Thanks to a recent Mississippi Supreme Court ruling, Jim Parrish, a realtor in Long Beach, is a step closer to developing a casino resort on land he owns across from his Parrish’s Restaurant & Lounge on U.S. Highway 90. Parrish has sought approval from the state since 2019 to build a $180 million, 40,000-square-foot casino and 300-room hotel on his property.
In 2011, Parrish signed a tidelands lease agreement with the state for his restaurant. By law, tidelands are defined as tracts of land that tides cover and uncover with water daily. The Mississippi Secretary of State office manages tidelands and leases them to upland private owners to establish businesses that will benefit the state and the public.
Parrish’s tidelands use application indicated his aim to eventually develop a casino resort, Long Beach Harbor Resort, and link it to his restaurant. Parrish said he would follow state law requiring casinos to be located 800 feet from the Gulf Coast’s mean high-water line. However, Mississippi officials initially claimed Parrish’s plan excluded actual gaming within 800 feet of the water. As a result, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson denied Parrish a connection to his property across Highway 90 and the tidelands.
But in its recent ruling, the Mississippi Supreme Court supported Parrish’s proposal. The justices noted Mississippi still would have its rights as trustee of the tidelands if it had not leased the right to Long Beach and the resort in 2011 and had required Long Beach Resort to seek another tidelands lease. But the state approved the previous resort lease.
The latest supreme court ruling allows Parrish to develop the casino resort on a qualifying property which the Mississippi Gaming Commission must review. That process requires that the commission do background checks on key officials and investors and evaluate their financing plans.
