Nearly a week after voters in the proposed footprint of the city of St. George voted to incorporate, one of the commercial properties within the new city will file a petition, either later today or Monday, seeking annexation into the city of Baton Rouge.
Attorney Charles Landry confirms he is representing an undisclosed commercial property owner that wants out of St. George and into Baton Rouge. The petition, which, by law, must be submitted to the Metro Council, is forthcoming, he says.
The request is expected to be the first of several, perhaps many, that will be filed in coming days by subdivisions and individual property owners, who were drawn into the 60-square-mile city but didn’t support incorporation at the ballot box Oct. 12.
Only properties adjacent to the boundaries of the city of Baton Rouge are eligible for annexation. A petition requires that a simple majority—50% plus one—of those in an area seeking annexation sign the petition.
Landry, a real estate attorney, is something of an expert on the subject. During the first St. George incorporation effort several years ago, he represented the Mall of Louisiana, Siegen Lane Marketplace, LSU, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and Baton Rouge General Hospital in their successful attempts to become part of the city of Baton Rouge.
Those annexations were ultimately a factor in the defeat of the initial incorporation attempt.
Over the past six days, Landry says his phone has been ringing off the hook, with property owners seeking advice about what annexation involves. At the moment, he says the only client that has retained him to help seek annexation is the commercial property owner.
“I have spoken to no less than 50 people since Saturday about annexation and I’ve given a lot of free information,” he says. “Everybody in town is getting calls about annexation. I bet every law firm in the city is working on it.”
St. George spokesman Andrew Murrell was not immediately available for comment.
Metro Council administrator Ashley Beck says she has not received any petitions yet, but is expecting some today or Monday. Earlier this week, One Baton Rouge organizer M.E. Cormier said her group was helping half a dozen neighborhoods begin the annexation process.
In early November, One Baton Rouge and others opposed to the St. George incorporation are planning a sign-up day, intended to help facilitate the annexation process for neighborhoods hoping to become part of the city of Baton Rouge.
