Citing flooding concerns, Ascension Parish Planning Commission rejects proposed subdivision in Galvez – The Advocate

GONZALES Not more than an hour after being sworn into office, newly appointed Ascension Parish Planning Commissioners Wade Schexnaydre and Ken Firmin on Wednesday rejecteda 32-home subdivision in a part of Galvez that flooded heavily in August.

The new commissioners, appointed last month by the Parish Council, were confronted in their first meeting with the hard choices their predecessors have struggled with: approve a subdivision that meets all the parish design, drainage and traffic requirements or deny such projects that neighbors say will worsen flooding and traffic.

GONZALES The Ascension Parish Planning Commission rejected subdivision plans three times i

Firmin and Schexnaydre, who replaced two first-term commissioners who also rejected such projects, formed the majority in a 2-1 vote afterhearing from residents who would live near the Hudson Cove subdivision proposed along the south side of La. 42 just west of Joe Sevario Road.

Commissioner Morrie Bishop voted against denial while Commissioner Tony Christy, serving as interim chairman, did not vote. The chairman does not vote unless to break a tie, not to create one. Commissioners Matthew Pryor, Aaron Chaisson and Julio Dumas were absent.

With the denial, the developer has the option to appeal to the Parish Council under a change enacted last month.

GONZALES A controversial three-person panel appointed by the parish president that has ser

Before the vote, residents described the level of water the August flood brought to nearby La. 42 and to the land surrounding their raised homes and worried the new project would push water on them and they would flood in the future. They also aired traffic concerns for already congested La. 42, though a traffic study found no impact.

Duane Simpson, 47, said his family has owned property in the area since the 1800s, and in the old days, people could count on the oldest homes not flooding because the early settlers would not build in low areas. But growth has changed so much that it's hard to know what areas won't flood now.

"The reason why people are flooding, we keep doing the same things again and again expecting different results, and sadly, people keep flooding, and it's unfortunate," said Simpson, who said his grandfather's house got 2 feet of water.

Proposed by developer Home South Communities, Hudson Cove would be built on land 95 percent of which is in the area defined by the National Flood Insurance Program as being at the highest risk for flooding.

But the developer had proposed turning two acres, fully one-sixth of the entire site, into a large detention pond that would account for rainfall and flooding from a 100-year inundation. The term 100-year flood describes a flood probability of a 1 percent chance happening in any given year.

Under parish policy, the dirt dug from the pond would also provide the earth to lift home sites above the elevation of the 100-year flood so the homes are no longer deemed at high risk of flooding.

Deric Murphy, the developer's engineering representative, said the parish traffic study and drainage ordinances are designed to ensure developments won't cause added impact on traffic and drainage.

"We have a plan that meets the parish code. We sympathize with everything. This project is not going to make it worse," said Murphy, who noted that most of the buildings for his business in nearby Port Vincent flooded in August.

Once everyone had their say, Schexnaydre was told by the commission attorney that deferral would amount to approval because of legal deadlines. Schexnaydrethen said he understood what the parish drainage ordinance is trying to accomplish but could not support the project at an elevation people knew had flooded.

"It still concerns me now that we're putting another 30-something houses that would still be in even further danger to flooding," he said.

Then after a long pause, in which he looked down and collected his thoughts, Schexnaydre blurted out, "Mr. Christy, I'm going to make a motion to deny."

Firmin backed him. The men later formally cited flooding concerns and the low elevation of the property as the reason for the denial, as they were required to do by law.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

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Citing flooding concerns, Ascension Parish Planning Commission rejects proposed subdivision in Galvez - The Advocate