Metropolitan Council approves rezoning of 1482 Lobdell Avenue to neighborhood office despite resident opposition

The Metropolitan Council voted Aug. 20 to rezone 1482 Lobdell Avenue from single-family residential (A1) to neighborhood office, approving a motion by Councilman Mote that was seconded by Councilwoman Adams and carried after public hearings and debate.

Planning staff recommended approval and the Planning Commission had certified the request as consistent with the Unified Development Code and the Metropolitan Council's land-use plan; the Planning Commission vote on the application was recorded as favorable (commission action: motion to approve carried 6–1). However, several residents and civic associations urged the council to retain A1 zoning, citing concerns about “commercial creep,” traffic, property values and an unclear development plan.

David Patterson, a land-use representative with Land Source, told the council the property owners, the Catrone family, revised an earlier application and were now seeking neighborhood office because it is “the most restrictive nonresidential zoning that we have in this parish,” and because it would limit the types and scale of future uses. “There are only 12 permitted uses in neighborhood office zoning. Of those 12, there are 4 that the Catrones have no interest in ... The 8 remaining permittable uses [include] medical office, office, art gallery, school, governmental facility and similar small-scale institutions,” Patterson said, adding that the neighborhood-office cap would limit any building footprint to 2,500 square feet and that the lot’s buildable area is less than half an acre.

Opponents, speaking during the public comment period, described sustained local opposition. Sean Bergeron, an Old Goodwood Village board member, said the subdivision’s 39 townhomes back up to the site and that “we are vested in this area. We want it to stay residential.” Annaleigh Campbell, who started an online petition against the rezoning, told the council her petition had 223 signatures as of the afternoon of Aug. 20 and said residents worried about loss of green space and additional traffic.

Hampton Grunewald, representing the Goodwood Property Owners Association, thanked the property owners’ representatives for changing their request from neighborhood commercial to neighborhood office but urged the council to preserve A1 zoning and said the association believed residential uses had not been fully explored. “We remain opposed to changing the zoning from A‑one,” Grunewald said, citing concerns about traffic and protecting the residential character of the corridor.

Council discussion noted competing concerns. Councilman Mote framed the rezoning as compatible with the future BR land-use map, saying the neighborhood designation can be compatible with small-scale office uses in proper locations and arguing the rezoning could provide a transition between heavier commercial corridors and single-family areas. Planning staff told the council that, if a neighborhood-office use were proposed, permitting would enforce a landscape buffer between the office and adjacent residences — typically a fence and plantings — and that site-plan review would address driveway placement, lighting, site triangles and other details.

The council-approved neighborhood-office zoning carries several built-in limits noted during the hearing: a 2,500-square-foot maximum by right; no drive-throughs; and a constrained list of permitted uses. Councilmembers and staff also discussed the process for any development beyond the 2,500-square-foot cap: applicants could seek a conditional-use permit and a separate public hearing before the Planning Commission to exceed the by-right size.

The rezoning shifts the legal zoning classification for 1482 Lobdell Avenue; it does not itself approve a development plan. Any future building would require permitting and site-plan review that could include additional public notice and opportunities for neighbor comment.