Hoyes not only left their job, selling their possessions and moving away from Wisconsin to Bilxy. They had a plan.
The couple, who has long been working in food and hospitality service, wanted to start their own business. They worked with business mentors, drafted a business plan for a night and breakfast and hunted for the perfect place – from South Carolina to Galveston, Texas, and elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.
Heidi Hoi found the couple’s new home in Biloxi. It was the third or fourth property they visited and they knew when they toured the two -storey brick house with a shore view on the shore that this was the place.
Hoyes bought the house of 7500 square meters in November 2021 and moved a month later. Their real estate agent had done homework, so they thought they would have no problem getting the city’s bed and breakfast in their residential neighborhood. But their case was tied to the city during the bigger part of 2022 and 2023.
When they finally gained approval, the opponents appealed to the court. Both sides are still awaiting a court complaint filed in October 2023.
“It is eighteen months to stay on sailing and wait for an answer,” Heidi Hoi said.
Dan Hoi added, “We are trying to make it the best we can.”
The hall of Heidi and Dan Hoi’s House in Biloxy on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The home was originally built in 2004 and survived the hurricane of Katrina without water in the house.
Hoyce’s home on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The home has six guest rooms, each with a private bathroom.
The couple is fighting the wrong perceptions of B&BS
The house they bought seems to be built with a bed and breakfast in the mind. Each of the six bedrooms has a bathroom. A generous front porch is wrapped to a side porch and a swimming pool.
Above the garage there is a pool house and living quarters. The interior of the home is historic, although it was built in 2004. It has ceilings with 14 feet, wooden floors on the first floor and oak staircase leading to the second floor, brick fireplaces in every room and a wide crown. The living room is lined with windows overlooking a small division of the yard and the sound of Mississippi.
In order to manage a bed and breakfast, Hoyes needed a permit to use and change in the zoning of medium -density residential housing to low -density multi -family homes. Before the hurricane Katrina, a hotel was located west in a business neighborhood of the beach highway, while the East ownership was zoned for high -density multi -family residential development.
Their immediate neighbors live in single -family homes. When they first asked for the city’s permission for bed and breaking, Hoyes were expecting questions from neighbors about their business plans. They were unprepared for the packed, stormy public hearing held before the Bilxy Planning Commission, where residents wondered if the bed and breakfast would attract killers and drug dealers.
“We were not prepared for this at all,” said Heidi Hoi. “We said,” It’s not going well. “
“People thought we would come in and manage a party house.”
Hoyes took the time. And they started renting rooms to bring some money. On the right, homeowners can offer rent for 30 days or more. They hire traveling nurses and tenants training at KEESLER Air Force Base.
They kept an open house where they served appetizers and invited guests to see for themselves that the house offered the perfect layout for bed and breakfast. About 30 to 40 people stopped.
Hoyes say the neighbors who live nearby have supported their business plans. They were friendly and welcoming to Hoyes.
These neighbors include Lombardi-Bensons, who bought and renovated Glenn Swetman Home A Stone’s Throw.
“They are incredible people, incredible,” said Frank Lombardi-Benson. “And they will do a great job.”
“We’re all about it. They are all. They have their heart and soul in what they want to do.”
A common area at Hoi’s home in Biloxy on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. They hope that the home will eventually be an overnight stay and breakfast.
The dining area at the Heidi and Dan Hoi House in Biloxy on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. They also have places in a bar and high-top tables in the guest kitchen that prefer a more casual breakfast.
The former bed and breakfast owner supports plans
Hoyes are natural in hosting. They like to cook. He is a trained cook. Her specialty is baking. Sometimes they invite their tenants for dinner just to have a company and share good food.
They host the Friendsgiving Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Parties, and Non -Profit Back Bay Non -Profit Mission.
“We love to have fun,” said Dan Hoy. His wife added, “It’s a huge, beautiful house. It should be used.”
One of their guests on Thanksgiving was Catherine Blai, who had ruled her own bed and breakfast in Bilox for seven years with her husband Walter. It was on the beach near Biloxi’s headlight. She met with Hoyes after being represented by a common friend to talk about their plans.
Blazie had to close her bed and breakfast in 2017 when her husband died.
“People want a place to stay like that,” she said. “They really do it.”
“They would have the same type of hospitality we did,” she said. “They are just charming.”
A library named after Hiidi Hoi’s mother at Hoi’s house in Biloxy on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
Biloxi’s case is rolled up in court
In his second attempt at urban authorization and resonance, Hoyce hired a lawyer. The impressive number of residents proved to support their business venture, which was unanimously accepted by the Planning Commission.
The vote of the City Council was divided, but Hoyce convinced the majority to support their plans. They were cheerful. Many of their neighbors joined them in the house to celebrate.
Ten days later, they received a call from their lawyer Wayne Hengen, who accidentally grew up in the neighborhood. The news was not good.
Several residents appeal the divided decision of the Municipal Council – 3 in favor, two opposite and two abstained – to the court.
Two of the women who appeal the decision of the Municipal Council live in the immediate neighborhood. Third, the sister of a council member George Lawrence, lives a few blocks.
Lawrence, who voted against the bed and breakfast, did not return a phone call, looking for a comment on his vote. His sister Teresa Thompson also failed to respond to Sun Herald voicemail for the trial.
The appeal claims that a bed and breakfast will be in place with single -family homes and that the nature of the neighborhood has not changed, one of the factors discussed in the resonance of property.
But community development director Jerry Kreil told one of the hearing in the city that the bed and breakfast ordinance was intended to accommodate houses like Hoyes. Krill also said the house was in a transition zone between homes and commercial development. Hoyce’s call quotes his remarks.
Their opponents also cited Creel, saying that he could not specify a specific change, as the Commission rejected the first request of Hoyes 16-18 months earlier.
Lawyer Hengen also spoke at the hearing, saying that Hoyce had repaired extensive damage from the storm in the home that had been empty for almost 16 years. He also said that the city has only two nights and breakfasts and can use more.
The judge in the bed and breakfast case, Randy Müller, had to be canceled after receiving a mysterious mail package. The contents of the package were introduced in the court file but is sealed from public view. Judge Larry Bourgeois was appointed in July.
Hoyes try to behave financially until they get a solution. They have plan B, but they don’t really want to think about selling the house.
“This community is our home and we want to stay here,” said Heidi Hoy. “We are here for a reason – to be part of this community.”
A sweatshirt called “Ocean Springs” at Heidi and Dan Hoi’s house on Bilxy on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. They hope for permission to turn home into a bed and breakfast.
The Hoi House Pool in Biloxy on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.