Over 250 people attended last week’s town hall on IMTT’s request to rezone about 250 acres of its Luling property from commercial and residential districts to a light manufacturing zone, according to Councilwoman-at-Large Holly Fonseca. The rezoning application also includes a 500-foot open land buffer district behind residences on Evelyn Drive, where no future development would occur.
Many Luling residents said they are worried about health hazards, traffic, drainage issues, and fires with an IMTT facility close to their homes. Residents have organized a neighborhood town hall, put signs in their yards that read ‘say no to IMTT,’ filed Freedom of Information Act requests on IMTT’s rezoning, and signed a petition, according to multiple residents. They hope their fight against IMTT’s rezoning application will stop, or at least limit, IMTT development in the area. But Matthew Rosenboom, IMTT’s chief financial officer, said IMTT plans to move ahead with an industrial development on the land already zoned for heavy manufacturing.
“Our expectation is that this zoning will not have an impact on whether we develop the M2 [heavy industrial] zoning or not,” Rosenboom said. “We will plan on developing that regardless of whether this zoning gets approved or not.”
The St. Charles Parish Council will vote on IMTT’s rezoning application at its Sept. 9 meeting at 6 p.m. in Hahnville.
International-Matex Tank Terminals purchased nearly 600 acres between Evelyn Drive and Davis Pond in 2023. The land is across the river from IMTT’s St. Rose tank terminal, which began operating in 1961. IMTT handles and stores bulk liquid products like petroleum, biofuels, and vegetable oils, according to the company’s website.
About 300 acres of the land IMTT purchased in Luling has been zoned for heavy manufacturing use since 1981. This heavy manufacturing district is 2,000 feet away from residences.
Rosenboom said if he was a Davis Heights resident, he would see this rezoning as a positive because it would change the multi-family residential district behind Evelyn Drive to an open land buffer zone.
“It guarantees that there will be a 500-foot buffer that will never be developed versus the potential today of there being apartment complexes or town houses or something right behind the houses,” Rosenboom said.
If the rezoning is not approved, Rosenboom said IMTT would potentially look at developing the residential zoning itself or would partner with another company to develop it.
Dani Huffman, a resident of Davis Heights neighborhood, said IMTT’s suggestion that it would develop the multi-family residential zone felt like a threat.
“They’re saying that if we don’t give them what they want, they will still develop it,” Huffman said. “But I would rather have people living behind me than a chemical plant.”
Rosenboom said, however, that the rezoning request is not a choice between people or industry.
“I think it’s the potential of having both,” he said. “The M-2 [heavy industrial zone] is not changing so if this rezoning doesn’t occur there could still be industrial development there along with people.”
Rosenboom said IMTT requested the rezoning to align the property with the company’s industrial services. IMTT does not yet have a development plan for the property, but it wants the industrial zoning change before marketing the land to potential customers. Luling residents said they are frustrated by the idea that the parish council will vote on the rezoning application without knowing what IMTT plans to build.
Jena Zeringue, a Davis Heights resident, said last week’s town hall left her mad and frustrated.
“I would like to know how the council can vote on this when IMTT clearly explained [at the town hall] that they do not know what they’re going to do with this property,” Zeringue said. “They cannot tell us what is going to be stored. They cannot tell us what is going to be put there. How can you vote to rezone an area when we don’t even have a clear explanation. How can this even be legal?”
Huffman said the town hall failed to address her concerns.
“IMTT said they don’t have plans yet for the property,” Huffman said. “So, I don’t feel better because at that point they can do whatever they want with the land, once its rezoned.”
A light manufacturing district would allow IMTT to build large warehouses 500 feet from residents’ homes. These warehouses could not store hazardous materials unless a special permit was approved by the planning and zoning commission and the parish council. Rosenboom also said that any development on the light manufacturing district would not store hazardous materials.
A light manufacturing district can also include things like office spaces, parking lots, or assembly plants. These districts must be free from “objectionable odors, fumes, dirt, vibration or noise,” according to the parish’s zoning ordinance.
