just say people have three foot side yards on that street

And when we bought the lot eight years ago, or 2018, they told us stay further away than the nearest person on the street pushing the property line. But that, I mean, it's been eight years. Things can change. But people are as close as three feet to the side property lines and back property lines. So I'm just trying to get the most space I can. That's all.

Well, the process is that we're a recommendation board. Okay. Clearly, they didn't want to give you three variances. Yeah. I guess that's the permitting office.

Well, I was going to say, no, like if y'all say, hey.

Who told you to write that?

Oh, I guess I created it myself in my head. Okay. Jeremy Burke did.

Okay. So you recommend that we don't give her the two foot, but you come up with a half, 50% reasonable, but she still wants it.

If y'all give it to me, if you won't give it to me, I'll be happy to take that.

This is a recommendation board, and then it goes in front of the city council. The city council is the final step. So there's another step.

Right, but I don't think that, I mean, it's a side yard setback. And I mean, there's, so my only thing is, Besides, I understand your seafood boil. But outside of the seafood boil, there's really not a reason why we can't have

Eight feet instead of nine feet? Okay, I'll settle for that.

And so that's what I'm saying. So yes, it is going to move to council, but at the same time, we kind of have to still meet in the middle with the ordinance and the whole reasoning behind a variance, right?

So we have to modify this?

Yes, but let me see. So Clark or Dean, did y'all have any other questions for Jeremy or Ms. Davis?

I'm good.

Okay. All right. So when it comes to the variance for the front yard and the rear yard setback, let's make a motion for that.

Okay.

And then we'll move on and try to make a motion for the side yard setback. So when it comes to approving the front yard and rear yard setback, do I have a motion to approve?

I do, yes.

Okay, I have a motion from Mr. Romano. Do I have a second?

I'll support it.

Second by Mr. Agee. All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Hello. We need one more.

I said aye.

Okay, so motion approved four to four. Oh, okay, so that's just for the front yard. So let's do the side setback.

That was for the front and the rear yard. Front and rear, yes.

Okay, so when it comes to the side yard setback, motion to deny. Do I have a motion?

I'll move we deny it.

All right, so I have a motion by Mr. Agee. Do I have a second? I have a second by Clark. Yes. All those in favor, aye.

Nay.

Aye. All right, motion passes three to one. Wait, did you say something? Did they, Dean or Clark?

Yeah, AG was just voting aye, that's all.

Okay, so motion passes three to one. All righty. So you still have to go to council. The next meeting is going to be August the – oh, no. July 21st. July the 21st at 530 in this same building.

Okay. So what do – I do name.

So you just come to the meeting on July the 21st, and they'll just hear your – they're going to review the cases, and then they'll make their final approval for both the – both setbacks. Okay.

Or variances requests. Sometimes they might have questions for you. They might not call you up at all. Right. But they might have a question.

and they should be there and they might they might vote together or separate but either way you should be there and it's it's going to be a simple process because they already heard so it'll either be the eight feet or the six feet yeah or it could be whatever yeah we don't know yeah we don't know but i'll be able to build something there right yes ma'am thank you okay and have your barbecue okay thank y'all very much all right

So last action item is Remail Development Company application for major site plan review for commercial Well, commercial retail building, boat storage, warehouse facilities submitted by Remail Development Company. Property is in questions at 298 Highway 90, but property identified as 149D-3-29-003.000. The property is zoned C3 Highway Commercial. So these... These are big plans. Since I've been here for five years, we have been working on this for five years, but apparently before he was working on it. So I'm not going to give you all the history of it, but last year it was approved to allow – warehouse boat storage in the c3 district by special exception went back and he submitted a site plan what he on the site plan he developed the back part of it the front part which is denoted which says retail development to be developed on a separate and future project not part of proposal so he gonna be phrasing out this whole thing but last year he got the special exception to have this use because it's not allowed by right anymore he also tried to get a variance to the rear yard or to a side yard to be three feet or five to be not be eight foot to be you know three foot or something he either withdrew or was denied but needs to say he is constructing these by right um Fire Department, which they're going to go review again when the actual construction documents come, but they have enough fire hydrants here. They have fire hydrants here that Cooper protected. He's developing it in such that the buildings aren't too large. There's spacing between for firewalls. But most importantly, that I've been concerned probably even more for Bay St. Louis is the drainage for this site um which has been going back to have the drainage report calculations drainage on the site plan but it was reviewed and it meets um the middle the requirements to conform with our basinless stormwater ordinance the culverts are adequate size to handle the water um when he comes back for the development in the front he's going to have to come back for site plan or least go do new drainage but yeah that's the last one again it goes and says there's been a lot of conversations back and forth but essentially the development part is they had needed some clarification but there's oh i'm sorry oh this this was from the 13th that's why you want to come up and state your name for us all right

Do you want to tell us about your case?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know what the questions are. I've been doing this for like six years. It's a little exhausting. Closed boat storage, the only ones on the coast on Highway 90. They'll be rolled down doors, so everything will be inside them. It won't be full barn storage, and we've designed it like six times to kind of make everybody happy. The zoning got changed in the middle of us designing it, which is a whole other issue.

And this is just a site plan review.

And just, yeah, just for, and we've talked about it before, that front one, he's trying to get the actual, and it's a whole different subject, but he's trying to get a tenant or tenants that work with Bay St. Louis, not just something to go throw there to fill a strip mall. I don't think he's going to have a smoking tobacco shack in there. It's going to be something that, you know, moves the needle for Bay St. Louis.

This is the old goodwill. Yeah.

Does anybody from the Commission have any questions? I'm open to moving to a motion to approve the site plan.

Do I have a motion? All right. I have a motion by Mr. Breland. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Romano. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Motion passes four to four. All right. So this is the last of our cases. So can we make a motion to adjourn the meeting?

I'll move.

I have a motion by Mr. Romano. I have a second by Mr. Breeland. All those in favor? Aye.