Council approves smaller-zone compromise for 31-acre subdivision after drainage and traffic debate

The St. Tammany Parish Council on July 9 voted to overturn a twice-denied planning commission decision and approve a rezoning amendment for a 31.51-acre parcel along Ronald Reagan Highway and LA‑1077, changing the property from R‑1 rural residential to S‑1 suburban residential. The council recorded the motion as passing 11 yeas, 2 nays and 1 absent.

Developer representatives, led by attorney Paul Maroon, said the request would deliver roughly 91 home sites while preserving buffers and engineering controls. Maroon said the project would “meet and exceed your drainage regulations” and that buffers would be left out of the rezoning to remain in a natural state. The applicant also offered to dedicate roughly 30% of the small site to infrastructure (ponds, roadways and buffers) to address runoff.

Opponents — including nearby residents and members of North Shore River Watch — urged the council to uphold the planning commission’s denial. Residents cited repeated flooding in the area, congestion at the Ronald Reagan/LA‑1077 corridor and the cumulative effect of many approved-but-not‑built subdivisions nearby. In one exchange, a resident warned that adding hundreds of homes across adjacent developments would raise daily trip volumes and “exacerbate infrastructure stress.”

Engineering and planning staff told the council a zoning change itself does not permit construction; final civil plans, a traffic study reviewed jointly with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, and a hydrogeological report must be submitted and approved before any work. The parish’s Unified Development Code requires a 25% reduction in post‑development runoff for the 100‑year storm and separate mitigation for riverine floodplain impacts; engineers said the applicant had pledged retention sized for a 200‑year event in the affected area.

Council members split over risk vs. housing need. Supporters of the rezoning pointed to a parish housing study that found a shortage of attainable homes and said the subdivision would create lots for local builders. Detractors said the site sits in a sensitive drainage corridor and emphasized history of flooding and incomplete state road improvements.

After discussion, the council amended the applicant’s request to S‑1 (lower density than S‑2) — a compromise the applicant said it would accept — and introduced an ordinance to enact the zoning change. The next steps for the developer are the planning‑commission concept and final civil plan reviews, where engineers said they may require multiple revisions before issuing construction approvals.

The council paused briefly and then continued with the evening’s remaining business.