WEST BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – It’s been 10 years since West Baton Rouge updated its master plan for the parish. The original master plan was made in 2011, but the parish has seen economic changes since then. Now, local leaders are turning to the community for new ideas and ways to economically improve.
This week, West Baton Rouge officials held a community meeting to discuss their vision for the future.
Officials like Urban Regional Planner, Steven Villavaso mentioned that the population has changed as have transportation needs and popular perceptions regarding where the average WBR resident wants to live and what their daily life should look like. In addition to this, are new development patterns that must be considered.
During the meeting, residents were able to select which places they felt needed the most development and infrastructure. They did this by placing colored stickers on a map.
The master plan is important to residents who own their own property, because re-zoning regulations are involved.
West Baton Rouge Parish President Riley Berthelot said the meeting was vital for the community to attend.
“Seems like nobody wants to get involved until they are ready to get a piece of property rezoned and they find out, ‘Well, you have to make a master plan change,’ which takes a super majority or two thirds of the council to do that. Now is the time to voice your opinion on what you think your property should be zoned,” said Berthelot.
Transportation was a focus for many, as residents said they’ve struggled to get across I-10 from the new widening project. City leaders said it’s a common struggle, and they’re hoping it can be fixed in the upcoming years.
Within the coming weeks, council members will continue to host public meetings to get the community’s vote on things that need to be changed. They also said the votes will be finalized within the next six months.
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