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Council sends proposed RV-park regulations back to committee after extensive public comment from island residents, campground owners
Summary
A lengthy public hearing on draft RV-park rules drew tribal representatives and campground owners who clashed over whether small coastal islands and areas outside the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee should be included in stricter standards. Owners warned of high compliance costs while tribal and island residents asked to be protected; the council referred the ordinance back to committee for revisions.
A major public hearing on proposed regulations for recreational-vehicle parks consumed much of the Feb. 25 council meeting as residents, tribal representatives and campground owners argued over where and how the rules should apply.
Speakers representing island communities and tribal groups asked the council to include Ilon/Algen Charles (referred to in testimony) within the ordinance’s stricter protections rather than exempting areas outside the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee. Jesse Bill, a representative of the Pona Indian Tribe, told the council the island communities are majority landowners and urged inclusion to protect ancestral lands and prevent displacement.
Several campground owners, including Connie (a park owner who said she operates multiple parks), warned that new minimum-lot-size rules, landscaping buffers and Department of Health service‑building requirements could make expansion unaffordable. Connie said she has completed multiple development phases and estimated an additional roughly $500,000 would be needed to meet more stringent construction and infrastructure standards for a further expansion.
Parish planning staff said the draft ordinance includes exemptions for areas outside the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system and a 1,000-foot buffer from approved subdivisions in some landscaping requirements. Staff and council members discussed options: (1) keep the levee-based demarcation; (2) adopt a different demarcation such as the South Terrebonne development zone; or (3) carve the island communities into the protected area by name. Staff also noted that routine permit and Department of Health processes (including "pink slip" approvals for septic systems) factor into anyone’s ability to obtain grandfathering or to complete phased expansion.
After extended testimony and technical questions about grandfathering, appeal rights and permit timing, the council voted to send the draft RV-park ordinance back to committee for revision and directed staff to prepare a revised draft informed by the testimony.
Next steps: the planning committee will meet to revise the ordinance language; staff said a revised draft will be posted for the committee agenda within two weeks and interested residents were invited to follow the committee meeting and provide input.
