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Broussard adopts historic-district ordinance, streamlines approval process for certificates of appropriateness
Summary
Council adopted Ordinance 25-831 creating a historic district for Broussard and approved an amendment to streamline the certificate-of-appropriateness process by moving from a three-step voting sequence to an advisory comment from the Main Street board followed by a single planning commission vote and an appeal to council if necessary.
The Broussard City Council adopted Ordinance 25-831 on July 22 to create a historic district and approved an amendment that changes how the city will process certificates of appropriateness for historic-district projects.
City staff described the original proposal as a three-step approval sequence requiring separate votes by the Main Street commission, the planning commission and then the city council if someone appealed. Gerald, a staff member, said the council-approved amendment removes one voting step: the Main Street board will provide comments and recommendations to the planning commission, which will issue the single decision; any aggrieved party may then appeal to the council. “We were gonna have a vote on it by this commission, then bring it to the planning commission for a vote on it… Just to shorten the process in terms of time and to streamline it, what we've now done is we've asked the commission we'll ask the commission to offer its comments and recommendations to the planning commission. And let the commit planning commission vote on it,” Gerald said.
Staff also said the downtown/Main Street board will be part of the notification system so it receives notice and can prepare comments for the planning commission meeting. The ordinance and amendment were presented as part of the city’s pursuit of accreditation for downtown redevelopment; staff thanked volunteer Main Street board members for their work.
There was no public comment. Council voted first to adopt the amendment and then to adopt the ordinance; roll-call votes were recorded as approved. Council discussion included procedural clarifications about voting order and a request for someone to “call the question” to move the adoption steps.
The ordinance establishes an advisory structure intended to streamline reviews and preserve an appeal path to the council for those who believe a planning commission decision was in error.
