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Covington council approves sale of small Joyner Street parcel to return unusable strip to commerce
Summary
The Covington City Council voted April 1 to authorize the mayor to sell a narrow unused portion of Joyner Street, a remnant left after a decades-old road-widening project, returning the parcel to private use and enabling commercial development, council members said.
The Covington City Council on April 1 adopted an ordinance (item 2025-04-01) authorizing the mayor to sell a narrow portion of Joyner Street in Covington, St. Tammany Parish, the council said during a public hearing and vote.
City Attorney Rod Rotary told the council the strip was taken out of commerce when the state expropriated a large portion of the square for the widening of Collins Boulevard about 50 years ago and that the remaining strip does not meet current setback, parking and landscaping zoning requirements.
"That's a correct reflection of what happened," Rotary said, explaining that the state expropriated land for Collins Boulevard and left a small, unusable piece of property. Rotary said the petitioner who requested the sale owns adjoining property and has an agreement with a neighbor to combine the revoked right of way with adjacent parcels so the land can be used for a commercial building.
Council members voted by roll call to adopt the ordinance. The record shows affirmative votes from Councilmen Bushnell, Roberts, Inman, Burrell, Botsford, Burrett, Lewis and Bushnell (as recorded in the meeting roll call).
Council discussion noted the strip is too shallow for development under current zoning and that similar revocations have been done elsewhere in the city, including an area near the Circle K, where a bisected right of way previously was revoked and returned to private use. One council member said public works staff reported no sewer or utilities run through the strip and the city had no ongoing need for it.
The ordinance will allow the petitioner to incorporate the revoked portion of Joyner Street into contiguous parcels and pursue construction of a commercial building, Rotary said. The sale is intended to put an otherwise unusable piece of property "back in commerce."
