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Council discusses request for Biloxi River no-wake zone; staff detail required county/DMR steps
Summary
Council members urged the city to seek a no-wake designation for a stretch of the Biloxi River to protect piers and boaters; staff said the county must request the DMR and enforcement would be by DMR if approved.
Council members discussed public-safety concerns on the Biloxi River near the Small Craft Harbor and Pointe area and pressed staff to pursue a no-wake designation. Councilman Shoemaker described damage to piers and boat impacts and argued for formal restrictions; Councilman Gray asked who would enforce such a zone.
City staff (speaker 28) explained the process: the city requests the county to make the formal application to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR), which holds hearings and if it approves would return enforcement authority to DMR. "The DMR will have a meeting, hearing on it… If they approve it, it will come back down, and then it will be an official no wake zone that is enforced by the DMR," staff said.
Council members asked staff to pursue signage and county coordination; no final vote or formal request was recorded during the meeting but members indicated intent to move forward through the county process.
