The Ascension Parish Council is set to vote Thursday on a rezoning request that would clear the way for a proposed Walmart Neighborhood Market near Dutchtown High School.
The council will consider whether to rezone roughly 22 acres along La. 73 from medium-intensity residential to mixed-use. The Ascension Parish Zoning Commission voted 5-2 last week to recommend approval despite concerns from parish staff and some commissioners about traffic and the broader range of development allowed under the proposed zoning.
The developer is seeking the mixed-use designation to build a grocery-anchored retail center featuring a roughly 50,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market, a fuel station and an additional retail outparcel.
Cameron Miller of Phelps Dunbar, who represented the developer at last week’s zoning meeting, said the mixed-use designation is needed because the proposed store would exceed the size allowed under the property’s commercial crossroads zoning designation.
Parish staff recommended denying the request, citing concerns that other uses permitted under mixed-use zoning could be incompatible with surrounding properties.
Much of the discussion at last week’s meeting centered on traffic along La. 73 and the property’s proximity to Dutchtown High. Commissioner Wade Schexnaydre urged the developer to instead pursue a planned unit development, or PUD, which could give the parish greater control over uses, buffers and infrastructure improvements.
“I would be much more in support if we if y’all came to us with a PUD and show us how y’all can get something in there that can address the traffic, that can address the drainage, and that we have some control over that we have a buffer potentially between this and the high school,” Schexnaydre said.
Miller said pursuing a PUD would require additional upfront costs and could conflict with timelines in the developer’s purchase agreement, though he did not rule out that option.
Commissioners also questioned how the development could affect an already congested stretch of La. 73. Miller argued that the parish’s development requirements would still require the project to address traffic impacts before construction could move forward.
Traffic and drainage impact studies would be required before the development could proceed, though those reviews would be handled administratively rather than returning to the Zoning Commission.
“I think no matter what, something is coming to that area, and if we have someone here that’s explicitly stating that it’s going to be a certain thing, versus a neighborhood or a Dollar General or something else, that may be less palatable to the area,” Commissioner Nicholas Miller said. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
