Residents who live adjacent to the planned Evangeline Acres subdivision convinced the council to block the development.
[Editor's Note: The CPC Tuesday voted 4-2 in favor of residents living near the proposed development.]
The Lafayette City-Parish Council Tuesday evening will hear an appeal from a north Lafayette Parish property owner of a Planning, Zoning & Codes vote to award preliminary plat approval to Andries & Associates for construction of an 18-lot residential development on six and a half acres in an unincorporated part of the parish. Because the area is not within a city's corporate boundaries it is not zoned. The subdivision, if cleared by council and if the developers meet subsequent requirements of the parish, will be called Evangeline Acres.
PZC granted the plat approval at its Feb. 22 meeting. The panel in December rejected an earlier proposal by Andries and Associates, citing objections by the state Department of Health and Hospitals over plans to have individual sewer and water systems for the subdivision. The developers agreed to connect the subdivision to the North Water District.
The appellant, Thomas Stith, lives on a street adjacent to the proposed development and argues in his appeal that the subdivision will lead to crime:
Developer is planning on doing minimal improvements to the property (private gravel road, individual septic systems for each house, and no mention of street lights in plans) next door to an already existing blighted / high crime area. Satinwood residents are concerned this is likely to attract more of the criminal element into the area and greatly effect [sic] safety and quality of life for the existing residents.
The council will also vote on a zoning change recommended by PZC that would reduce the minimum time interval between images displayed on on-site digital signs from eight seconds to three seconds.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the council auditorium.