Parish Council won't relent on hotel demolition

Staff report
Patience was in short supply at the March 25 St. Mary Parish Council meeting.
Council members were not inclined to give ownership more time to repair the dilapidated and condemned Plantation Inn Hotel in Bayou Vista, despite more pleas from the ownership.
And Franklin’s fire chief wants to update the contract under which his department provides protection for Fire Protection District No. 5. If there’s no action in 30 days, “we’re done,” Franklin Fire Chief Chuck Bourgeois said.
Council members began kicking around the idea of putting a tax before voters by the end of the year.
Plantation Inn
The council voted Feb. 11 to condemn the hotel, finding it to be “in a dilapidated and dangerous condition which endangers the public welfare.” The ordinance gave the owners 60 days to demolish buildings on the property and remove the debris.
The council had already rescinded one condemnation to give owners Anything You Want LLC and D Palm Hotel LLC, which acquired the property in 2024, more time to make repairs.
Yanik “Alex” Arda, representing the owners, argued that “it’s cheaper to fix it than the demolition. And I’m going to be honest with you. If we can’t work something out, I’m not going to demolish it. I’m not going to give in either.”
Arda and a contractor told the council that the site has been vandalized and that he has received little help from the Sheriff’s Office. Arda argued for the economic benefits of having the hotel restored rather than torn down.
Councilmen J Ina of Franklin and Patrick Hebert of Berwick weren’t having it.
Ina asked what repairs had been done since Arda appeared before the council last month. Arda replied that he thought the condemnation meant he wasn’t allowed to touch the property.
Ina also referred to a suggestion that the owners put money in escrow as a sign of good faith. But no money had been set aside for the purpose.
“You came up here several times and said what you were going to do and you haven’t done it,” Ina said.
Ina and Hebert, who is a contractor, said the owners haven’t applied for any of the needed permits.
No work can be performed without an architect or engineer and without plans approved by the fire marshal, Hebert said.
“You’re a long way from attempting to do anything because you have no architect and no engineer,” Hebert said.
Ina cut off further discussion, and the council took no action to delay the demolition.
Fire district
Bourgeois’ comments were more congenial than the “we’re done” statement might indicate. But he made it clear that the Franklin department will no longer provide fire protection in rural Fire Protection District No. 5 under the terms of the original 1987 contract with the parish.
The parish pays $3,000 a year — $2,700 to Franklin, and $300 to Baldwin’s firefighters — for protection in District No. 5.
Bourgeois quoted from a letter written by Franklin Mayor Eugene Foulcard: “Over the past decades, the cost of providing essential fire services has significantly increased due to changes in services, demands for training and operational requirements,” Bourgeois read.
The city government has received no reply, the chief said.
The district covers 125 square miles compared to Franklin’s 10 square miles, Bourgeois said. And the district’s population has tripled since the contract went into effect.
To make matters worse, the parish government didn’t provide the annual $16,000 allocation in 2025 and paid only a portion of the allocation in 2024
“It’s hard enough running the Fire Department on limited funding from the parish, which is 3.3% of my budget,” Bourgeois said.
In the last round of insurance ratings, both the city and district were upgraded, saving property owners money on their fire insurance. If the Franklin department stops providing service in the district, homeowners will pay more, Bourgeois said.
“You’ve got 30 days to negotiate this contract,” Bourgeois said. “And if at the end of 30 days I don’t have something that I can accept, we’re done,” Bourgeois.
A quarter-cent sales tax would raise more than $2.9 million, which could provide about $247,000 each for 12 rural departments, he said. Council members also talked about the possibility of passing a property tax.
“You think I’d be up here asking for money if we could do that?” Bourgeois said.
Council members talked about a possible millage but took no final action at the meeting.