Waveland, Mississippi, one of the municipalities most devastated

Waveland, Mississippi, one of the municipalities most devastated by Hurricane Katrina, has turned away from new urbanist rebuilding plans. Planner and architect Robert Orr, who participated in the Mississippi Renewal Forum in October, 2005, reports that Waveland opted against the SmartCode in early June and will move forward with conventional use-based zoning. The disappointing outcome followed more than 3,000 hours of “mostly pro-bono” work, 22 trips to the Gulf Coast, 2 full charrettes, and numerous consensus-building sessions, Orr says. He notes that since the SmartCode was approved by Pass Christian, a municipality to the east of Waveland, “We will be able to witness a real apples-to-apples comparison of storm recovery.”