The Iberville Parish Council approved a resolution Tuesday opposing the construction of mixed-use development Kenilworth Crossing, WBRZ-TV reports.
While the development is in an East Baton Rouge Parish special flood hazard area, and has sparked concern in its own parish. The Iberville council feared it would increase flooding across parish lines because Kenilworth Crossing would be built off Burbank Drive about five miles north of St. Gabriel in Iberville Parish.
East Baton Rouge Parish building codes prohibit outside dirt-fill to be used for elevating structures so as not to exacerbate flooding. Instead, the fill must be dug from retention ponds on the same site as the development.
The council’s resolution that developing in the special flood hazard area will increase the risk of flooding to their nearby neighborhoods is the same argument many worried homeowners have been making about similar developments since the 2016 flood.
In October the East Baton Rouge Planning and Zoning Commission approved the development saying it met city-parish building standards. The applicant, Two Blind Mice LLC, argued they had met the same standards as other projects in the city-parish. The development is now before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for approval.
