ORDINANCE NO. 13-2025 CITY OF PASCAGOULA, MISSISSIPPI AN ORDINANCE INSTITUTING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM (180 DAYS) ON THE SUBMISSION AND ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS FOR BUILDING AND BUSINESS PERMITS FOR CERTAIN DRINKING ESTABLISHMENTS IN NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL AND COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL ZONES; TO PROVIDE FOR ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVENESS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. WHEREAS, the City of Pascagoula's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) generally allows bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in Neighborhood Commercial (NC) and Community Commercial (CC) zones; and WHEREAS, the NC zone is "intended to ensure uses and development intensities are consistent with a neighborhood scale, compatible with surrounding uses, and do not encourage traffic from outside the neighborhood;" and WHEREAS, the CC zone is "intended to accommodate a diverse range of medium-intensity retail, service, office, and institutional uses that provide goods and services serving the residents and businesses in the community at large;" and WHEREAS, throughout the City, the NC and CC zones frequently border residential areas and uses, as well as educational and religious uses; and WHEREAS, the City of Pascagoula anticipates receiving applications for the development of additional bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in the City of Pascagoula in the near future, particularly in the NC and CC zones; and WHEREAS, due to the lack of existing regulations addressing such uses, particularly when in close proximity to residential uses (as well as education and religious uses), the City Council for the City of Pascagoula seeks to establish a temporary moratorium on the submission and acceptance of applications for building and business permits for bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in the NC and CC zones in the City of Pascagoula; and WHEREAS, Mississippi Code Sections 21-17-5 and 21-13-1 provide that the City Council possesses the authority to adopt ordinances with respect to property located within the City; and WHEREAS, Mississippi Code Sections 21-13-3 and 21-13-11 provide that the City Council possesses the authority to adopt ordinances for the immediate and temporary preservation of the public peace, health or safety or for other good cause; and WHEREAS, the Office of the Mississippi Attorney General has opined that a municipality may adopt an immediately and temporarily effective ordinance instituting a moratorium related to zoning issues (see Opinion No. 2008-00006); and WHEREAS, it is necessary that an ordinance be adopted placing an immediate and temporary moratorium on the submission and acceptance of applications for building and business permits for bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in the NC and CC zones because it is anticipated that applications for such permits will be received in the near future and the City presently lacks the regulations necessary to address the location, design standards, and other attributes of such uses; and WHEREAS, imposing a moratorium on the submission and acceptance of applications for building and business permits for a period of one-hundred-eighty (180) days will allow sufficient time for the City to investigate, research, and develop an appropriate regulatory framework relating to bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in the NC and CC zones; and WHEREAS, instituting the moratorium set forth herein will improve compatibility among uses and will ensure efficient development within the City, will result in a logical and orderly development pattern, and is necessitated by a demonstrated community need to achieve the objectives and policies stated herein. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PASCAGOULA AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City Council hereby adopts the foregoing recitals as its findings. SECTION 2. The City Council hereby institutes a moratorium on the submission and acceptance of applications for building and business permits for bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in the NC and CC zones. SECTION 3. The moratorium established in Section 2, above, shall not apply to applications for building permits to repair or renovate existing and currently operating bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in the NC and CC zones. SECTION 4. Measured from its effective date and time, the moratorium established herein shall extend for one-hundred-eighty (180) days or until the legally effective date of ordinances adopted by the City Council addressing the development of bars/lounges, brewpubs, and nightclubs in the NC and CC zones, whichever occurs first. SECTION 5. This ordinance shall not be codified. SECTION 6. For the reasons set forth in the recitals hereto, this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption, or as otherwise allowed by law. The motion to approve the foregoing ordinance was made by Councilman Parker and seconded by Councilwoman Brandenstein, and the following vote was recorded: Mayor Willis Aye Councilwoman Brandenstein Aye Councilman Stallworth Aye Councilman Fornett Aye Councilwoman Young Aye Councilman Parker Aye Councilman Blythe Aye SO ORDAINED, this the 16th day of December, 2025. ATTEST: CITY COUNCIL /s/ Karen Kennedy /s/ Jay Willis Karen Kennedy, City Clerk Jay Willis, Mayor IPL0299680 Dec 21 2025