Harrison County Zoning Office
15309 Community Road
Gulfport, Mississippi 39503
Patrick Bonck, Zoning Administrator
(228) 831-3367

NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Andrew von Maur (269) 471-6377

Harrison County prepares for future Growth through Urban Design Workshops

This month, the School of Architecture at Andrews University will be assisting unincorporated communities in Harrison County to prepare for future growth by developing town center design proposals through a public workshop process.

Based at the Community Center in Saucier, Professor Andrew von Maur will be leading a team of nineteen architecture students in an effort to develop growth strategies for the area around “Old Downtown Saucier”. Recognizing that a variety of factors will be pushing significant future growth into the northern parts of the county, local officials have been working with community improvement associations and Ohio State University to develop community plans for unincorporated places. Based on these efforts, Andrews University will be working closely with local citizens, the County, the Saucier Improvement Association and local landowners in designing specific development proposals for the area. The work will also include a continued investigation into how the SmartCode might be applied to shape a compact town center based on New Urbanist principles rather than forfeiting the whole of rural Saucier to conventional sprawl development.

Andrews University, located in Berrien Springs, Michigan, will also collaborate with Ohio State University in an effort to assist the Henderson Point community in developing rebuilding strategies in this devastated part of the county. Issues here will include reconciling New Urbanist principles with revised flood elevations and the local impact of the new bridge over Saint Louis Bay, amongst other things.

The design workshop will be based at the Saucier Community Center from September 11 until September 19 and is open to public participation during regular business hours. The team will continue to workshop for Harrison County throughout the fall academic semester. More information including a detailed schedule of events will be posted soon at www.AndrewsUrbanDesign.org. Citizens, local officials and practitioners are highly encouraged to visit and voice their opinions as it is only through public participation that this work will become useful to future planning efforts in Harrison County. The plans developed at this workshop will ultimately be incorporated into the SmartGrowth Resource Guide being developed by Harrison County.