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Board recommends rezoning of shuttered St. Gertrude church parcel amid neighborhood concerns
Summary
The Planning Board recommended rezoning the former St. Gertrude Catholic Church campus from residential to highway commercial; neighbor testimony urged a lesser zoning classification to avoid commercial impacts on a largely residential corridor.
The board recommended Aug. 6 that PDJ Enterprises LLC's request to rezone the former St. Gertrude Catholic Church campus (Lot 9A) from R-1AM to C-3 move forward to the parish council for final determination.
Planning staff said the property sits adjacent to other commercial and M-1 zoning and that the request met two of three review criteria; staff recommended approval. Applicant representative Louis Othamoff said the rezoning is an attempt to return the shuttered church property to productive use after hurricane damage, and that the property is functionally bordered by commercial zoning on one side.
Neighbor Nikki Beccomire, who lives directly across Highway 631, said the area from the bank to the bayou is predominantly residential and opposed C-3 zoning, arguing a lesser commercial classification would be less disruptive. "Not opposed to a business, but I am opposed to a C-3 zoning," she said. The board voted to recommend the rezoning unanimously and noted that final action will be decided by parish council at a future meeting; applicants were told they would receive notice when the zoning change appears on the council agenda.
