A group of homeowners is rallying opposition to a proposed subdivision called Lakes at Jones Creek, which has become a flashpoint for floodplain development a year after parts of the area took on several feet of water.
The subdivision, which developer Steven Duplechain introduced to the city-parish Planning Commission last month, includes 425 lots on a 178-acre tract north of the intersection of Jones Creek Road and Coursey Boulevard. It was originally set to be considered at Monday’s commission meeting but was deferred until Oct. 16.
Duplechain could not be reached for comment this morning. The Planning Commission has not yet made a recommendation on the project, but staff will certify whether it meets the requirements by Oct. 5, according to Planning Director Frank Duke.
The proposed subdivision has set off a new debate over flood management in a parish that is still in long-term recovery mode from last summer’s flooding, which damaged large parts of the region. After the Lakes at Jones Creek was introduced, Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso asked the Planning Commission to conduct a study of the section of the Unified Development Code that deals with floodplains.
“As it stands now I’m 100 percent opposed to that development,” Amoroso says. “We feel there’s some very severe problems with both drainage and traffic.”
Some of the questions planners will have to wrestle with in their study of the UDC include how high above floodplains people should be allowed to build, whether to add rules on impervious surfaces and whether to add more stringent requirements for stormwater studies.
As it currently stands, East Baton Rouge requires building at least one foot above base flood elevation, which is the national standard. Many other places throughout the country have adopted more stringent requirements.
M.E. Cormier, president of the Woodland Ridge Homeowners’ Association, says she and other homeowners association leaders in the area plan to rally as many residents as possible to form a “cohesive unit” to express concerns about the subdivision at the Planning Commission’s Oct. 16 meeting.
Several neighborhoods in that area flooded last year, Cormier says, and the new subdivision will only exacerbate future flooding events by removing permeable green space.
“The area was very useful to offset several feet of water last year,” she says. “I think it would behoove the city of Baton Rouge to halt all development in floodplains, especially given our most recent climate event.”
—Sam Karlin
