COMMUNITY PLAN for PINEVILLE Harrison County, Mississippi Harrison County, Mississippi Community Plan for Pineville March 1, 2007 PREPARED BY The Ohio State University, Knowlton School of Architecture, City and Regional Planning Program Jennifer Cowley, PhD, AICP, Project Manager Bob Cowell, AICP, Team Leader Sutirtha Das Jung-Chen Huang Radhika Mathur Brent Warren Jennifer Washco Alton Willis PREPARED FOR The Harrison County Board of Supervisors and the citizens of Pineville This plan is made possible by funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Mississippi Coastal Impact Assistance Program, which is administered by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. 2 COMMUNITY PLAN for PINEVILLE Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 APPENDIX A. BACKGROUND 57 Historical Background 57 INTRODUCTION 6 Demographics 62 Purpose 6 Housing Characteristics 68 Description of the Planning Process 7 Land Use and Zoning 74 People 8 Economics 82 Acknowledgements 9 Natural Resources and Regional Connections 84 Organization of the Plan 10 Community Facilities and Resources 99 Infrastructure 104 CHAPTER 1. CONTEXT 14 Utilities 106 Description of the Community 14 History 15 APPENDIX B. DOCUMENTATION OF 113 Regional Context 15 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Background and Current Trends 18 Community Input 20 APPENDIX C. POTENTIAL GRANT FUNDING 145 Observations 23 SOURCES CHAPTER 2. THE PLAN 28 APPENDIX D. PRINCIPLES OF NEW 150 Themes 28 URBANISM, LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND Community Goals and Strategies 28 ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN FOR NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT, AND Sector Map and Concept Plan 47 LAND SUITABILITY ANALYSIS APPENDIX E. ACRONYMS AND GLOSSARY 156 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 List of Maps Map 1. Regional connections 16 Map 2. Concept plan 55 Map 3. Sector Map 56 Map 4. 1990 Census Boundaries 62 Map 5. 2000 Census Boundaries 62 Map 6. Traffic Analysis Zones 63 Map 7. Current Land Use 78 Map 8. Current Zoning 81 Map 9. Wetlands 92 Map 10. Hydric soils 95 Map 11. 1988 FEMA Flood Zones 96 Map 12. Katrina Surge and Advisory Flood Area 97 Map 13. FEMA Advisory Base Flood Elevations 98 Map 14. Communities Facilities 100 Map 15. Functional Classification and AADT’s of Major Roads 102 Map 16. Evacuation Map 103 Map 17. Proposed Sewer and Water Lines 109 Map 18. Land Suitability Analysis 154 4 COMMUNITY PLAN for PINEVILLE Executive Summary The Community Plan for Pineville has been designed to guide the economic vitality of the community, illustrated in Figure 1. redevelopment and growth in the Pineville Planning Area over a period of twenty years. This Plan incorporates the principles of Smart These themes then translate into goals and strategies for rebuilding Growth, New Urbanism, and Green Development in an effort to create the community. This Plan outlines detailed actions to be implemented a plan that reflects the community’s desire for a sustainable future. by the County and the community. To guide implementation, this Plan Community input was collected from surveys, written and provides a timeline that prioritizes the goals and action statements. verbal correspondence, an online discussion forum, and Town Hall The Concept Plan details policy and land use scenarios to reach Meetings. Issues identified as priorities by the community are the specific outcomes for the Pineville planning area. Text and supporting foundation of this Plan. These priorities are organized as three themes: illustrations describe the possibilities for future development of the community. Policy areas such as tree preservation would apply to the Restoration - This theme is focused on restoring items of entire planning area, while zoning decisions would apply to specific significance to the community that have either been lost or geographic areas within the community. These recommendations compromised due to Hurricane Katrina or have simply changed are reflections of the citizens’ vision of the community. due to the “march of time.” These items include the obvious, such Citizen participation guided the selection of the Concept as restoring homes, businesses, and infrastructure, as well as less Plan, Sector Map and the scenarios provided for consideration. obvious items, such as restoring the natural function of floodplains During the second Town Hall Meeting, the community was able to and bayous and restoring the area’s link to its past history. vote, using electronic voting devices, to identify the scenarios and policy strategies they found most important. The decisions made Connection - This theme is focused on connections within at this meeting assisted in determining the content of this Plan. and to the Pineville area. This includes such items as road and The Harrison County Board of Supervisors is