Lake Charles City Hall

The Lake Charles City Council has deferred a decision to rezone a lot for an established business.

Phil Vincent, owner of Lake Area Service and Supply, submitted an application to the Lake Charles Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone his lot at 2400 Opelousas St. and 330 North Lincoln St. from neighborhood to business.

Lake Area Service and Supply is a pump repair business. Director of Planning and Development Doug Burguieres said the business was approved to operate in a neighborhood by planning and zoning through a major conditional use permit about a decade ago.

There would be no change in business operations if the lot is rezoned, Vincent said.

He applied to rezone the lot to business to match the business’s operations and to make it easier to work with the bank for refinancing or legal matters.

“If you want to go get collateral against your business, the bank likes it a whole lot better if the business is zoned business or commercial instead of an exemption,” he said.

Resident Jennier Thomas said she was worried about how the zoning change would affect residents in the future, and raised concerns about potential unauthorized operations and additions.

“If that is a resident area, I would like it to continue to stay a resident area.”

Burguieres said Vincent is operating legally and that any expanded operations were approved with a major conditional use permit.

Council Member Ronnie Harvey, District A, moved to defer the vote for 30 days to gather more information on the rezone and communicate with community members.

“We need clarity. Even I, as a councilman, need clarity on this particular issue … even when it came to my place of residence, I read it, it seemed like they were functioning and asking for permission to function as they’ve already been previously been functioning,” he explained. “Maybe I misinterpreted it. I want to educate myself on it before I make a decision for the district.”

The council also unanimously approved the annexation of about one acre of land on Big Lake Road. This lot is zoned for residential use and is located in District G.