The Lafayette Economic Development Authority is hoping to partner with the Lafayette Parish School Board to develop school system land in the Youngsville area.
LEDA President Gregg Gothreaux, Youngsville Mayor Wilson Viator and several members of the LEDA board attended the School Board’s regular meeting yesterday to suggest the school system, LEDA and the city sign a preliminary agreement to work together.
Based on a study done in recent years by UL-Lafayette, Gothreaux laid out a proposal to make use of 640 acres of Lafayette’s Section 16 land near Youngsville lying along the route of the planned Chemin Metarie Parkway extension. Such tracts of land are set aside by the federal government in every county and parish in the nation for the use of school systems, with use or sale controlled by specific guidelines.
Gothreaux said LEDA envisions using land owned by the school system to develop a mixed use of community of homes, retail and commercial businesses and some light industry. Central to the proposal would be the building of a business park, with some of the land being used to build new schools.