the responsible bicycle/pedestrian connections between areas in Pineville and party for carrying out most of the action steps, since it is the entity areas such as Gulfport and Long Beach. Other items include with the authority to adopt any recommended regulatory measures. connections between area residents and the bayous and Wolf However, in order to assist in the implementation of the Plan, Pineville River and connections between land use and quality of life. area residents are encouraged to establish nonprofit organizations to solicit and receive grant monies, coordinate local citizen efforts, and Preservation - This theme is focused on preserving what is undertake other action steps, especially those that are nonregulatory. unique and special to the residents of the Pineville area. This This Plan is organized for readers to focus on Chapter 1, Context, includes such items as the bayous, wetlands and live oak trees, and Chapter 2, Plan. The Appendices include supplemental infor- as well as historic sites enjoyed by so many residents. This mation for those interested in the detailed data and citizen comments theme is also about preserving development opportunities and that supports the recommendations of the Plan. The superscript EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 numbers within the text of each chapter correspond to the list of endnotes found at the end of each chapter. This community plan focuses These endnotes indicate sources of the information on restoration, connection and preservation of Pineville. Figure 1. Pineville is known for its bayous, trees, and natural features. Source: Jung-Chen Huang 6 COMMUNITY PLAN for PINEVILLE Introduction Purpose that will help them decide what their communities will look like Those along the Gulf Coast will never forget August 29, 2005, when in the future. As part of this effort, they hosted the Mississippi the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina took both lives and Renewal Forum in partnership with the Congress for New homes in Pineville, as shown in Figure 2 and 7. It did not, however, Urbanism. The Renewal Forum focused on planning and take the resolve of its residents to rebuild their community. Area visioning for the incorporated areas of the coast. The Community citizens have come together to make decisions about their collective Plan for Pineville incorporates many of the ideas provided by the future. The Community Plan for Pineville articulates this future. Governor’s Commission and integrates them with what the citizens Shortly after the hurricane, Mississippi Governor of Pineville have stated that they want for their community. Haley Barbour established the Governor’s Commission The Community Plan complements the County’s for Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal. The Commission Smart Growth planning process that is based on the provided local leaders with ideas and information principles of Smart Growth, New Urbanism, and Green Development, to guide the future development of the county. Figure 2. Hurricane Katrina disrupted the lives and livelihood of Pineville through its destructive power. Source: Jung-Chen Huang INTRODUCTION 7 The Board of Supervisors for Harrison County recognized the Description of the Planning Process need for a plan for rebuilding and future development of Pineville. The Board invited Assistant Professor Jennifer Cowley from the The Plan was created over a seven-month time period, as noted in City and Regional Planning Program at The Ohio State University Figure 3. Following the development of the planning process in (OSU) to bring a technical assistance team to Pineville to facilitate collaboration with the County, the team began gathering data and this planning process. This Plan has been funded through grants and background information in the summer of 2006. The team next in-kind contributions and is provided at no cost to Harrison County. traveled to Harrison County in September 2006 to gather more To assist the Pineville planning team, Harrison County data and survey the community’s opportunities and challenges. Supervisor Marlin Ladner appointed a six-person steering As part of that fieldwork, the team held a Town Hall Meeting committee of local residents. The steering committee acted on September 14, 2006 in the West Harrison Civic Center that as a liaison between the citizens and the planning team. They was attended by more than 250 residents (see Figure 4,5, and 6). provided input throughout the planning process and ensured During the meeting, citizens completed a written survey seeking that the Pineville planning team addressed citizen concerns and their opinions on development issues in Pineville and Harrison incorporated community goals into the Community Plan. Plans County. The attendees also participated in a Visual Preference prepared by the adjacent communities of Gulfport, Long Beach,