For years, residents living on Luling’s Paul Fredrick Street have been forced to deal with the unsightly buildings and bountiful trash that are combining to decrease the property value of their homes.
Now, the Department of Planning and Zoning is finally ready to take action.
Newly appointed Parish Attorney Sonny Vial says he met with planning and zoning about clearing the back log of files that accumulate when landowners haven’t complied with parish orders to clean-up their properties.
“The numbers have gotten lower,” Vial said. “Planning and zoning had 90 cases to sort through last year where the parish enforced regulations on homeowners to get their property cleaned up. They’re working 55 cases as of January 1.”
Vial says that number does fluctuate and could change at any moment.
“We are willing to work with the property owners instead of taking legal action,” he said. “However, if we have to take someone to court and the judge issues an order that a property be cleaned within a certain amount of time and it’s not, then the person will be in contempt of court and could serve time in jail.”
Wade Mongrue, who owns several lots along with an abandoned barn on Paul Frederick Street, plans to do his part to clean up his property.
“I will begin tearing down the rest of my barn this month,” Mongrue said. “The abandoned cars will be removed from the properties next week.”
Kim Marousek, director of planning and zoning, says that if a resident hasn’t complied a letter of warning is issued.
“This won’t happen over night,” she said. “We have to go through a couple steps before it gets to this level. We work closely with the parish attorney before we take any action against a property owner.”
Vial says he’s trying to reduce the number of suits filed against residents by the parish by giving them an opportunity to maintain their properties themselves.
“Sometimes, the property owners are hard to track,” Vial said. “We’re willing to work with the property owners, but we are planning on being more aggressive about getting these things cleaned up.”
Vial says to avoid court proceedings with landowners, he plans to send out letters and set deadlines.
“Working with the property owner before it gets to the level of a lawsuit is important,” he said. “Sending out certified letters to let them know what needs to be done hasn’t been as affective as we like.”
Vial says he’s planning on meeting regularly with planning and zoning to sort through the case load, identify property owners and get things cleaned up.
Jerry Segura, owner of Gold Gallery in Boutte, lives on a stretch of property directly behind Paul Fredrick.
“I’m tired of seeing how debris is not being picked up,” he said. “The barn was damaged by Katrina and it’s been like that for two years and it’s time to get it cleared away.”
Segura says he’s worried about the possibility of some child getting hurt or some of the debris blowing off the roof and damaging someone’s property.
“Snakes, rats, or anything else could be accumulating inside those abandoned cars and someone needs to see to it that these lots with these mobile homes on it are kept clean,” he said. “I want to know what the ordinance says about mobile homes. Shouldn’t they have skirting on them?”
Segura says he just wants the owners of the mobile homes and the lots to comply with the parish rules and regulations.
V.J. St. Pierre says he plans on ensuring that communities are clean and debris free.
“If residents living on Paul Frederick pull all of the appliances to the end of their drive way, the parish will arrange for those things to be picked up,” he said. “We definitely want to keep the communities clean.”
Residents needing an appliance picked up can contact Tut Clement at 985-764-1207.
“Either we’ll get Coastal Waste Management to pick it up and if they don’t, or if they leave it sitting outside for a couple of days call me,” he said. “I’ll arrange for someone to come pick it up.”
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