LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / May 19, 2000

HAHNVILLE – Children and elderly residents can rest easier along Autin Street in Des Allemands after neighbors of a proposed self-storage facility successfully persuaded the St. Charles Parish Council to deny necessaryrezoning.

Paul Hogan, who owns the 40,000-square-foot site between Autin Street and Norman Avenue with frontage on U.S. Highway 90, applied to have a 41percent portion rezoned from residential to commercial, to match his adjoining property facing U.S. 90.Neighbors were almost universal in complaining to the parish’s Planning Commission, which unanimously rejected the application. Planning directorRobert Lambert, however approved the application and the matter went to the parish council for a final decision.

Hogan said his property now has a driveway on Autin Street, and this was one of the major points of disagreement, as residents feared increased traffic on the otherwise residential street.

“How much traffic could there be?” Councilman Lance Marino commented.

Another objection was raised regarding the type of fence planned for the facility. The parish’s zoning ordinance calls for a solid wood or masonryfence, while the neighbors preferred a chain-link fence.

They felt a chain-link fence would provide possible robbers with less concealment in the area.

Councilman Terry Authement, who represents the area, recently conducted a town hall meeting with the residents, Lambert and Hogan. Authement saidnearly 100 percent of the residents attended.

“There doesn’t appear to be any workable solution,” Authement said of the outcome of the meeting. Each side politely heard one another out, hecontinued, and no one changed their minds.

“What is there is a mistake of the past come back to haunt the parish,” Councilman G. “Ram” Ramchandran observed.The council voted 6-3 to reject Hogan’s application, with only Marino, Dee Abadie and Brian Fabre voting in support.

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