Mayor A.J. Holloway on Monday vetoed the Biloxi City Council’s decision to grant a height variance for a 29-story condominium building in west Biloxi.

“I think the public is telling us that this project seeks too much of a variance over the existing 175-foot ceiling,” Holloway said.

The City Council last week approved a waiver for the Tower at Edgewater to be 325 feet tall. The vote was 4-3, which would not be a big enough majority to override a veto.

Five councilmen would have to vote in favor of overriding the mayor’s veto within 10 working days.

Mike Boudreaux, president of Gulf Coast Investment Developers, said he hopes the council will stand by the project, although he admitted he’s not optimistic.

“I’ve been on the phone all afternoon long with council members and I’ve had some feedback from the mayor,” Boudreaux said. “I’m terribly disappointed.”

The mayor asked him on Friday if the project would be feasible at 275 feet and he told him no, Boudreaux said.

GCID originally sought a variance for a 33-story building. The council approved one that would be four stories shorter.

The request touched off a debate over condominium heights and what Biloxi’s beachfront will look like after Hurricane Katrina. The city already had granted larger height variances for two other proposed towers, one on the Broadwater property and another on Back Bay.

Clark Griffith, the chairman of the Reviving the Renaissance Committee, focused attention on the Tower at Edgewater, calling it a “monstrosity” and the variance request “a total disregard and disrespect” for city laws.

Many other residents also spoke against the Tower at Edgewater plans. However, the proposal also had several backers, who said it would help bring back the city’s tourism and convention business.

“We have benefited from a considerable amount of public discussion from citizens and developers alike regarding this proposal,” Holloway said. “In fact, the comments made at recent City Council meetings - by councilmen and the public - and the 4-3 vote illustrate the polarizing impact this issue has had on many in our community.”

Councilmen Tom Wall, Mike Fitzpatrick, Charles T. Harrison Jr. and William F. “Bill” Stallworth supported the measures, while Councilmen George Lawrence, David Fayard and Edward E. “Ed” Gemmill voted against the proposals.

Biloxi, which had proposals for 4,000 condominium units before Hurricane Katrina, now has proposals for more than 12,000.

The city approved plans for the Vue Cresente, which would rise 354 feet above grade on the shore of Back Bay, in December 2005. The city approved plans for condominiums as tall as 403 feet above grade on the Broadwater property in March 2006.

Boudreaux said even though his project faced greater scrutiny from city residents, he did not expect the mayor’s veto.

The demise of a project at such a late stage in the approval process would send a negative signal to the development community, he said.

“We worked over a year with his development review committee, with his planning commission (appointees),” Boudreaux said.

Source: www.sunherald.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 at 10:16 pm and is filed under Condo, Real Estate. Tags: Back Bay Biloxi Biloxi City Council city law Community Condo development Development Review George Lawrence Gulf Coast hurricane Hurricane Katrina Mike Boudreaux Planning Commission Property Renaissance s Planning Commission Tom Wall Tourism . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.