The Center for Planning Excellence offers funding to communities throughout Louisiana to improve conditions for current and future residents using a program called Smart Growth Seed Funding. The deadline for applications for this year’s program has been extended to May 14.Phillip LaFargue, CPEX director of communications, said the program works with neighborhoods and entire parishes to improve conditions.The money comes primarily from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, but CPEX works to find other sources of funding as well.CPEX chooses from a pool of applicants based on capacity and the amount of funding a community needs, LaFargue said. Once a community is chosen, CPEX managers work with parish presidents and city mayors to determine the specific needs of the community.The public chooses which option best suits the community needs, and a consultant forms a plan.”The point of planning is not to over-regulate or impose on communities but to empower those communities,” LaFargue said.Lafargue said CPEX has worked with Tangipahoa Parish in the past and is currently working with St. Charles Parish and Ascension Parish.Haley Blakeman, project manager for St. Charles Parish, said the parish experienced rapid growth in the 1980s, but expansion has greatly decreased since then. The parish plans to use funding to improve the community while helping the people who already live there, she said.Project manager for Ascension Parish, Tara Titone, said the parish has experienced a completely different problem.Population in Ascension Parish is expected to double during the next 20 years, she said. The parish needs a more complex sewage system, a bigger transportation system and more sidewalks to accommodate the growing population. “They’re planning for how they’re going to accept the population over time in a sustainable way,” she said.Approximately 95 percent of planning for Ascension Parish is complete, Titone said. The parish recently had its first public hearing to discuss the details of land-use with parish residents and plans to have more in the next month.The Smart Growth Seed Funding program began in 2005 with the assistance of Sen. Mary Landrieu, said Camille Manning-Boone, director of planning.Most communities did not have comprehensive plans when Hurricane Katrina hit, and CPEX is looking to help communities be more prepared, she said.—–Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]