Planning commission denies rezoning for Cypress Avenue duplexes after resident objections

The Natchitoches Planning & Zoning Commission on March 3 voted 4–3 to deny a petition to rezone a Cypress Avenue property from R‑1 to R‑2 that would have allowed four duplexes (eight units).

The applicant, Heath Nichols, told the commission he planned “classy houses” and said the development would provide rental housing and private on‑site parking. “All the parking will be on my property, not on the street,” Nichols said in his rebuttal, and he pledged to manage drainage so water would not run onto neighbors’ yards.

Neighbors and preservation advocates opposed the request. Mary Striegel, president of the Natchitoches Historic District Homeowners Association, said the street lies inside one of Louisiana’s two national historic landmark districts and warned the plan would worsen flooding and traffic and threaten two live oak trees she estimated to be “significantly older than 150 years.” “When you build the parking lot in that area, you’re going to push a lot of water onto the properties that are along Cypress,” Striegel said.

Other residents described narrow, one‑way Cypress Street, chronic parking shortages and prior drainage problems that they say resulted when earlier lots were filled. Mark Milliken, who said his family has owned a nearby house for nearly a century, told commissioners he opposed apartments, duplexes or increased density because of flooding risk and potential tree loss.

The director told the commission that zoning and historic‑district rules will still apply if the property is rezoned and noted that the Historic District Commission must approve tree removals. Commissioners pressed Nichols on parking counts and drainage plans; Nichols said the design was a preliminary layout and that he would comply with permitting and drainage requirements.

In a roll‑call vote the panel recorded three votes in favor and four opposed, and the chair announced the motion to rezone was denied. The chair reminded attendees that items can still be introduced at city council and that residents who wish to follow the matter should attend the council’s March 9 introduction and the March 23 final hearing.

Next steps: The denial at Planning & Zoning ends this application at the commission level; the matter may still appear at the city council for separate consideration according to the city’s procedures.