Planning commission backs Livingston Parish ordinance to regulate power plants

The Livingston Parish Planning Commission voted 8-1 on Sept. 3, 2026 to recommend adoption of an ordinance that would add a power-plant section to the Unified Land Development Code, limiting such facilities to I-2 (heavy industrial) zoning and requiring special-use permits. Chair opened the public hearing and the commission heard a presentation from Erin Sandifer, who described the text as “foundational” and intended to give the parish regulatory tools before specific projects arrive.

Erin Sandifer, representing Parish Council District 5, told the commission: "I'm proposing an ordinance that would establish regulations for power plants and electric generating facilities in Livingston Parish." She said the ordinance sets standards for setbacks, vegetative buffers, noise, drainage, road protection, public notification, abandonment and decommissioning and clarified: "We are not attempting to regulate electricity, utility rates, or anything that falls under the regulatory authority of the Louisiana Public Service Commission." The ordinance is intended to regulate land use and local impacts, not utility regulation.

Commission debate focused on technical and implementation details. Commissioners asked whether the ordinance should set a megawatt threshold and were told a strict MW cutoff risks intruding on the Public Service Commission's jurisdiction; staff also noted the parish has been under a solar moratorium for roughly 2.5 years and needs baseline land-use rules now. Staff emphasized permit fees and administrative staffing will be necessary to implement inspection and compliance functions, and that decommissioning obligations are meant to prevent abandoned sites.

The commission made a motion to recommend approval (motion by a commissioner, seconded) and the vote was recorded as eight in favor and one opposed; the recommendation will be forwarded to the parish council for the second advertised public hearing and final action.