Sign the Petition

Petition in Opposition to the New Central St Tammany Overlay Districts

We, the undersigned citizens of St. Tammany parish, who reside in the areas affected by the proposed rezoning as laid out in the draft St Tammany Parish Central Overlay District ordinance, hereby wish to register our opposition to the proposed changes.

We are opposed to any and all zoning changes that are inconsistent with the current surrounding uses. Planning's assertion that a “relatively diverse mix of industrial, single family, and undeveloped wooded parcels” is inaccurate: While we do have single family homes and wooded parcels, there are few commercial businesses and little to no industrial development, or very little in current operation.

By removing the Rural and Manufactured home overlays from the proposed town center area, planning is creating a time bomb for those enjoying activities beyond the scope of what is approved in the underlying L-1 Large Lot zoning. It brings farms, farm stands, nurseries, and greenhouses into a category of needing zoning approval once the Rural Overlay is removed. Meaning, if you stop being a nursery and want to restart, you no longer can do so at will.

Removal of the manufactured home overlay creates a problem for anyone that loses their manufactured home to fire, flood, or disaster and needs to rebuild: They will not be allowed to replace their lost mobile home with a similar unit.

We are opposed to the inclusion of apartment buildings with up to 1,500 residents. We are opposed to ANY zoning that permits up to 12 homes per acre in subdivisions.

These population densities are not appropriate for this area where we have insufficient and narrow roadways that will be unsuitable to handle the increase in traffic and no public utilities to support this sort of growth.

We are opposed to garden home and other high density developments.

We are opposed to the “ghost zoning” that the particular verbiage creates in the ordinance. We understand the land is not being forcibly rezoned today, but the new zoning grants developers the unilateral right to “switch” to the higher density zoning rules without a vote by the Parish Council.

We are opposed to the “30 Acre” corporate loophole which creates a 2 tier zoning system, which punishes small holders while rewarding large land owners.

We oppose the infrastructure “trojan horse” that is written into the proposed zoning. Once water and sewage treatment plants are built to accommodate the densely populated town center areas, in all likelihood surrounding residents will be forced to connect to these utilizes; restricting the use of septic tanks and private wells.

In summation, we, the undersigned believe that the lifestyle and local cultural implications of the proposed plans as written would be catastrophic to the way of life currently enjoyed by local residents. As such, we ask you to please vote NO on the Central St. Tammany Overlay Districts and presented by Planning and Zoning and to take into consideration the alternative zoning plan we have submitted along with this petition.