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Commission denies Pine Acres Road revocation after neighbors, public works raise access and safety concerns
Summary
The St. Tammany Parish Planning Commission voted to deny an applicant’s request to revoke a 171-square-foot paved segment of Pine Acres Road, citing concerns from Public Works about limiting access and potential impacts on emergency vehicle passage.
The St. Tammany Parish Planning Commission on a recorded vote denied a request to revoke a 171-square-foot portion of Pine Acres Road that an applicant asked to combine into private property.
Applicant Gail Benoit sought the revocation, represented at the hearing by attorney Jared Shinek. Shinek said the paved area is within Benoit’s property and functions as a dead-end that serves no public through-traffic: “There frankly is no public use that is identified,” he told commissioners, and he cited submitted photographs and an 811 report showing no public utilities in the disputed area.
Several neighbors and property owners opposed the request, saying the parish maintained the roadway for decades and that revocation would impair public access. Catherine O’Hare, who said she has lived on Old Military Road for 42 years, told the commission, “As far as I know, this does not impede on anyone in any driveway,” but other neighbors disagreed about past access and construction impacts. Opponent Sarah Pertwee, reading from an attorney’s position paper, said the parish had maintained the road “for well over 25 years, establishing it as a public road,” and warned that revocation would divide the public road into two sections and complicate future repaving.
Public Works staff had reported opposition to the revocation, saying the proposed change could limit access to properties to the west of the paved portion and could negatively affect emergency access. Commissioner Rivera, after citing the updated staff report and Public Works concerns, moved to deny the request “based on those concerns alone from public works.” Several commissioners agreed, noting the parish’s 35-foot guideline for emergency vehicle passage.
After brief rebuttal from the applicant’s attorney restating that photographs and surveys show neighboring properties retain access, the commission voted; the motion to deny carried.
The denial means the paved portion will remain part of the parish maintained roadway system. The commission did not direct further staff action beyond the recorded denial.
