Calcasieu Parish jurors unanimously deny rezoning request for 1124 Dunferry Road

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury unanimously voted to deny a request to rezone 1124 Dunferry Road in Ward 6 from agricultural to light industrial during its Jan. 30, 2025 meeting.

The denial was approved 14-0 on a motion by Juror Markantel with a second by Juror Angipont. The motion was recorded as a vote to deny the rezoning application and carried by roll call.

The applicant, Norman Simmons Jr., said he had purchased the parcel to use a one-acre portion as a shop and to rehabilitate an existing building. “All I’m trying to do is get one acre where a shop was,” Simmons said, adding he has installed a six-foot hurricane fence and kept most equipment inside the building.

Nearby resident Rodney Johnson opposed the rezoning, saying the surrounding area is predominantly agricultural and timber and warning that a light-industrial designation could open the door to a wider range of commercial and manufacturing uses. “Industrial opens up the window to all commercial applications plus, you know, used tire recycling and that type of thing,” Johnson said.

Planning staff recommended denial, citing a predominantly A-1 agricultural land-use pattern in the area and a concern that rezoning this parcel could set a precedent for inconsistent development. In explaining staff’s recommendation, a planning representative said, “It’s really not a consistent land use pattern…you do have to be careful with that.”

Jurors asked whether light-industrial zoning would allow additional commercial or manufacturing uses; staff replied that light industrial would permit a range of industrial and some commercial C-3 uses, increasing the variety of future allowed uses on the parcel.

The jury’s vote follows a prior, earlier denial of rezoning for the same parcel, which staff and speakers noted during the meeting. The motion to deny was recorded by roll call as 14 in favor, 0 opposed.

Because the action was a denial of the rezoning request, no ordinance adopting new zoning was enacted. The applicant and members of the public were told the parcel owner may pursue other lawful options, and that prior denials remain part of the parcel’s administrative record.

The Police Jury did not state a time limit before a new application could be filed; that procedure follows the parish’s zoning rules and prior practice.