Request to rezone old Pine Shadows property rejected
Published 2:04 am Sunday, March 21, 2021
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John Guidroz
Concerns from residents and parish officials led the Calcasieu Police Jury Thursday to unanimously reject a request to rezone the old Pine Shadows Golf Course property. FEMA officials said the location met the needs to develop a 211-space temporary mobile home park and house residents displaced by Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
Black Lake Land and Oil Co. LLC requested to rezone the property at 750 Goodman Road from single-family residential to mobile home park. The Police Jury overturned a 6-3 vote Tuesday by the parish Planning and Zoning board to grant the request with stipulations.
Gerard Stolar, FEMA Region 6, official, said rezoning the land would help fill a regional need for housing after the hurricanes. The property was considered for a “group site,” something FEMA considers an option of last resort over placing temporary homes on private property or commercial sites.
“It would give enough of a cushion to meet the temporary housing mission in Calcasieu Parish,” he said.
District 7 Police Juror Chris Landry mentioned past efforts to rezone the Goodman Road property that faced major public opposition. A 2016 request to put a 680-space mobile home park there was rejected by the planning board and Police Jury.
“People who live out there don’t want that,” Landry said.
District 6 Police Juror Ron Hayes said having that many mobile homes on Goodman Road would cause major traffic issues.
“It’s going to be chaos, in my opinion,” he said.
Lonnie Thomas, who lives on nearby Opelousas Street, said bringing in more than 200 mobile homes will put undue stress on Goodman Road.
“This is not a good situation,” he said. “We don’t need this back there.”
Linda Holmes lives across from the land where the mobile homes would be placed.
“We need something permanent there, not temporary,” she said.
Engineer retires
The Police Jury recognized Tim Conner, who is retiring after nearly 29 years of service with the parish and a decade as its engineer.
Parish Administrator Bryan Beam said Conner was instrumental in overseeing projects after voters in unincorporated areas first approved a 1.5-cent sales tax for road construction and garbage collection in July 1992. Voters have continued to renew the tax.
Beam said Conner has held the title of parish engineer “with distinction” and described him as a “quiet leader.” He said Conner helped get the majority of the parish’s roads paved over the years.
“That person literally and figuratively puts their stamp on every road and bridge project,” he said. “You will not find a better parish road system than Calcasieu, bar none.”
Beam credited Conner’s vision with the parish purchasing more rights-of-way for connector roads that may need expansion in later years.
Refurbishing the historic Lorrain Bridge was Conner’s favorite project during his career. He said he developed great friendships while working for the parish.
Landry said Conner was “very even-tempered” and a “class act” as engineer.
“I don’t think I’ve seen him upset,” he said. “You set the bar very high. He thought out of the box and came up with ways to do things that have never before been done.”
New parish division
With Conner’s retirement, Beam said Calcasieu Parish’s engineering and public works departments will be moved into one division.
Allen Wainwright, current public works director, will oversee the division. John Bruce will be the new parish engineer. Theresa Champeaux will serve as the assistant director of the division in the general office. Terry Frelot will become the assistant director of public works.
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