Nearly 130 residents attended a neighborhood meeting on Saturday to discuss IMTT’s request before the St. Charles Parish Council to rezone nearly 250 acres of land on the Tract L. Davis Plantation, according to Davis Plantation resident Steve Huffman, who organized the meeting with his wife Dani Huffman.
The large turnout at the neighborhood meeting prompted the Parish Council to move its Aug. 28 town hall to a larger venue. The town hall will now be held at the R.K. Smith Middle School gymnasium from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. IMTT representatives will be at the town hall to address residents’ concerns.
Councilmember Holly Fonseca said anyone who wants to speak at the town hall will be given 3 minutes to ask questions.
“The goal is for as many residents as possible to have a chance to speak,” she said.
IMTT is a bulk liquid storage services provider. The company has operated in St. Rose since 1961. Its rezoning request involves land at 11831 River Road in Luling near multiple neighborhoods: Davis Plantation, Mimosa, Davis Heights, Willowdale and Lakewood.
On Aug. 1 the St. Charles Parish Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval for IMTT’s request to rezone portions of the Davis Levert property from residential and highway commercial to light manufacturing, and to establish a 500-foot open land buffer along Evelyn Drive.
Matthew Rosenboom, CFO of IMTT, said at the Aug. 1 meeting that the open land buffer ensures there will be no development adjacent to the Davis Heights neighborhood. Rosenboom also said there will be no tanks within 2,000 feet of any residence on Evelyn Drive.
Huffman said that the 2,000 feet and 500 feet buffer zones do little to ease his concerns.
“It means zero to me,” he said. “Because they can put anything they want in that warehouse.”
Light manufacturing zones permit accessory uses only, such as parking, administrative buildings, and warehouses.
According to an informational flyer distributed to residents by IMTT, the company is not proposing to increase the amount of heavy manufacturing acreage, and the wetlands zoning in the southeast corner of the property will not be affected by the rezoning proposal.
The Parish Council is now tasked with accepting or rejecting the rezoning request.
