Rouzan, the Southdowns-area Traditional Neighborhood Development, is once again on the agenda of the Planning Commission.
This time, the issue is a proposed amendment to the TND’s concept plan and final development plan that will allow for three new curb cuts on Perkins Road designed to facilitate traffic into and out of the development.
Two of the cuts—one, a right-turn in only; the other, a right-turn out only—will enable motorists direct access to the Sprouts supermarket parking lot from Perkins Road. The third cut—a single driveway allowing right-turning vehicles both ingress and egress—will provide direct access to a new daycare center, currently under construction.
Though a small thing, the curb cuts have become an issue for Rouzan developers John Engquist and Charles Landry, as well as for Tommy Spinosa, Rouzan’s original developer, who still owns and is developing the four-acre commercial parcel that is home to Sprouts.
Engquist and Landry own the rest of the development, including the site on which the daycare center is located.
The problem is that Spinosa’s construction crews made the cuts to the Sprouts lot before seeking approval to amend the plans, which do not include the curb cuts.
Though the cuts have since been blocked off to prevent usage, some residents are wary that the rigid TND approval process was circumvented, potentially at the expense of pedestrian and traffic safety.
“I would ask (the Planning Commission) to stipulate that there needs to be additional safety measures before the cuts are used,” says Carol Anne Brown, a member of the Southside Civic Association, who says she will be speaking only for herself, as the association has declined to take a position on the issue.
Spinosa balks at the idea that the process was not followed. While he acknowledges he did not seek Planning Commission approval to make the new curb cuts, he did seek and was granted approval from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, which oversees Perkins Road because it’s a state roadway.
“We got a permit from the state,” he says. “It was approved. We commenced construction and were later informed we needed to go through the city for a permit. … I don’t necessarily agree with that because it is not a city road and the cuts are technically outside the boundaries of the TND. But (Planning Director) Frank Duke makes the rules. I follow them.”
Duke says the plans should have been amended before the curb cuts were made, but says because of the DOTD approval the Planning Commission cannot deny the changes. Planning department staff has also recommended approval.
Planning department staff also recommends approving the curb cut to the daycare center. Engquist and Landry secured approval earlier this fall from the Planning Commission to use the driveway for construction vehicles. Southdowns area residents have not expressed concerns about that curb cut presenting a safety hazard.
Landry says all the curb cuts are safe because they are designed to prevent vehicles from turning into or out of the driveways from the left, where they would have to cross two lanes of traffic on busy Perkins Road.
Landry also notes that a new deceleration lane has been constructed on Perkins Road to facilitate better, safer traffic flow from vehicles making a right turn into the development.
The Planning Commission meets at 5 p.m in the Metro Council chambers at 222 St. Louis St.
