Council to have final say after Ama study

The parish council will have the final say so in determining whether or not Ama is able to change their zoning laws to restrict more mobile homes from moving into the area.

Residents had initially complained because they felt too much of the community was zoned for trailers. Then, an RV park allegedly opened in the area without their knowledge. That caused residents to request a land-use study by the parish.

“The focus of the study was to evaluate the current zoning in Ama and to determine if other types of zoning would be more appropriate for the community,” Kimberly Marousek, director of the Planning and Zoning Department, said.

“The next step after the town hall meeting scheduled for June 11 is to forward the study to the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider the study and the zoning recommendations.”

Marousek says the Planning and Zoning Commission will be asked to consider the recommendations in the study, but the parish council will have the final approval.

“Those recommendations will then be forwarded to the parish council,” she said. “The council ultimately has the authority to make zoning changes.”

Residents have also complained about subdivision development that caused homes to be constructed too close together. The houses were also too numerous for the allotted space.

“The community felt that they did not want small lot development,” she said. “In some instances, changing the zoning district will require larger lot development throughout the community.”

Marousek says that it will be a challenge for Ama to maintain the rural character of the community because the zoning that exists in Ama today creates the potential for a much more dense development pattern.

“This is a challenge in virtually every community across the country,” she said.  “The zoning recommendations of this study seek to match more closely the existing land-use pattern in Ama to the zoning in order to promote the existing character of Ama.”

Marousek pointed out that there are a few areas that are zoned for some commercial development.

“There are a few areas that are zoned commercial development along River Road,” she said.   “The study recommends rezoning approximately five acres of property currently zoned open land to commercial near the eastern border of the Ama Community.”