Gulfport, MS Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Appendix A's supplementary design standards apply to new construction and major renovation of commercial or mixed-use buildings fronting an arterial or major collector identified in the city's comprehensive plan, valued at two hundred thousand dollars or fifty percent of the building's value, whichever is greater, and to new subdivisions of more than twenty-five lots or multifamily buildings of more than eight units. Applicants must submit site plans, landscape plans, building elevations, photographs of adjacent properties and proposed materials; staff review the application against the applicable design standards and, if staff finds the project out of compliance, forward it to the Architectural Review Committee, which issues its own compliance determination.

A denied applicant may revise and resubmit to staff or appeal to the planning commission; a planning commission denial can be appealed to the city council, and a city council decision can be appealed to the appropriate Mississippi court. The standards cover site design, building massing, facades, porches, roofs, materials, elevated-building foundations and parking, separate from the district-by-district dimensional rules in Section III. Downtown, this design review dovetails with the city's Central Business and Historic District tax exemption program: Section 1-188 conditions the ad valorem tax exemption on renovations of buildings over sixty years old being restored to resemble their original exterior, and on newer buildings or renovations of younger buildings complying with the city's architectural standards in effect and being built in harmony with the smart code plan then in effect.