Ordinance committee pauses plan to reinstate R-1.5 zoning; members ask for health, subdivision and legal review

Councilman Billy Taylor presented a proposal on April 15 to add an R-1.5 zoning classification to the Livingston Parish Code of Ordinances to allow half-acre lots and to explicitly permit manufactured and modular homes in that zone.

Taylor said the change would fill an apparent gap between existing R-1 (three-acre minimum, per the committee discussion) and R-2 standards. He described the proposal as restoring a half-acre option so property owners could place a single manufactured home on a half-acre lot rather than having only larger-lot options available.

Planning and zoning commissioners and residents raised concerns about unintended consequences. Sarah Farris of the Planning and Zoning Commission asked whether reinstating R-1.5 could enable small, informal mobile-home parks or allow convenience stores to appear on parcels not presently used for commercial purposes. Ricky Goff, Parish Council District 7, said the amendment would help individual landowners divide property for family members and acknowledged a desire to prevent makeshift mobile-home parks. A DEQ representative and planning staff noted that septic/onsite wastewater permitting (MODAD systems) and Louisiana Department of Health rules would apply and that DEQ permitting is required before occupancy and power hookups.

Committee members agreed to pull the item from the current ordinance agenda so staff can refine the draft. Members asked that planning, the parish engineer, the health department or DEQ, and the parish attorneys review the draft language and return it to the ordinance committee for further consideration.