Parish Council seeks to head off RV park problem

The problem of small RV parks serving as permanent residences was a major issue of discussion at the Aug. 19 Public Works Committee meeting of the St. Martin Parish Council.
Planning and Zoning coordinator Heath Babineaux discussed these concerns brought about by rapid growth as well as lifestyle changes in Lafayette and surrounding towns. In many cases sewage and other infrastructure for short-term parks have not been designed to accommodate permanent residence.
Parish legal advisor Chester Ceders suggested researching solutions that have been used in Lafayette and other Louisiana to avoid “reinventing the wheel.” He cautioned against focusing on the size of parks for scrutiny and suggested that special zoning may be needed.
District 5 Councilman Clay Courville pointed out the difficulty of enforcement, saying that Lafayette Parish, with it’s much-higher tax base, has had little success. He pointed out also that the area appears to be in store for a large influx of temporary workers so time for effective action may be limited.
District 9 Councilman Dean Doré recommended they seek neighborhood input to the process, which may help avoid problems like the recent veto of attempted efforts in Lafayette.
Parish President Guy Cormier suggested that it might be possible to designate some number of spaces in short-term parks for longer – but not permanent – occupation.
The generally accepted breakdown tends to be a two-week stay for spaces designated for camping and a longer period, perhaps six months, allowed in a limited number of spaces.
The other major point of discussion for the Public Works portion of the meeting was the issue of borrow pits, where land is bought for the purpose of removing and selling dirt. This often renders the land all but useless and can, as Chairwoman and District 2 Councilwoman Lisa Nelson suggested, present safety hazards and impact surrounding land owners.
In some cases, Cormier said, an existing 25-foot margin from property lines is not enough to prevent eventual erosion into neighboring properties.
Councilman Meko Robin from District 8 brought up the point that a great deal of fill was going to be required for anticipated new development with greater elevation requirements. He suggested that planning for such pits could help solve the problem if they are put to use for required retention ponds or are included in development plans as ornamental or recreational ponds.
In the Administration/Finance portion of the meeting, parish CPA Charles “Chip” Maraist reviewed the 2013 annual audit for Parish Government. Maraist described another good year in what was described as a 10-year success story for the parish financially with no significant negative findings by the audit.
Cormier commended director of finance Shawn Hundley as well as legal advisor Ceders for a great deal of this success.
He also credited a 1999 annexation agreement that he and Ceders made with the City of Broussard under which the parish shares in gambling revenues produced on the annexed properties. The reserve fund this established has accumulated a significant sum allowing the parish much more flexibility in purchases and projects.
Financial conditions such as this have allowed improvements in the parish to proceed on schedule and President Cormier reported good progress in many projects including water, road, a boat ramp, dredging and environmental improvements.