Biloxi, Mississippi

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated Biloxi, a Gulf Coast city of 45,000 people, destroying 24 percent of its homes and businesses, including most of its casinos, tourist facilities, and seafood industry. Working in association with WRT, who developed the post-Katrina comprehensive plan for the City, Clarion Associates updated the City’s Land Development Ordinance (LDO) to (1) foster redevelopment of “Old Biloxi” into a mix of residential, tourist-oriented, and community-serving uses that complement the city’s historic, natural, and scenic character, and (2) establish new regulations for

development in the city’s fast-growing inland areas. In addition to streamlining development review, making regulations user-friendly, and improving development quality, the updated LDO focuses on modernizing zoning districts to reflect new development patterns and encouraging redevelopment of Old Biloxi while mitigating the city’s vulnerability to damage by future hurricanes and storms. It also incorporates incentives for sustainable development practices. The updated LDO was adopted in 2010.