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Neighbors speak out against potential flooding slip would invite


By MIKE BROSSETTE


Residents living in the area of the Barrios subdivision in Houma packed a meeting of the Terrebonne Parish Council to protest the construction of a boat slip connecting to the Intracoastal Waterway near the subdivision.

But residents may be able to put their concerns to rest, at least for a while.


At its regular April 23 meeting, the Houma-Terrebonne Regional Planning Commission rejected preliminary designs for the proposed Hollygrove subdivision, which would contain the more than 3,000-foot boat slip.


Homeowners in the Barrios subdivision, which abuts the proposed Hollygrove development, are fearful the slip will act as a conduit for storm surge when hurricanes hit. The Barrios subdivision is located between the Intracoastal Waterway and Bayou Black. Mulberry Elementary School is in the subdivision.

“This is not a boat slip, it’s a canal,” said Barrios resident Judy Lebouef. “I am against any developer bringing water close to our area.”


Gerald Giroir presented a petition to the parish council containing the names of around 380 residents opposed to the construction of the slip. Giroir and another Barrios resident, Ida Klingman, said the slip would increase the chance of flooding.


Former Terrebonne Parish Councilman Harold Lapeyre, who lives in Barrios, said he believes that floodgates need to be installed before a boat slip is cut through. He also told the council that Hollygrove subdivision can be developed without constructing the slip.

Councilman Kevin Voisin, whose district contains Barrios, said he is opposed generally to new waterway construction in Terrebonne.


“The slip will bring water incredibly close to homes,” Voisin said. “It scares me. I’m concerned about insurance rates.”


“Canals have created a mess, but they’ve also brought good things,” he said.

South Hollywood Properties #1, the developer of Hollygrove, can appeal the Regional Planning Commission’s decision to the Terrebonne Parish Council. A proposed South Hollywood Properties real estate development located near Hollygrove-Concord Business Park-was also denied by the commission.


The parish council could send the boat slip issue back to the planning commission, said Regional Planning Commission member Jim Erny.


According to Terrebonne Parish Manager Pat Gordon, infrastructure improvements needed in the Hollygrove subdivision would have to be approved by the parish council and zoning changes would be required.

Gordon also said a parish engineer would evaluate whether a storm surge could travel along the boat slip, which would be up to 150 feet wide.

Erny, a former levee district director in Terrebonne, said he wanted to go through with developing Hollygrove and its slip.

“I didn’t think it would create that much of a problem,” he said. “I’ve been involved with drainage a long time. A lot of it is unfounded. The development is being held up because people are scared.”

Also at last week’s parish council meeting, Berry Rodrigue, owner of Berry’s Towing and Recovery in Gray, and Abel Cantrelle with Advantage Collision Center in Houma, told the parish council that parish zoning ordinances need to be changed to allow tow truck owners to park the vehicles at their homes.

Parish zoning bars commercial tow trucks from being parked at residences, Gordon said.

Rodrigue, vice president of the Towing and Recovery Professionals of Louisiana, said that when he receives a call from state police to go to a wreck site, he has to first drive to the office to pick up the tow truck, wasting valuable time.

“State police said we need you (tow trucks) there as soon as possible,” Cantrelle said.

Councilman Kevin Voisin said the parish had received a call about a tow truck parked in Cantrelle’s yard.

Gordon said the call for Cantrelle’s truck was the first time a towing vehicle was cited for being parked at a residence. Police and deputies’ cars can park at residences because they are not commercial vehicles, Gordon said.

The council voted to ask the Regional Planning Commission for a recommendation on the zoning ordinance change.

The council dealt briefly with two other issues. Phil Schexnayder with Gulf South Engineers told Councilwoman Teri Cavalier that construction plans for a pedestrian crossing and a pedestrian bridge over Bayou Terrebonne in front of H.L. Bourgeois High School have been reviewed by the state and will go out to bid.

Cavalier is pushing for construction to begin before the end of the spring semester. Sidewalks from Bourgeois to Evergreen Junior High School are also planned.

Councilman Alvin Tillman said he will fight the demolition of the former home of late jazz pioneer “Father” Al Lewis, born in Houma in 1904.

Lewis’ home at 516 Roosevelt St. near downtown Houma was on a list of condemned properties read out at the council meeting.

Tillman wants the house to be placed on a proposed African-American Trail in Terrebonne Parish.