Council members in T’bonne battle moratorium

A moratorium placed on land near the CCC ditch in Gray could be rescinded sometime this week. Terrebonne Parish council members approved an ordinance to trump the measure at a board meeting last Wednesday by a vote of 5-4.

Council members Arlanda Williams, Alvin Tillman, Kevin Voisin and Terri Cavalier, a representative from the area, voted against the ordinance.

Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet will give the final word on whether the ban is dissolved.

The moratorium, enacted in March, was originally adopted to stop heavy construction in areas around the CCC ditch that took on high amounts of water during heavy rain spells in December. Officials in support of the ban said it would give the parish enough time to make changes to the 1-1B Forced Drainage System and improve water flow. Neighboring residents, mostly from Southern Estates subdivision, agreed.

The move, however, drew a quick response from local developers who claimed the moratorium could jeopardize their businesses.

Ronnie Theriot, owner of Evangeline Business Park, filed a suit in Houma’s district court at the end of March. In the suit, he blamed the measure for potentially halting the sale of about 25 acres of land to an out-of-state company for $1.9 million. He attributed unseasonably high amounts of rainfall and lack of maintenance to the 1-1B drainage system to the flooding.

“It was this [rain and flooding] that caused the Terrebonne Parish Council to have a knee-jerk reaction and pass the ordinance containing the moratorium,” he explained in the suit.

Henry Richard, a Houma-based developer, and Terrebonne Waterworks General Manager Barry Blackwell also threatened to take similar action on behalf of their company, Northpark.

Nearly three months later, the council opted to consider retracting the ban after some claimed it was not serving its purpose. Others, including Voisin, said rescinding it was a decision some made in light of legal threats.

Last Wednesday, he told listeners the parish has overgrown its drainage system and the problem, mainly flooding, was not because of the ditch itself. Instead, Voisin pinned it to under-planned growth. “We see that all over the parish,” he said.

While Voisin is not an advocate for higher taxes, he said it is hard for the parish to improve the system as quickly as it needs to with minimal funding.

Administrators noted that some work on the CCC ditch has taken place over the last five months, namely planning and permitting activities, which has moved things forward behind-the-scenes. Al Levron, the parish’s manager, admitted there is still a lot to do.

Council member Joey Cehan, who originally proposed retracting the ban, said the moratorium has degraded the piece of land it was placed on. “Now, that section has got a black mark against it,” he noted.

That stigma, builders have said, is turning buyers away and halting progress on construction projects.

Voisin argued that the “black mark” was created because of insufficient drainage, not the moratorium. He has repeatedly defended the measure, saying it was put in place so that the parish could do its job.

With the moratorium set to expire in June, some city leaders have said rescinding it is pointless. Administrators could not say whether Claudet intends to uphold the ban.