[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6154251,"mediaKeyId","5485545-154125c7a69c8314ff1c4ddef8b174a8","parentId",5485545,"title","Gulfport council approves 2025 HUD action plan after heated debate, preserves years of unspent federal funds","audioSeconds",1284,"startMs",3330000,"endMs",4614000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5485545-154125c7a69c8314ff1c4ddef8b174a8&start=3330&end=4614","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5485545-154125c7a69c8314ff1c4ddef8b174a8/thumbnail_3330000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6154251/Gulfport/Harrison-County/Mississippi/Gulfport-council-approves-2025-HUD-action-plan-after-heated-debate-preserves-years-of-unspent-federal-funds","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6154251-72de829149730ff453eee97b713b81d6/orig.mp4?Expires=1770413932&Signature=KCR3HoS5N~gn50deoMxHuHXuhPh1j4G7c8h4ApVImpOlvuowY9-Ac7VSoF88ncY4qnCJBHN5LoQ9d5k2wEZzbOeYDPILE8NMHD9igOAfcL4tDeO2q1mC1vdpw4uA5fJ5aZP6sehxbGFNFRTvjwoJGmWCZ4A1UxzldRvk23ijAbDvi7p1BwQ5JHoe4KJ2khV3yCO3L~CKXPIlu7rKaZyYIBDJA9VVoT8KYss4OXrpwkWKlaKcKoyxP1Z2bhWoTYhPUSyLmJEZ2iMEK8XiAAZhPoLb-2EzXSAO9Jif4b4DfEkgcp6zCYt5lkK4pOMIZx~Y0ug6vQbTUbz0eF2YweuT0g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of Gulfport Harrison MS","date","2025-07-22T00:00:00Z","article","The Gulfport City Council voted 4-3 to approve the city’s 2025 Annual Action Plan for HUD-funded CDBG and HOME programs, narrowly preserving more than $3.3 million in older, unspent federal allocations while creating funding “buckets” for housing repair, public facilities and other uses.

The vote followed more than an hour of council questioning and a string of public commenters who urged the council to name specific, address-level projects and prioritize low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. “There’s no clear commitment to addressing the urgent needs the community raised,” said Sonya Williams Barnes, a longtime Gulfport resident and organizer, during public comment.

Nut graf: The administration and the city’s HUD program staff argued the buckets approach was required by HUD and by environmental- and eligibility-review rules; naming specific projects now could force the city to withdraw funds if a project later proves ineligible. City staff said the approved plan preserves the city’s entitlement status and allows staff to pursue projects and procure partners that meet HUD rules. “What HUD considers a project is not typically what we would traditionally think about as a project,” said Nicole, a city community-development staff member. “HUD thinks about a project as these buckets of funding.”

Council members who opposed the plan repeated community demands for transparency and project-level commitments. Councilmember Holmes (identified in public remarks as “PJ”) said he favored denying preapproval of address-level projects, citing the need to honor neighborhood setback and land-use processes, but nonetheless supported the plan’s preservation of the entitlement funds. Councilmember Hines pressed for a workshop before finalizing allocations: “We do need a workshop,” she said, arguing that the city had repeatedly failed to spend prior allocations and that neighborhood projects should be clearly documented before HUD submission.

Administration staff described a technical and legal constraint: HUD requires action plans to list categories and funding allocations (for example, housing rehabilitation, public services, public facilities) rather than pre-committed, address-level projects when environmental review and eligibility have not been completed. Staff said HUD had recently allowed the city to retain prior-year funds that had been at risk and that a missed deadline could endanger that recovery. “If no action is taken, there’s only one council session between now and the 16th,” Nicole said, noting HUD’s statutory deadline for submission.

Councilmembers said they will seek workshop(s) and follow-up briefings about how the administration will convert the approved buckets into project solicitations, request-for-proposals (RFPs) and address-level commitments that comply with HUD timeliness, environmental review and national-objective rules. The council also asked staff to circulate a plain-language explanation of how the buckets will be translated into projects and how residents may submit or nominate proposals.

Ending: The approved action plan keeps Gulfport eligible for federal CDBG and HOME funding for FY 2025 while setting in motion a procurement and public-comment process to identify address-level work. Council members said they expect further public meetings and formal council approvals before funds are committed to specific projects.

