A Baton Rouge district judge this morning dismissed a lawsuit filed against the city of Central and city officials by three Central residents trying to stop the development of the Settlement at Shoe Creek.
Judge Wilson Fields dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, during a preliminary injunction hearing nearly one month after he denied issuing a temporary injunction to stop the traditional neighborhood development from being built on Sullivan Road.
Central Mayor Inez “Jr” Shelton says he never doubted they would emerge victorious, but laments the nearly $80,000 the city had to spend defending itself against the accusations.
“We were very confident of what we were doing was legal and justified,” Shelton says.
The plaintiffs—Mark David Freneaux, Michael Mannino and Michael Stephens—filed the lawsuit in August claiming the mayor and city council violated zoning ordinances when they approved the TND. Seth Dornier and Winston Riddick, attorneys for the three plaintiffs, told Fields they will appeal the ruling, according to court records.
Attempts to reach Dornier and Riddick for comment were unsuccessful before today’s afternoon deadline.
As planned, Shoe Creek will feature 447 single-family homes, 250 apartment units, more than 100,000 square feet of commercial real estate, neighborhood parks, green spaces and a village square for events.
The Lafayette developer behind the project, Robert Daigle, has purchased 120 acres of land in Central for the TND for roughly $4.2 million. Daigle, the co-founder of Southern Lifestyle Development, helped develop River Ranch in Lafayette more than a decade ago.
“It’s our understanding that the TND is going to get started and get moving,” Shelton says. “We believe, we have always believed, this is going to be an economic engine for the city.”
—Ryan Broussard
