Harvest Fields preliminary plat deferred to Feb. 11 after neighborhood outcry over traffic, flooding and safety

GONZALES, La. — The Ascension Parish Planning Commission on Jan. 14 accepted a developer’s request to defer action on the Harvest Fields preliminary plat until Feb. 11 after a large contingent of neighbors testified about traffic, drainage and safety concerns.

Chad Stevens of MR Engineering and Survey, representing the developer, told the commission the applicant was requesting a one‑month deferral and cited a technical issue with the application. "We are asking for a deferral till February 11," Stevens said. The chair acknowledged the public would be allowed to speak and that the item will be re‑advertised.

Scores of residents spoke during the hearing. Carly Babin said the proposed plan would place 112 houses directly behind her home and that increased traffic would harm a close‑knit neighborhood. "This plan would place a 112 homes directly behind my home and my neighbors' homes, permanently changing the environment where our families live," she said.

Speakers cited multiple, recurring concerns: Cottonfield Avenue is narrow (speakers measured roughly 19–19.5 feet curb‑to‑curb), lacks sidewalks and street lighting, and would be unsafe as a collector route for large new traffic volumes; several speakers said the traffic‑impact study failed intersections at Highway 44 and Germany Road and argued routing new traffic through existing neighborhoods was not an adequate mitigation. Gina Billiat read multiple citations from the Ascension Parish Unified Land Development Code (ULDC), saying safety and traffic‑impact provisions require adequate mitigation and that a substandard unlit access route cannot legally serve a new subdivision’s required access.

Residents also raised flooding and wetland concerns. Several speakers described the tract as previously converted wetlands and said bringing in fill and creating retention measures could redirect water into existing yards and canals. Environmental advocate Polly Glover and multiple neighbors urged the developer to consider green space and a wetlands determination before returning.

When public comment closed, Chad Stevens apologized and reiterated the applicant would correct a technical application issue before returning on Feb. 11. The commission did not vote on the plat; the applicant’s deferral preserves the right to reapply with corrected submission materials and any additional required notices.

The February hearing will be re‑advertised and residents were told they can speak again. The deferral means no formal action on Harvest Fields was taken on Jan. 14.