… parish says owner opened without final approval
The Ama Recreational Vehicle trailer park owned by Des Allemands resident and State Trooper Ritchie Stanley, could be shut down after 30 days if he doesn’t comply with the parish requirements and guidelines. “Mr. Stanley opened the RV park without final approval from planning and zoning,” Mike Henderson director of planning and zoning told the Herald-Guide.
“In fact our office didn’t approve the RV park because the park didn’t meet certain criteria,” he continued.
“He was allowed to open because of a vote by the parish council, which overrides our recommendations – the parish councilmen have the final say,” he said.
Residents from Ama met with District 2 Councilman Brian Fabre at a meeting held June 27 at the American Legion Hall and complained that the park had no streetlights, fencing or shrubbery. They complained that the roadway is too narrow and the travel trailer park was approved against planing and zoning recommendations.
“We can make Mr. Stanley adhere to certain criteria, which can be expensive, and we can even make him remove the trailers and shut down the park until the requirements are met, but we can’t shut him down permanently because he’s already received approval from the council,” Fabre told the Herald-Guide.
The St. Charles Parish planning and zoning department has already taken the first steps to get the RV park situation resolved.
“We had a meeting with Ritchie Stanley, July 2 and asked him to turn in a new site plan for the RV park,” Henderson said.
“Mr. Stanley assured us that he will have the site plan ready for us to review in one week,” he continued.
“We are making him redo his site plan to include landscaping and all of the other things he told us he was going to do,” he continued.
Stanley must complete certain requirements or he could be forced to temporarily shutdown.
“I’m not going to force him to do anything like that right now, we are going to give him some time to make the necessary repairs and changes,” Henderson said.
“However we can do a C&D order which temporarily revokes his permit until certain requirements are met,” he continued.
Henderson said Stanley would be given 30 days to comply with the parish requirements, if he doesn’t he could be forced to tell the RV owners currently living on site to leave until he makes all changes.
“We normally would give him about a week to get everyone moved off the property and he (Stanley) would not be allowed to let any new patrons move into the RV Park until things were complete,” Henderson said.
Stanley said a health inspector came out June 28 and cited him for a garbage dumpster violation.
“I know the dumpster needs cover and landscape around it,” Stanley said.
“But I have time to complete this — I have until August 2007,” he said.
Stanley said residents on Michael Street, are not upset about the RV Park.
“I spoke with the people living here myself, and nobody said they didn’t want the RV park here,” he continued.
Stanley says he doesn’t plan to hinder a subdivision development coming to the community by Percy Wilson an Ama resident who lives 62 feet from the RV park.
“I’m planning to build a subdivision with 35 acres of my property and with the park right next door I have concerns that property values will be diminished and with transient people coming into the community without a love for Ama, it’s not good for anyone,”said Wilson.
Stanley said the workers are harmless and come from other states, some with their families
“People that are coming work at the chemical plants, some are retired people with motor homes, from up north who need to get out of the cold weather during the summer- those are the kind of people that will be living in the RV park,” he said.
Stanley said it will cost him about $250,000 to $400,000 to finish the RV park and it will have street lights.
“It’s a private drive, not a public street so you don’t have to put street lights at all, nothing in parish laws say that, but I fully intend put streetlights,” Stanley told the Herald-Guide.
Stanley must complete all requirements by August 2007.
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