With an agenda packed with significant measures regarding annexations, roadway development policies, new bus routes and a committee to review applicants for the vacant parish attorney position, the Metro Council didn’t take a holiday on Tuesday evening.
Instead, the council OK’d all four of the measures without objections.
Roughly 35 homeowners in the Legacy Court subdivision, located off Coursey Boulevard just east of its intersection with Stumberg Lane, are the latest property owners to receive annexation into the City of Baton Rouge.
While the council has OK’d a number of annexations into the City of Baton Rouge since May—including the campuses of Baton Rouge General Medical Center (Bluebonnet) and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, as well as L’Auberge Casino & Hotel, the LSU South Campus and portions of the Mall of Louisiana—Tuesday’s annexation of approximately 5.9 acres is the first residential annexation. Homeowners from the subdivision told the council they wanted annexation into Baton Rouge because they do not want to be a part of the proposed city of St. George, which they would be if the incorporation effort is successful.
With approval of a new policy called Complete Streets, all new road construction and improvements must now adhere to a rough code that requires projects to be designed with not just cars in mind, but also pedestrians, bikes, public transportation, emergency responders and delivery vehicles, with special attention paid to needs of the disabled and elderly.
Baton Rouge joins more than 500 regional and local municipalities and 27 states—including Louisiana—that have adopted a Complete Streets policy. The local plan now calls for two committees to be established. A technical committee made up of city-parish planning officials will review current policies, take inventory of pedestrian and biking infrastructure, and prioritize a list of projects. A 13-member advisory committee will also be established, made up of special interest advocacy groups, academics and citizens-at-large; it would oversee and approve the technical committee’s actions.
After deferring approval of three new Capital Area Transit System routes last month, the council on Tuesday approved the routes, bringing the total number of CATS routes to 33. The three new routes include an LSU Express Route, a Nicholson Limited Route and a Garden District Trolley. Meanwhile, CATS continues to look at three short-term options for relocation of a downtown transfer hub that’s currently located outside the Old State Capitol.
And roughly six weeks after the council voted to fire embattled Parish Attorney Mary Roper, it OK’d Tuesday a committee to review applicants for the vacant position. The committee will include four councilmembers—Ryan Heck, Chauna Banks-Daniel, Trae Welch and C. Denise Marcelle—as well as representatives from the LSU and Southern law centers and the Baton Rouge Bar Association. —Steve Sanoski
