Shannon development plan moves forward

The Morgan City Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday approved a rezoning that brings city plans for the Shannon Elementary property closer to reality.

The rezoning affects the portion of the historic school property on which Mayor Lee Dragna has proposed a residential development. Now it’s up to the City Council whether to ratify the planning and zoning board’s recommendation.

The rezoning would affect 1.6 acres on the Shannon property, once the home of Morgan City High and then Shannon Elementary until the school was closed in 2016.
The tract would be rezoned to R-1E Residential. That would limit the property to single-family dwellings, prohibiting mobile and manufactured homes, containerized homes,
accessory buildings, temporary portable covers and detached garages.

The St. Mary Parish School Board had hoped to sell the property in order to free itself from insurance and maintenance costs.

In 2021, Dragna proposed the sale of the property to the city government, which could use the school building for programs such as Biddy Basketball. The School Board agreed to sell the property to the city government for $100,000.

Included in Dragna’s proposal were plans for the residential development of 16 lots, now 15, each about 47 feet by 75 feet, laid out in two rows with a long, narrow common
space between them.

At the June planning and zoning meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Solar described his vision for the development. He described garden-style homes that require less maintenance than larger houses.

There was some push-back at the June meeting over the potential increase in traffic; concern that rising home insurance cost would stick the city lots it couldn’t sell; and the idea that the development wouldn’t attract new residents but only attract people who already live in the area.

Damon Robison, a Berwick resident whose family owns L-H Printing in Morgan City, served on Berwick’s development board when the district planned Renwick Subdivision more than 20 years ago.

The people who moved to Renwick came from other local communities, Robison said.

“They were looking for a home,” Robison said. “But the homes they left behind, someone else moved in. We really didn’t lose any citizens here in Morgan City.”

During the development of Renwick, where the first home was built in 2000, Robison said there were already inquiries about smaller, garden-style homes that would appeal to retirees, widows, single-parent families and others.

“They don’t want to cut grass,” Robison said. “They don’t want to do a lot of housekeeping. They want to be comfortable.

“I think [the Morgan City development] will be well-received.”

The commission passed the rezoning motion on a voice vote without objection but with one abstention from Commissioner Diane Martin.

She spoke in favor of restoring the city’s older homes
.
“Not that I’m against what you’re doing,” Martin said. “I just feel there’s so much we’re losing, the character of our little town could be so much better than it is, than having all these old houses sitting there rotting.”

The ownership of the property has passed to Morgan City’s development district, the entity that will actually sell the lots.