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Planner recommends C1, not C3, for small commercial lot near Ellerby and East Warner Lucas Road
Summary
City planning staff and the MPC favored neighborhood-scale commercial C1 zoning for a roughly 0.8-acre parcel that is part of a larger, 16-acre development approved by the parish. Staff cited compatibility and traffic concerns as reasons to deny a broader C3 request.
Planning staff told the council that an applicant had requested a C3 (general commercial) zoning category for a parcel off Ellerby and East Warner Lucas Road but that the Municipal Planning Commission recommended C1 (neighborhood commercial) instead.
Staff said the applicant owns about 16 acres—mostly outside city limits—that had seen a mix of rural estate, rural agriculture and single-family residential zoning. The portion before the city is roughly 0.8 acres. MPC and staff opposed C3 because it allows higher-intensity uses such as gas stations and drive-throughs "that are high traffic generating uses and in an area where traffic is of obvious concern we thought that C3, which would allow those by right, was not appropriate." MPC recommended C1 to preserve a gentle transition from lower-intensity residential zoning to higher-intensity commercial at the corner where a CVS is already zoned C2.
Staff told the council the 0.8-acre tract is unlikely to support its own major development; it may serve as access to the larger, largely parish-approved development. Councilman Butcher asked a clarifying question about the location, saying, “This is basically the old Flournoy Lucas Road bed. Correct?” Planning staff confirmed and noted that the applicant indicated they expect office-type uses such as CPA or law offices.
No final council vote on the city portion of this project was recorded at the meeting; staff indicated the majority of the development had been approved by the Parish Commission and that the city portion had been recommended for C1 by MPC. The item is expected to return with ordinance language that would reclassify the city parcel from C1 to C1 conditional zoning district if the applicant proceeds.
