St. Tammany planners postpone LA 3241 overlay after residents urge cuts to density and buffer area

Planning staff presented a draft overlay and Unified Development Code amendments for LA 3241 — a roughly 20‑mile north–south controlled‑access roadway through central St. Tammany Parish — and the Planning & Zoning Commission voted to postpone consideration for two months to allow staff to revise the proposal in response to public comments.

Senior planner Erin Cook, who led the presentation, said the road was built in three segments and that segments 2 and 3 are complete while segment 1 is not yet under construction. Cook said the overlay is meant to manage development pressure the highway will bring and to preserve sensitive areas along the corridor. “We are proposing a 50‑foot scenic corridor buffer along 3241,” Cook said, and described conservation subdivision standards that would require clustered development of no more than 15 homes and preserve 40 percent of affected acreage in environmentally sensitive areas.

The draft would not change underlying zoning but would add design and site standards that apply to new residential, commercial and industrial development in three subareas: a corridor enhancement zone, an environmentally sensitive subarea and two town‑center subareas (in Bush and Tallahassee). Staff proposed pedestrian‑oriented design requirements including minimum build‑to setbacks, required sidewalks, limits of no more than two rows of parking in front of buildings, a two‑story height maximum in town centers and a prohibition on billboards within the environmentally sensitive subarea. Cook also said town‑center subareas would require underground utilities and that the proposal would ban “small box” variety stores inside town centers and within two miles of another such store.

Residents at the meeting urged revisions. Tracy Rausch, a Bush resident, said the overlay should reflect why people move to the area and voiced concerns about preserving a rural character and protecting wetlands and wildlife: “We moved there to get away from the city … We don't wanna see that come there,” she said. Carlo Hernandez, a commenter, asked whether the proposed ordinance changes the Parish Council appeal threshold and pointed to a provision that appeared to shorten the vote required to overturn a Planning & Zoning decision; staff clarified that appeal procedures remain the same and that language would be reviewed.

Cook acknowledged the public feedback, including requests to shrink the environmentally sensitive area and reduce town‑center intensity. She said staff mailed more than 400 physical letters to property owners, held a public meeting and collected written comments and is revising the overlay map accordingly. Cook told commissioners staff would examine reducing the mapped sensitive area and change the southern boundary of the corridor enhancement subarea near an existing roundabout as requested by commenters.

After the public input and questions from commissioners about utilities, access points controlled by DOTD and traffic projections (Cook said segment 2 projects roughly 3,000 new daily trips), staff asked the commission to postpone the item while revisions are prepared. Commissioner Arcemont moved to postpone the LA 3241 overlay for two months (to February); Commissioner Narcisse seconded and the motion carried.

No vote on the ordinance was taken at the meeting; staff intends to bring a revised draft back after further stakeholder outreach and technical adjustments. The commission also said it will confirm construction and bid schedules for segment 1 with the engineering director before the next hearing.