Residents cite flooding and wetlands as St. Tammany commission approves Mandeville resubdivision

The St. Tammany Parish Planning and Zoning Commission approved a resubdivision of several lots in the Mandeville 5-Acre Farms area after a public hearing in which neighbors raised repeated concerns about flooding, wetlands and access servitudes.

At the hearing, property owner Carla Smith said she and co-owner Brian Peraloux were dividing the land to permit a sale and future single-family construction; buyer Dr. Daniel Holmes told commissioners he planned to consolidate lots into one roughly seven‑acre parcel and build a single home, saying, "We don't plan on clearing anything. Maybe a tree or two." The applicants asked the commission to allow the resubdivision to proceed so the purchase could close.

The matter drew opposition from nearby residents. Chris Jordan, who lives on Duval at 272 Highland Drive, said lots 14A and 14B had been rezoned years ago and warned that subdividing the higher, buildable land while leaving lower wet ground would "diminish[] the value of that property as a whole" and increase traffic and drainage problems. Jordan and other neighbors cited wetland delineations and a history of drainage investments in the area, arguing that approving the resubdivision could concentrate development on the best ground while leaving unbuildable parcels behind.

Commissioners and staff probed technical issues raised at the hearing. Staff said the property is shown in the preliminary flood zone AE and that a Base Flood Elevation (BFE) was not listed in the packet; a staff member said they could pull the BFE and confirmed mitigation requirements for properties in AE. Staff also identified a discrepancy in the recorded servitude of passage instrument number on the applicant's survey; staff and a commissioner said the survey must be corrected so the proposed lot would have legal access and to avoid creating a landlocked parcel.

Commissioner Robert moved to approve the resubdivision with the condition that staff comments and corrections to the servitude documentation be addressed; the motion carried. The commission's action included direction that the petitioner resolve the servitude instrument number and satisfy staff comments on access and flood‑zone mitigation before final recording.

The decision follows extensive public comment: neighbors urged the commission to consider current flooding and wetlands status rather than potential future changes by federal agencies, and applicants said their plan would add only one house rather than multiple new home sites. The commission discussed mitigation rules that require compensatory cut‑and‑fill for properties in preliminary AE zones and noted that if a home cannot meet mitigation by raising the site, it must be elevated on piers.

Next steps: staff will work with the petitioner to correct the servitude instrument on the survey, confirm the applicable BFE or flood information in the file, and ensure any required mitigation or building‑on‑piers approach is clearly documented before final approval and recording.