Ohio State group to help in rebuilding Mississippi Gulf Coast

While most people might be gearing up for a night of festivities to welcome in the New Year, a group of Ohio State University city and regional planning graduate students, Ohio planning professionals and team leader Jennifer Evans-Cowley will be departing New Year's Eve (12/31) for the ravaged Mississippi gulf coast. Once there, they will spend a week assessing the needs of some of the unincorporated areas in Harrison County, Mississippi while creating plans for two communities and studying rebuilding options for the area.

"We've been able to assemble a group with diverse backgrounds to study and work with the Harrison County community. While other parts of the coastline that sustained major damage have received a lot of attention, there are numerous areas in the less populated centers that also have dire needs. We hope to address that," Evans-Cowley said. Evans-Cowley, assistant professor of city and regional planning in Ohio State's Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture, is also Planning Education at a Distance Program director.

Harrison County is home to coastal communities Gulfport, Biloxi and Pass Christian, which received planning advice through a week-long workshop arranged through Governor Haley Barbour and the Congress for New Urbanism. The plans were designed in an intense process, bringing together design professionals from the area and across the United States. It is up to the communities in the region to apply the plans how they see fit.

The planning effort by the OSU group extends the work of the Mississippi Renewal Forum to areas beyond the incorporated places that received significant damage but haven't received the same kind of attention. The planning work, which began this month, will extend over four months and is hoped to continue through future classes. The team is working with planning officials and community members in Harrison County, as well as members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and will be crafting community plans for DeLisle and Saucier in Harrison County, as well as studying zoning ordinances and the role of modular housing in the rebuilding process.

While in Mississippi, the group will be touring the affected communities, conducting Town Hall meetings to hear residents' ideas on rebuilding their communities and gathering information while formulating new community plans. Officials from Harrison County will travel to Ohio in late February to review the final plans. Pat Bonck, the Zoning Director for Harrison County will give a public lecture at 5:30 pm on March 1st in the Knowlton Hall Auditorium, in order to let the Columbus community learn about the recover efforts. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Evans-Cowley raised $17,00 to fund this outreach work. She received grants from the University Office of Outreach and Engagement, Service-Learning Initative, College of Engineering, Knowlton School of Architecture, and the Ohio Planning Conference.

"We are excited about the prospect of being a part of the rebuilding process in Mississippi," Evans-Cowley said. "Much of central Ohio has reached out to those in need in this area of the country and we view this planning opportunity as a way to contribute to the long-term needs of these communities in Harrison County."