The Livingston Parish Council has been under fire in recent months following allegations the body did not follow parish and state law when enacting its zoning maps.
Although Ascension Properties, the developer of the expansive Deer Run subdivision proposal, has led the charge against the council over land use, local residents have also entered the fray for a different reason: to demand their elected officials do more to protect them against the influx of new construction they fear will overwhelm local infrastructure.
Feduccia, the property owner, says in his legal complaint that he submitted two site plans to the parish planning and development department in May 2022, seeking to subdivide two large existing lots into seven smaller lots for each tract, totaling 14 new lots.
Those plats, he alleges, “met all the requirements of Livingston Parish that were in effect at the time of its submission.” A plat is a plan or map of land for a proposed construction, often a subdivision.
The lawsuit claims the parish’s planning and development department failed to file any objections to the plats in the 10-day window allotted for minor re-subdivision.
After 10 business days “the Planning Director should have signed both plats,” in keeping with parish ordinances, according to the lawsuit. However, the planning director instead placed the approval of the two plats on the planning commission’s agenda.
When the planning commission ultimately approved both plats at its July meeting, the complaint says, Feduccia was not notified of the body’s actions within the standard 60 days. After that meeting, the planning director sought the opinion of legal counsel regarding the approval of the plats, leading him to again place them on the next month’s planning commission meeting agenda.
Without taking any action in its August meeting, the planning commission let the previous approvals for Feduccia’s plats stand. The same day, Feduccia made a formal demand that the plats be approved and signed by the planning commission.
However, after Feduccia made his request, the plats were placed on the Livingston Parish Council’s agenda.
“Despite having no authority, the Livingston Parish Council determined that Feduccia’s application for both plats ‘should have never been accepted in the first place and should never have been approved by the Planning Commission,’” the lawsuit says.
At that meeting, residents opposed the subdivision plan, claiming Chandler Bluff Road — where the property is located — is too narrow to accommodate more vehicles from more homes. One resident said she feared an increase would hamper emergency responders’ vehicles during a crisis.
Councilman Garry “Frog” Talbert said in comments during that meeting he felt the plats violated a parish ordinance.
He referenced guidance from Christopher Moody, the parish attorney, who had written a letter to the parish council questioning if certain laws would or would not apply to Feduccia’s project submission. However, he was cautious in his advice.
“I worry if the Council does not approve a project already approved by the Commission, a suit could successfully challenge that action,” Moody wrote.
Feduccia is asking for a writ of mandamus — for a judge to order the parish council and planning and development department to sign and record the plats immediately, or appear in open court to show why they should not be ordered to do so.
Feduccia argued the council “has acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in its action against his minor subdivision plans.
Moody, the parish attorney representing the council and planning department, did not respond to a request Friday for comment. However, in a court filing on May 22 Moody argued that “the approval of a subdivision plat by law involves elements of discretion” and that Feduccia “failed to state a viable cause of action for mandamus.”
The parties are to appear in court on July 31 to argue their respective sides.
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