Speakers:[{\"name\":\"Nicole\",\"role_title\":\"City community development/HUD grants staff\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:33:20\",\"transcript_line_range\":[340,360]}},{\"name\":\"Hugh Keating\",\"role_title\":\"Mayor\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:02:18\",\"transcript_line_range\":[120,130]}},{\"name\":\"Carolyn Corbett\",\"role_title\":\"Councilmember\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"01:13:20\",\"transcript_line_range\":[2510,2530]}},{\"name\":\"Hines\",\"role_title\":\"Councilmember\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:48:10\",\"transcript_line_range\":[1960,1980]}},{\"name\":\"Sellers\",\"role_title\":\"Councilmember (mover of the final resolution)\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"01:30:08\",\"transcript_line_range\":[5410,5415]}},{\"name\":\"Rowland\",\"role_title\":\"Councilmember\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:11:01\",\"transcript_line_range\":[662,682]}},{\"name\":\"Members of the public\",\"role_title\":\"Residents and community organizers\",\"affiliation_type\":\"citizen\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"01:40:20\",\"transcript_line_range\":[6600,6640]}}],","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City of Gulfport Council Meeting | July 22, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Gulfport City Council voted 4-3 to approve the city’s 2025 Annual Action Plan for HUD funds, maintaining access to several million dollars in previously unspent CDBG and HOME allocations.","taxTitle","Gulfport, Harrison County, Mississippi","taxId",24961,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6154246,"Council upholds neighborhood setback, denies variance for narrow Bayou Bernard lot",1142,1717000,2859000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5485545-154125c7a69c8314ff1c4ddef8b174a8&start=1717&end=2859","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5485545-154125c7a69c8314ff1c4ddef8b174a8/thumbnail_1717000.jpg","/articles/6154246/Gulfport/Harrison-County/Mississippi/Council-upholds-neighborhood-setback-denies-variance-for-narrow-Bayou-Bernard-lot","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6154246-a3de93c080e5e053b90510b82bf0c0e6/orig.mp4?Expires=1770413932&Signature=O0BpXRGB9i-~zxsV0-ppIkKSh3AJn2G~Wbl0MFBCkGuqPAor8pKP-p42kuCtyOKRaNIptQxhPftYMk51pOS0BSW15QPUuJrDERgLLvtG~cWnYDlOV0NtWNOYo1ATUABpqJ~CWV7lugoKQVzoNGqBaZAoG0v2q8c6kJDM-~AxgFjZHwP7qlrE~~w2YWigcoK-fmZzMIx1tLLNjUHZBfl1ZBNupFbtzipQvdgp4HJKHQomKvEDOrhDwiq1d8H7BWocuwJdRjz7hOq49nkZ3gkqh-wI8vf-lMhXzAh~3u479B3IXknU4UQbBGMNLExGH3CDdJrWogoESitRVXzZDp08xg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Gulfport City Council voted to grant an appeal that effectively denies a requested front-yard setback variance for a narrow lot off Bayou Bernard, siding with neighbors who said the parcel was never intended for new development.

The contested property (subject of Board of Adjustment/Planning variances) sits on a narrow finger of land off Switzer Road. The applicant’s agent, John Ruble, told the council the parcel was “extremely narrow” and that his client, Billy Carney, planned a waterfront house and had secured Corps permission for dredging on the water side. Ruble described the design goals: “He’s trying to put something nice in there that would look like the rest of the community… the only way to do that is to encroach the setbacks a little.”

Neighbors and appellants urged denial. Samson Vasquez, one appellant, said he understood the earlier approval to be a 15-foot setback and noted that the owner could not guarantee full-time residency when asked earlier by the planning commission. Eddie Champagne, who lives next to the property, warned of drainage and wetlands on the north end and said building could shift runoff onto neighbors’ yards.

Council discussion centered on the zoning ordinance’s high legal standard for variances. City Attorney Jeff Bruni explained that a zoning variance requires five criteria to be met (Appendix A of the zoning ordinance, VIIIB2C), including showing an unnecessary hardship peculiar to the property and proving the conditions were not created by the applicant’s purchase. “It’s a stringent, it’s a high standard,” Bruni said.

Councilmember PJ, noting the lot’s plat designation and neighborhood character, moved to grant the appeal; the motion carried. He said he was swayed by the original subdivision plat showing the parcel as a boat ramp and by neighbors’ concerns that all surrounding homes adhere to a 25-foot setback: “My motion is to grant the appeal, on the basis that I do feel like it’s unfair to the residents there who have all built their homes at 25 foot setbacks.” The council granted the appeal; the record does not show a roll-call tally spoken on the floor beyond a unanimous “all in favor” call at the time of disposition.

Ending: The council’s action preserves the neighborhood’s existing setback pattern and leaves the lot subject to prior approvals only if the applicant returns with a proposal that meets the zoning-variance criteria and environmental and permitting requirements.

Speakers:[{\"name\":\"John Ruble\",\"role_title\":\"Attorney/agent for applicant\",\"affiliation_type\":\"citizen\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:28:25\",\"transcript_line_range\":[1700,1740]}},{\"name\":\"Billy Carney\",\"role_title\":\"Property owner (present)\",\"affiliation_type\":\"citizen\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:28:10\",\"transcript_line_range\":[1690,1700]}},{\"name\":\"Samson Vasquez\",\"role_title\":\"Appellant / resident\",\"affiliation_type\":\"citizen\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:32:17\",\"transcript_line_range\":[1936,1956]}},{\"name\":\"Eddie Champagne\",\"role_title\":\"Resident / appellant\",\"affiliation_type\":\"citizen\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:35:07\",\"transcript_line_range\":[2107,2144]}},{\"name\":\"Jeff Bruni\",\"role_title\":\"City Attorney\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:16:11\",\"transcript_line_range\":[971,1000]}},{\"name\":\"Sue Lynn\",\"role_title\":\"Planning Department staff\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:18:32\",\"transcript_line_range\":[1101,1125]}},{\"name\":\"PJ\",\"role_title\":\"Councilmember (ward representative)\",\"affiliation_type\":\"government\",\"first_reference\":{\"timecode\":\"00:46:25\",\"transcript_line_range\":[2780,2800]}}],","Gulfport City Council granted an appeal and overturned a previously approved variance for a narrow waterfront lot off Bayou Bernard, siding with neighbors who said the lot was never intended for housing and raising concerns about drainage and property character.","actionData","errors"]

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Gulfport council approves 2025 HUD action plan after heated debate, preserves years of unspent federal funds

Council upholds neighborhood setback, denies variance for narrow Bayou Bernard lot