After 2 years of debate, study, West Feliciana council agrees to new land development rules

His wife, Lauren Field, said it appears that only a select part of the community was able to participate in the code’s development, but the regulations will put the parish in a “competitive and compromising position.”

Havard later addressed the Fields’ concerns by saying he had urged council members to meet with him and invite any constituents they wished and said he held meetings with the owners of large land holdings in the parish.

He also said the parish can deal with unintended consequences of the ordinance as they arise through code amendments.

School Board member Sarah Wilson Rogers said the code is at odds with a School Board study from 2019 that predicted the parish would need a new elementary school because of a projected influx of new residents.

Severely limiting development may soon result in the parish having schools “with no children in them,” Wilson Rogers warned.

John Cobb, who headed the parish government while it was under the police jury system, said the parish must have some growth.

“How can you close the door to West Feliciana?” he asked.

Lula London, who developed a subdivision in the Independence area, said the code is not in the best interest of first-time homebuyers and low-income residents because it will drive up housing costs.

Arlene Didier said the code is a good effort, although it may have some missing pieces.

But something must be done to close off the parish to development to some extent to prevent it from becoming “Zachary, Baton Rouge and other undesirable places,” Didier said.

The code will require developers to build subdivisions with at least two-acre lots and leave 50% of the property undeveloped as green space.

The new rules would allow a landowner with five or more acres to include up to four extra residences on the property for family members as long as the plots were at least one acre each.

The parish is also considering another addition to the code which would allow similar family subdivisions with lots of two to four acres, but such a division would require a waiver.