Jefferson Parish residents fight commercial zoning

JEFFERSON PARISH, La. (WGNO) — The Jefferson Parish Public School System is moving forward with the demolition of half a dozen schools.

The land of the former Haynes Academy, however, has become the crown jewel for many potential developers to buy due to its prime location.

As of now, the property is zoned for residential use; and many parish residents got together on Thursday at the Mulholland United Methodist Church to let the board and council know that they want it to stay that way.

“It improves our quality of life. We don’t need a big grocery store, and we certainly don’t need or want a bar room and music, so we want to keep a quiet, safe neighborhood,” resident Eddie Castaing said.

“I think we as a community will come together now and many times in the future. I mean, we are going to keep this ball rolling big time,” Muffin Balard said.

Councilman-at-large Ricky Templet made an appearance at the meeting to share a zoning-study plan that he hopes could highlight potential zoning problems on the property and help make sure the property is zoned as well as it can be.

“One of the things we want to make sure that we’re protecting is people’s property values, the quality of life and what kind of traffic if anything is developed at any of these sites that can impact the neighborhoods,” Templet said.

While the property is currently zoned residentially, residents are looking to solidify the residential support of as many council members as they can for post-elections.

“It’s important that we get everybody that’s going to commit to their position because we will stand on that position. We will bring that position back to them,” Muffin Balard said.