By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – South Central Planning held the first of a series of meetings last week at the Percy Hebert building, to discuss with concerned citizens its plan to help residents cope with the new uniform building codes instituted by the State of Louisiana.

Slightly over 100 people attended the meeting, which only had enough seating for 75, to discuss how the new process would work, whom would be responsible to cover the new fees and how inspections will occur. Those in attendance included homeowners, developers, contractors, draftsmen, engineers, architects and other concerned residents.

Only three weeks after it received funding to implement the new codes, South Central Planning has not fully devised a system to institute the new building codes but the planning commission’s representatives hoped resident feedback at the meeting would help shape a successful program.

&#8220It was well attended by the public and it looks like all the developers and those in attendance were wanting to help and to make sure this process we’re creating will be beneficial to everybody,” said South Central Planning CEO Kevin Belanger. &#8220I think the sentiment when we left was that it was a positive meeting. A lot of ideas spawned out of it. That’s very productive because we can take those suggestions and try to massage them into a workable plan.”

The new law, State Act Number 12, requires uniform building codes for new construction and has forced parish representatives to increase permit fees and to collaborate with South Central Planning and five other parishes to help ease the financial burden from conducting inspections.

Belanger expects the next meeting to be held in approximately two to three weeks, but suggests that people seeking information also check the planning commission’s website, http://www.scpdc.org, which will be regularly updated regarding any rule changes or other matters affecting the construction industry. The website will also provide an option to regularly e-mail residents notices of upcoming meetings and educational information.

South Central Planning has made significant progress since it received funding three weeks ago, according to Belanger, who says the commission is creating a training regiment for homeowners, plan developers and contractors to settle any concerns.

&#8220A lot of people around the state see the new law as a hinderance,” Belanger said. &#8220I look at this meeting as an opportunity to weather storms and work within a standardized process. From the public’s reaction I think they wanted it done in an effective manner, and we can’t fail. The word fail is not in our future.”