If the parish council signs off on the rezoning application, IMTT is free to develop the land as it chooses, as long as any development follows the parish’s zoning ordinance. Any industrial development would also require coordination with the Louisiana Department of Environment Quality, Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources, the Levee District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and others, according to Rosenboom.
“Most, if not all, of the agencies have public notice and public hearing requirements, which would allow residents to have additional input on the development,” Rosenboom said in an email.
‘Not a good neighbor’: some St. Rose residents support Luling protests
Federal regulators fined IMTT more than $39,000 after a 2023 explosion and fire at its St. Rose terminal. Under a deal reached with the Environmental Protection Agency, IMTT also had to spend more than $150,000 on improvements to cut dangerous emissions and foul odors. St. Rose residents have complained to state regulators about odors from the terminal, according to The Advocate. IMTT’s St. Rose location maintains 216 tanks storing ethanol, petroleum products, and commodity and specialty chemicals, according to the company’s website.
At least two St. Rose residents attended the town hall to voice their support for Luling residents who are opposed to IMTT’s expansion. Some St. Rose residents are in their own fight against IMTT, which is partnering with St. Charles Clean Fuels on a proposed $4.6 billion “blue” ammonia plant in St. Rose.
Zeringue said St. Rose residents told her to keep fighting.
“They told us that IMTT is not a good neighbor,” she said. “[St. Rose residents] have had to evacuate because of the smell, they’ve had headaches, conditions like asthma are worse.”
‘Like enemy territory’: residents leave town hall frustrated, angry
For Huffman, walking into last week’s town hall felt like walking into enemy territory. She said she was frustrated that council members did not take questions from residents and instead redirected all questions and concerns to IMTT representatives.
“I felt like the council already had their mind made up,” Huffman said. “It didn’t feel like when I walked into the meeting that our council was there for us. They’re supposed to represent us, and I felt like we were being scolded for having feelings or inquiring.”
Fonseca said council members generally do not speak publicly about an item that is on the agenda prior to the vote. Residents can address the council at the public hearing during the Sept. 9 council meeting, she said. Residents do not have to register to speak at the public hearing.
“Last night and on social media, people feel like we’ve already made our decision, and this is simply not the case,” Fonseca said.
Fonseca said the council’s job is to gather information from both IMTT and residents and not to be influenced by either party.
“There’s no one who is going to influence me in the way that I vote,” she said. “Whether it’s by blasting us on Facebook before we’ve even had a vote, or by trying to bully us to try to come out and say how we’re going to vote. It’s just not going to happen.”
Councilman Willie Comardelle said he has shared his opinions on the rezoning application with a few residents. He has also posted his support for the rezoning on Facebook, according to multiple Davis Heights residents. But Comardelle said he will not vote on IMTT’s rezoning application because he will be out of town on the date of the council meeting.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize that the current zoning will allow for Section 8 project housing,” Comardelle said. “Do they want public housing? That’s what it’s zoned for right now. I think we would see the same type of uproar if somebody tried to put up an apartment complex or a Section 8 housing development. I think it’s just people don’t want change.”
Comardelle said he does not think a new IMTT facility in Luling increases health risks to residents.
“I know the risks are here,” he said. “I know the chemicals are here. I think putting it on this side of the levee has brought it to people’s attention. The chemicals are already coming up and down the river. They’re already being transported here. This is just a holding point.”
He also said the parish’s tax revenue is funded by industrial plants.
“How are we going to get lower taxes and how are we going to get better paying jobs if we don’t allow industry growth?” he said. “They don’t even realize that they are biting the hand that feeds them.”
But Davis Heights resident Nicole Cronin, who has stage 4 kidney cancer, said she worries most about the potential health effects of a new chemical plant in the area. The Bayer plant in Luling is also next to the Davis Heights neighborhood. Cronin said she lives in a home that her father built in 1968.
“Why sandwich this little neighborhood between two chemical plants?” Cronin said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
She also said residents sometimes smell the facility in St. Rose when the wind changes.
Huffman said a St. Rose resident told her that she calls the area near the river “sacrifice alley.”
“That hit me,” Huffman said. “We’re sacrificing for the almighty dollar. At some point it has to stop.”
