The LSU Board of Supervisors issued a signed petition Wednesday supporting the annexation of unincorporated land southwest of campus into Baton Rouge proper.
The land now resides within borders of the proposed city of St. George and contains Innovation Park and the LSU AgCenter’s Ben Hur Farm, both part of the flagship campus.
If St. George incorporates, the University could operate in two cities under separate city zoning, building codes and other ordinances if the land is not annexed.
“We prefer to remain part of this city, where we have been since 1869,” said LSU President F. King Alexander in a statement issued Wednesday. “We find no justification to merit having our land divided between two jurisdictions and have concerns that such division could adversely impact services critical to our students.”
The land in question straddles Baton Rouge’s corporate limits. The Ben Hur Farm takes up 114.96 acres of land in East Baton Rouge Parish. Innovation Park is a research complex located about five miles from the flagship campus.
The petition acknowledged its assent to the enlargement of the boundaries of Baton Rouge, and was filed with and presented to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council.
The petition also stated the board wants University land that would be incorporated to be under the same ordinances and regulations as University-owned land already within city limits.
Mayor-President Kip Holden intervened on the petition to acknowledge that, if the annexation were approved by the Metro Council, the University land annexed would receive the same treatment as the existing incorporated land.
Should St. George become a city, it would take up the southern portion of East Baton Rouge Parish, a tract of land about eight square miles larger than the City of Baton Rouge’s.