The St. Charles Parish Council unanimously passed St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell’s proposed temporary moratorium on major subdivisions tonight.
Councilwoman-At-Large for Division A Wendy Benedetto was absent from the meeting.
The council tabled the moratorium during its July 6 meeting, instead voting that it go before the parish’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The commission passed the moratorium during its Aug. 6 meeting.
“Recent flooding has made it clear that it is time for St. Charles Parish to have a systematic master plan that allows new homes to be developed in a way that does not hinder the quality of life for current residents and homeowners,” Jewell said when introducing the measure. “For far too long, we have simply added new developments and put additional burden on existing infrastructure without improving the conveyance canals and culverts that deliver water to our pump stations.”
The moratorium will be in effect for 18 months, or until the parish-wide drainage and sewerage master plans are complete.
“Temporarily halting the addition of new subdivisions will allow Public Works to develop a plan that takes the needs of the entire parish into account while also planning for future growth,” Jewell said.
During the duration of the moratorium, Jewell said the Department of Public Works would continue to work on projects that are in progress or have been designated as essential projects for sewerage and drainage improvements.
“We need to do things differently and take a holistic approach to solve these problems if we want to get better results, and I am asking for the council’s support on these initiatives,” Jewell said.
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