Board of Adjustments approves two variances and asks Parish Council to require biennial training

The St. Tammany Parish Board of Adjustments voted unanimously to approve two variance requests and adopted a resolution asking the Parish Council to add biennial training requirements for board members.

The board approved a variance to reduce front and rear yard setbacks from 40 feet to 35 feet for a planned unit development lot represented by Tyler Dugas of Hollywood Development LLC. Staff said the lot’s odd shape and the curvature of the road create a practical hardship that would prevent construction of a single‑family residence without relief. Tyler Dugas told the board he secured no‑objection letters from adjacent property owners and said granting the variance would maintain the visual alignment of house fronts along the street: "...the road basically does this where our lot is...and all of those houses are basically on, like, they're able to keep that line parallel with the setback line," he said.

The board then considered BOA 20264551, an application for an I‑2 industrial site represented by Christian Russell of CRM Properties LLC that sought two variances: reducing the required 35‑foot rear landscape buffer to 10 feet and removing two live oak trees. Staff explained that a 29‑foot drainage servitude combined with the buffer requirement leaves little buildable area. Russell said the servitude and the site geometry make it difficult to place the building and driveway without affecting the trees and described mitigation plans including on‑site plantings and a contribution to the parish tree bank: "...the 29 foot servitude already built in, like, severely hampers my ability to build anything feasible on that property," he said.

A board member identified in the record as Ron said he is generally reluctant to remove oak trees but noted the trees in question measure about 10 inches in diameter and praised the applicant’s mitigation. The applicant and staff confirmed plans to plant five replacement trees of about 2.5‑inch caliper on the north side of the site and to pay into the tree bank; staff said that combination would meet mitigation obligations. The board voted to approve both variance requests in a single motion.

Separately, the board unanimously adopted a resolution requesting that the Saint Tammany Parish Council amend the Saint Tammany Parish Unified Development Code (section 100‑2.5) to add biennial training requirements for members of the Board of Adjustments. The motion to approve the resolution was made by Mr. Lochner and seconded by Mr. Daly.

The board also approved the minutes from its prior meeting, noted that one listed case was withdrawn from the agenda, set its next meeting for April 7 (five cases expected) and then adjourned.