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Board postpones decision on Mandeville warehouse expansion after drainage and landscaping concerns
Summary
A request to add a 30-foot expansion to a warehouse at 1724 South Lane in Mandeville that would eliminate a required 10-foot rear landscape buffer and reduce required Class B trees was postponed for two months so the applicant can provide engineered drainage plans, site drawings, photos and an alternative landscape plan.
The St. Tammany Parish Board of Adjustment on April 1 voted to postpone for two months a request to add a 30-foot expansion to an office-warehouse at 1724 South Lane in Mandeville that would remove a required 10-foot rear landscape buffer and reduce the number of required Class B trees.
The applicant, represented at the hearing by Brian Passo of 16128 Ruth Drive, Walker, Louisiana, said the business occupying the building needs additional inventory space for forklifts and pallet racking. Passo told the board, "The current warehouse is, is too small to house the amount of inventory for the demand. So they're wanting to expand." He said the area the applicant plans to build on is a cleared limestone pad and that trees shown in older aerial photos are not present in the exact footprint planned for construction.
Staff explained the parcel abuts a mature landscape area and the requested extension to the southern property line would remove the required 10-foot landscape buffer and existing trees. Staff also raised concerns about the site's ability to meet parish drainage regulations if the building is constructed to the property line, and the board repeatedly asked for more documentation.
Board members requested detailed site drawings and facade information, current photos, an engineered drainage plan submitted to parish engineers, and an alternative landscape or mitigation plan showing how Class B tree requirements would be met. One staff speaker advised, "So if if the board wants to postpone, I suggest that we postpone for at least 2 months because by the time" an engineer is hired and work submitted the office can review the plans; the board set a two-month postponement and asked the applicant to meet with parish engineering staff before the next hearing.
The board moved and seconded a postponement; members did not record a roll-call vote tally in the transcript. The applicant was advised to return in June with the requested engineering review, site plans, current photographs and a landscape mitigation proposal.
