Mayor Kip Holden is again weighing in on the dispute over the barge cleaning facility proposed for a 60-acre site on River Road owned by the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. The Metro Council tonight is expected to consider a request filed by two local council members to rezone the property from heavy industrial to commercial, which would effectively kill the project before it gets started.
As reported earlier today by Daily Report, the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors opposes the rezoning and has sent a letter to the council explaining the reasons for its opposition, which center on the potential violation of a land owner’s property rights.
In an email sent this afternoon to GBRAR President Herb Gomez and obtained by Daily Report, Holden says the organization’s position on the issue is wrong.
“The property being considered for rezoning belongs to the Port of Greater Baton Rouge … a political subdivision of the State,” the mayor says. “Therefore, the land in question is public property and belongs to the citizens of Louisiana. … I would suggest to you that by NOT passing the proposed zoning change you are in fact violating the property rights of the citizens surrounding the proposed project, the thousands of citizens who utilize the BREC Park paid for by the property taxes of the citizens of this Parish.”
In a reply email, Gomez says the issue has “everything to do with property rights.”
“…Your issue is with (the Port) and convincing them to request their appointed members to request the zoning change or not make the deal with the vendor,” Gomez writes. “Since they have not then, in our eyes, it is absolutely a matter of property rights and we stand by our comments in the email.”
Controversy over the barge cleaning facility, which is being developed by Tubal Cain Marine Services, came to light earlier this summer, when residents who live near the site were notified of a Department of Environmental Quality hearing on the project. That hearing, after being delayed for a month, was held last night. DEQ has not decided yet whether to issue permits to Tubal Cain. Holden fired off a scathing letter to Port Executive Director Jay Hardman in July that criticized Hardman, who has defended the proposed facility since the controversy emerged.
In the meantime, some city leaders have been trying to rezone the property. The Planning Commission approved the rezoning Monday. The council meets to take up the issue at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Governmental Building, 222 St. Louis St.
—Stephanie Riegel
