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Committee backs allowing no–"Jake brake" zones to be set by resolution and forwards change to council

Livingston Parish Ordinance Review Committee · April 9, 2026

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Summary

The committee unanimously recommended deleting the ordinance-only designation requirement for unmuffled compression brakes and allowing the parish council to designate or remove no-Jake-brake zones by resolution; staff noted state sign permits would still be required for regulatory signage.

The Livingston Parish ordinance review committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full council change section 22-22(h) so areas where unmuffled compression brakes (commonly called "Jake brakes") are prohibited may be designated or removed by parish resolution rather than by ordinance.

Miss Raven read the section the committee reviewed, which currently makes it "unlawful to use unmuffled compression brakes in any area designated by ordinance of the parish council" and describes the regulatory signage and the parish president's ability to apply for a sign permit from the State Department of Transportation and Development. Committee members said a resolution process would be faster and allow the parish to respond to localized needs (for example, temporary events or newly identified quiet zones near hospices) without waiting the longer ordinance process.

Councilman Wascom moved to remove the phrase requiring designation "by ordinance" and to make establishment or removal possible by a majority resolution of the council; Councilman Erde seconded. The committee voted unanimously and forwarded the change to the full council for introduction at its April 23 meeting.

The committee also discussed implementation steps: after council designation by resolution, the parish president may apply to the State Department of Transportation and Development for placement of regulatory signage on unincorporated state highways, as described in the ordinance language read into the record.

The change is a procedural-implementation decision intended to allow quicker local responses to noise concerns; it does not change the underlying prohibition on unmuffled compression brakes in designated areas.