A design-review ordinance passed by a 4-3 vote after an executive session late Wednesday and would require developers to get a score of 305 or better.
City Planning Director Donovan Scruggs, who drafted the plan, said the rules would encourage aesthetic touches such as columns and gabled roofs.
Scruggs said the rules would help stave off any unsightly developments, and would help keep Ocean Springs from looking "like areas nobody would want to visit."
The move to raise design standards also came with a temporary moratorium on new metal buildings. The board passed a ban for an undetermined amount of time to prohibit construction of the buildings, but those that have already been given a permit will be allowed to build.
"We don't want a bunch of tin buildings on U.S. 90, but unless we do something now, that appears it's the way it's going to be," said Ward 1 Alderman John Gill, who voted for the measure.
The design review ordinance wouldn't have allowed the Oaks, a strip mall with restaurants, which has been anointed by some on the board as the crown jewel in the Ocean Springs retail infrastructure. The recently opened strip mall across from Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar on U.S. 90 would have fallen just a couple points shy of the 305 score, Scruggs told the board.
Gill told Scruggs the Oaks was the most attractive development in town, and Scruggs quipped back, "Who's second? Jitney Jungle?"
Gill said the building has all the characteristics city officials want to see, and is the benchmark because of its facade and landscaping. Gill said shopping centers like the Oaks help attract good business to the area, and it has been a steady source of sales tax for the city.
Looks are now a high priority, Gill said.
"In Ocean Springs, now is the time for reconstruction and we want to make sure it is aesthetically pleasing," Gill said.
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