“You have zoned us out.”: Community members fear over-industrialization in their Gulfport neighborhoods

Gulfport locals are appealing the city council’s decision to grant a zoning variance for the development of a cold storage facility similar to one that was washed away from the port of Gulfport during Hurricane Katrina.

It will be on 34th Avenue between a church and apartments. While this land is already being utilized by the port, many residents fear that North Gulfport will be nothing but private development one day.

“I’m not trying to pull the race card, but it feels like every time we turn around there is always something being placed in the black and brown communities, but not any other community,” said Deacon Kenneth Taylor with Forrest Height Missionary Baptist Church. “We’re just as important as everyone else. I’m saying it doesn’t need to be in anybody’s community. Let’s put this in an industrial, safe place where it needs to be.”

Like many families, residents in North Gulfport want a safe place for their children to play and explore, but more and more North Gulfport kids are growing up next door to industrialization.

“You’ve divided up our black community. You’ve purchased all of 28th Street, which used to be a nice little area with St. John’s church and a community over there,” said longtime resident Sammie Wiseman. “We had all kinds of nice communities, and since Katrina, the city council has sat down to zone. You have zoned us completely out of… we’ve been zoned so far we’re zoned out. You have zoned us out.”

The community is saying ‘no more’ after years of watching friends and family leave north Gulfport for various reasons that always seem to lead back to too much development — loss of home equity, too much traffic, and lack of housing.

And it seems to them the city is okay with families leaving.

“Highway 49 is an access to all kinds of business that they want to come in, so you’ve got to rid this area,” said Ruth Story, Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization director, who is assisting with this effort.

“Until we start to voice our opinions,” said Glenn Cobb, who filed the appeal. “Until we start to voice what we feel is right and stand up for what is right, this is going to continue to happen.”

Originally locals thought the cold storage facility might be dedicated to poultry, like the one destroyed in Katrina, and mentioned other developments outside of just the cold storage facility that are impacting their community.

We reached out to the port of Gulfport for clarification on what their proposed project entails…

“The Port is committed to fostering economic growth while prioritizing the health and well-being of our surrounding community. This $73M private investment is estimated to create more than 70 local jobs. The new cold storage facility will be modern and sustainably built. The facility will not be dedicated to poultry processing, but rather a versatile hub for any variety of perishable goods.”

The Port of Gulfport has also not bought extra land for this project and is building on a lot currently in place on 34th Avenue.

We will follow up on this story after the city council meeting.