Another delay for proposed mental health center in Clinton, this time from a judge

A proposed mental health facility in East Feliciana Parish is now tied up in court after a judge declined to fast-track a construction permit Tuesday.

Harmony Behavioral Health Services is seeking to renovate the former Grace Nursing Home on Grace Lane in Clinton, but has run into a buzz saw of opposition.

Harmony Behavioral Health, which is contracted by the Louisiana Department of Health to house involuntarily civilly convicted mental health patients, had filed a lawsuit against the East Feliciana Parish Police Jury asking the state district court to order the police jury to issue a construction permit immediately. The police jury filed an exception, arguing the original construction permit application was invalid and therefore could not be issued.

Judge Sidney Picou Walker granted the exception, pushing the case into normal court proceedings. Harmony Behavioral Health now has 15 days to amend its plea.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the permit supervisor for the parish testified there were several deficiencies on Harmony Behavioral Health’s application, including that the scope of work was not noted on building plans.

Parish Building Official Jeff Williams said he spoke with Collis Temple Jr., a principal at Harmony Health, and found renovations included electrical and plumbing work, both areas not noted on the application. Further, Temple had already started construction without a permit.

“You didn’t read the East Feliciana ordinances before you came up here and started working,” said District Attorney Sam D’Aquila.

Temple said he didn’t think he needed a permit because the property is outside of the town of Clinton, and did not list the full scope of work because he felt the electrical work was minor.

Fire ordinances for the small courtroom limited spectators to only 10 people, but about 30-40 residents waited outside the courthouse at any one time during the two-hour hearing Tuesday. Many in East Feliciana are opposed to the facility, claiming it would put them in danger and destroy their property values. The 118-bed facility would house what the Louisiana Department of Health has called “patients with severe mental illness who have aggressive/difficult behavioral issues.”

Harmony Health has entered an agreement with the state to provide at least 50 beds starting June 1, a timeline that residents say is too fast and that Harmony Health points to as the reason it needs an expedited construction permit.

No matter what happens at the next court hearing, Harmony Health could have another hurdle to jump through: zoning. D’Aquila argued one reason the construction permit was not issued was because the needed work–adding sprinklers, replacing outlets—falls under an industrial permit. The property is currently zoned as agricultural / residential.

“We’re not gonna go there today,” said Judge Walker. “This court is not touching zoning.”

If a construction permit is granted, Harmony Behavioral Services would have to submit new maps to the East Feliciana Parish Planning and Zoning department and hope those are approved in order to meet the June 1 deadline.