Planning commission delays RV-park rules after hours of public testimony

The Terrebonne Parish Regional Planning Commission on Aug. 21 continued consideration of a draft ordinance setting new rules for recreational-vehicle parks after more than two hours of public testimony and a motion to send the draft back to the subdivision regulation review committee for further study.

Commissioners said they will reconvene the committee for at least two meetings and hold a new public hearing at the planning commission’s October meeting so the draft can be reworked with input from park owners and neighborhood residents. Commissioner Mike Bayard moved to continue the item; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Barry Soudier and approved by voice vote.

Supporters of delaying the rules said the draft as posted contained provisions that felt “arbitrary and capricious” to business owners and lacked the local data necessary to justify density, setback and landscaping requirements. Attorney Jean Milford, speaking for a group of residents, told commissioners the parish already regulates mobile-home and residential building parks under “Chapter 17” and that enforcement of existing rules — not new parishwide standards — should be the priority. Milford said the draft failed to explain the specific problem the regulations were meant to solve and raised legal concerns about treating RVs like a new land-use category.

Councilwoman Kim Chauvin and several RV-park owners urged the commission to collect detailed baseline data before advancing an ordinance. Chauvin said she had sent commissioners a list of questions she wanted answered about the number and locations of existing parks, average lot density and whether the draft’s rules would displace active businesses. “I want a clear explanation of it so that I can vote,” she said.

Park owners and operators said limits such as a proposed 18-sites-per-acre maximum, a five-acre minimum lot size and a 1,000-foot setback from residential subdivisions would block small, existing or expanding operations and harm local tourism and contractor housing. Several owners described long-term contractor occupancy, travel nurses on three-month contracts and displaced residents using RVs as housing after storms; speakers said restricting stays would shift economic activity out of the parish. “If we force this guy to move out after six months, he’s going to Thibodaux and spend his money there,” said one park owner.

Several residents and owners also raised site-specific concerns: drainage and saltwater exposure in low-bayou areas, the cost and survivability of required landscaping in tidal zones, and enforcement capacity for retroactive compliance. Staff and commissioners noted the South Terrebonne Development Zone could be used as one way to exclude certain bayou-area properties from some provisions; staff said the zone’s GIS mapping needs correction and that exemptions could be drafted for lands inside that zone.

Staff said the draft posted for the meeting was a combination of an older 2014 draft and public comments received in August, and that it was not ready to send to the parish council. Planning staff said the proposal would return to the subdivision regulation review committee for more work; commissioners set an October planning-commission public hearing date for a revised draft and asked the committee to meet twice before then.

The commission’s action does not modify the council’s separate moratorium on new RV-park approvals; commissioners and staff explained that moratorium is a council action and must be addressed by the Parish Council. Staff noted the moratorium’s effective date was referenced during the meeting and encouraged affected business owners to raise timing and enforcement questions with their council representatives.

The move to continue the draft followed a string of public speakers that included residents, RV-park owners and small-business operators who urged more time, data and stakeholder engagement. Commissioners said the committee would aim to produce a researched draft that documents the local need and the reason for each proposed requirement before asking the council to act.