More than 100 residents questioned the project last year
The Heather Oaks residential development opposed by Luling residents in September has been revised and will be reconsidered by the St. Charles Parish Planning and Zoning Commission.
Calling it a “new application with the same name,” Planning and Zoning Director Michael Albert said the adjusted preliminary plat reflects changes requested by residents. The neighborhood is being proposed by developer Cliff Guidry, president of Guidry Land Development of Lafayette.
Albert said major changes include a new configuration with two streets rather then one main street and a cul de sac; traditional drainage rather than retention ponds and larger lots with a minimum of 9,000 square feet.
The 52-acre project is designed for single-family residences and would include 169 lots. There is no zoning change proposed or waivers, he said.
Planning commissioners will review the plat at their April 4 meeting at 7 p.m. at the St. Charles Parish Courthouse. This initial consideration will be for lot layout and street orientation.
On Wednesday, Guidry and engineer Danny Hebert met with residents to discuss the changes.
Luling resident Tommy Faucheux said he appreciated the opportunity to review the planned neighborhood, particularly since concerns have not changed. He and others have questions about how the land would be cleared and how debris would be removed.
Faucheux added they will decide their position on the changes by the commission meeting.
The project is planned for a strip of land between the two established neighborhoods of Willowdale and Lakewood.
In September, more than 100 residents piled into the commission meeting to question the project, which resulted in the commission unanimously rejecting it.
Among them was Sheriff Greg Champagne, a resident of Beaupre Drive near the site, who asked for more time to consider the implications of the project. He also asked that the planned development have lots and home sizes that more closely matched those of neighboring ones.
The debate further focused on the use of retention ponds for drainage.
Planning Commissioner Jason Richard said he opposed it airing concerns over who would maintain the pond if the builder went bankrupt. Hebert said no pond would mean more lots. With the ponds removed, the new plan calls for 169 lots instead of the 121 first proposed.
The new plan for Heather Oaks
169 – The number of lots proposed with the revised Heather Oaks development.
121 – The number of lots proposed with the original project.
$30M – The estimated investment in the community.
April 4 – The Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m. at the St. Charles Parish Courthouse.
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