City-Parish Proposes $46 Million Stormwater Fee

Dear Members,

On September 29, several board members were given a preview of the Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study. Unfortunately, we did not get the complete study by Black & Veatch, but we did request the actual document. We have attached the City-Parish presentation to the Growth Coalition.

In the past legislative session, a bill was passed to allow

parishes and cities to impose a FEE, not a tax, to pay for stormwater maintenance, water quality compliance, and program administration.

Unlike a tax, the fee can be adopted by the Metro Council without a vote of the people. The program would generate approx.—$ 46 million. We have yet to see a copy of the proposed ordinance. The devil is always in the details.

We were advised the following:

The Mayor will have a press conference on the proposal on October 6. The item will be introduced on October 12, and a public hearing will be held on October 26.

The Growth Coalition has requested a copy of the draft ordinance. Page 9 of the attachment describes the billing calculation. We were advised that the fee would be on your assessor’s tax bill for each parcel.

The billing unit (BU) is based on 500 square feet of Impervious Area. It will be your house footprint, driveways, and swimming pools for residential. It would be the footprint and all of the parking areas for commercial. Undeveloped property (no house or parking on the parcel) pays a maximum amount as described in the presentation.

The City-Parish has contracted with a company that uses GIS data to make that calculation. We were advised that the GIS website would be available soon to access the fee calculations on your tract of land. This fee would be imposed on the entire city and all unincorporated areas. It would exclude Zachary and Central.

At the present time, the City-Parish is spending $9.7 from the general fund for stormwater maintenance. We were advised that the City-Parish plans to spend approximately $56 million in federal money (ARP) over the next two years. 

The City-Parish advised that it is under the gun from the state and the federal government over water quality issues. A portion of this money ($4.9 million) is for water quality compliance.

As we get more information, we will keep you updated. The full board will discuss this issue at our member on October 12.

BATON ROUGE STORMWATER UTILITY FEASIBILITY STUDY


SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES ARE BEING PROPOSED TO THE UNIFORM LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE

Dear Members,

If you have interest in Ascension Parish, please be aware of substantial changes being proposed to Uniform Land Development Code. Attached are revisions to drainage, traffic, and other related items. These changes will be on the Planning Commission agenda for this Wednesday. We would hope that the Commission would delay action on these items in order for the public to provide input and comments. If you are inclined to do so, please contact the Planning Commission and express your desire to delay any formal action on these changes. Jerome Fournier is the planning director and can be contacted at 225 450-1002.

Item 12.B.7 Item 12.B.1 Item 12.A.5 Item 12.B.2 Item 12.A.2

Item 12.B.6 Item 12.B.3 Item 12.A.1 Item 12.A.3 Item 12.B.4

Sincerely,

Larry Bankston

Multi-Modal Access Attention: Developers, Food Operations, Drugstores, and anyone operating a Drive-Thru operation.

Dear Members,

The Metro Council is considering an ordinance that would require all businesses that operate a drive-through facility to serve all customers, such as pedestrians, bicyclists, and wheelchairs. Attached is the ordinance considered on November 23, 2021, but was deferred for further consideration in January. If this proposal would adversely affect your business, please reach out to our office with your concerns. You may email us at office@growthcoalition.com

MULTI-MODAL ACCESS

Sincerely,

Larry Bankston

A Letter From Our Executive Director

Dear Members and Friends,

Another challenging year this has been! The Growth Coalition helped achieve several vital issues in the development community, despite the COVID-19 global pandemic. The credit for this goes to our dedicated Board of Directors and our Membership!

The Growth Coalition strives to give our members a voice, along with valuable information on the constant change and growth in the Capital Region. Thank you for all your input this year!

We look forward to seeing you in 2022! Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.


Sincerely,

Larry Bankston

Planning Commission Application Deadline Extended

Dear Members,

We hope you and your loved ones got through Hurricane Ida with minimal damage and are all safe and well.

Please see below a message from Ryan Holcomb, AICP, Planning Director - City-Parish Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission Application deadline has been extended until Thursday, September 9th at 10:00 am.

Due to conditions resulting from Hurricane Ida, all City-Parish buildings will remain closed to the public thru Monday, September 6th.

City-Parish Offices will reopen to the public on Tuesday, September 7th.


Sincerely,

Larry Bankston

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Important Update For The Development Community

Dear Members,

There is important information in the DOTD newsletter linked at the bottom of the page. I want to point out special attention to *There is now a Parish and Zip Code Level Premium Change Analysis on FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 website https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/work-with-nfip/risk-rating/profiles.

As a reminder, existing flood insurance policyholders may start to see rate increases beginning April 1, 2022. New policies at the new rates will start October 1, 2021. This all assumes nothing changes over the next few months.

Please share this information with whomever you think may benefit from it.

DOTD Newsletter