Rezoning plans for 118.7 acres of undeveloped pasture in the heart of Baton Rouge may drastically impact the quality of life, traffic and drainage in the area.
The City Parish Planning Commission is rescheduled to meet Nov. 13 at the Governmental Building downtown to vote on the rezoning of the Ford Property – vacant land surrounded by single-family residencies and Glasgow Middle School. The property is located on the south side of Perkins Road, east of Lee Drive between Glasgow Avenue and Moss Side Lane. The case was scheduled for Monday.
Many residents in the surrounding neighborhoods such as Pollard Estates and Southdowns are in an uproar over the proposal and are ready to have their voices heard.
J.T. Spinosa, the applicant and Gulf Coast region developer and real estate professional, deferred the case hearing Monday morning because of problems with adjoining neighborhood residents. Gill Morin, coordinator for the CPPC resource center, said Spinosa plans to resolve these issues prior to the CPPC vote in November.
The proposal calls for a Traditional Neighborhood Development consisting of single-family residential, medium-density residential, restaurant, office, retail and civic uses. According to the TND General Implementation Plan, there are plans for 400 single-family esidential lots on 42.4 percent of the site and 400 medium-density residential lots on 25.6 percent of the site. These medium-density, multi-story housing units would include apartment complexes, condominiums and townhomes. In addition, 100,000 square feet of land would serve commercial and office use on 11.5 percent of the site and 28,500 square feet – 0.5 percent – would be for public uses. Twenty percent of the total site area would remain open space.
Morin said the plan includes building a public library, grocery store and ice cream shop. He said the idea is to have a large central grocery store within walking distance from the residents to alleviate internal traffic issues on the site.
If the plan receives a favorable recommendation from the CPPC, the vote will then be forwarded to the Metropolitan Council Zoning meeting scheduled for Nov. 20.
Spinosa submitted the proposal Sept. 13 with conceptual traffic and drainage impact studies that will be outlined at the meeting.
Some residents and University students who grew up in the surrounding neighborhoods are against the idea for several reasons with traffic at the forefront.
Natalie Miller, finance senior, lived in Pollard Estates for 12 years. She said the area is already too congested for commercial businesses, restaurants and a library.
“They have been talking about doing this for years,” she said. “I think just building a neighborhood would be great, but it is already such a highly trafficked area that traffic will get worse.”
Renee Nebel, president of the Pollard Estates Civic Association, said a huge issue with the recommendation is land density.
“The area is way too dense,” she said. “There are too many houses under the plan, and the infrastructure can’t handle it. We have issues now that the city can’t address.”
George Caballero is on the association’s board of directors and said he is against the idea for safety reasons.
“We don’t have enough policemen in the city as it is,” he said. “There is a lack of police and fire department protection. The adjacent neighborhoods will not be the only ones affected. The city will be responsible through their tax dollars.” Caballero said residents have been trying to find out development plans for the land for more than two years and received less than three weeks notice about the scheduled hearing that was supposed to take place yesterday for the public to voice its opinions.
Courtney Tuminello, biology junior, grew up spending a lot of time in the Southdowns area. She said she thinks the commercial plans are a “horrible” idea for the residential area.
“There is a Wal-Mart and Albertsons right down the street,” she said. “I don’t think they need to build another grocery store in the vicinity. Schools in the surrounding area such as St. Aloysius and Glasgow already contribute to the high traffic on Perkins.”
——Contact Natalie Messina at [email protected]