Parish Council OKs member's rezoning request

The St. Mary Parish Council on Wednesday approved a rezoning request for one of its members, despite vocal opposition from some of his neighbors.
The council approved a rezoning that would allow Councilman J Ina’s house on Franklin's Robert Street to be used for a youth group home. The rezoning changed the property's agricultural zoning to neighborhood commercial.
Among the three people who spoke against the rezoning Wednesday, the key issues were safety and fear that the change would open the way for other businesses at the Robert Street address.
For council members and President Sam Jones, the conflict was between property rights and majority rule.
The home would be limited by regulations to no more than four young men, and the home would be required to be staffed with trained adults.
Neighborhood resident Charmaine St. Germane, who lives on Hospital Avenue, said she was a teacher for more than 30 years and helped start a camp for youths in Franklin. Now she lives in a quiet neighborhood populated mainly by older people.
“At this time of my life, I wouldn’t want to have extra worry and stress,” St. Germane said. Nor would she want “a business opened up next to my back yard.”
Alice Freeman is a Cynthia Street resident.
“Our concern are having a business like that, and I know kids need homes and everything, but we wouldn’t want that home to be a business like that,” Freeman said.
Another issue: Whether the youths at the home would be properly supervised.
Another neighborhood resident, Tony LeJeune, said his fear is that once the home is allowed to be a business, “It’s over.”
“My issue is with the commercial part of it,” LeJeune said.
But Ina asked Freeman whether she owns rental property in the area, which she does. Tenants at one home she owns has attracted police attention, Ina said.
He also rejected concern about whether another business would move in if his group home fails.
“Do you think I should have that right to be able to start a business as a business owner and a property owner,” Ina asked LeJeune, “and to have the business before we talk about it failing?”
Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews spoke up for the home’s potential therapeutic benefits.
“We’re shooting something down before it has the opportunity to breathe life,” Mathews said.
Jones, a former Franklin mayor, talked about attempts to annex homes in the area into the city. Neighbors were almost unanimously opposed, he said.
“This is the United States of America,” Jones said. “And if they don’t want to be there, why put them in?”
“I absolutely agree,” Ina responded. “This is the United States of America, and there are laws to protect people from being discriminated against because of fears, prejudice and speculation.”
Councilman Dean Adams of Morgan City said people are free to seek a variance as well as to oppose that request.
“At the end of the day,” Adams said, “we have to look at what’s good for the neighborhood.”
Adams and Councilman Rodney Olander of Franklin voted against the rezoning, which passed 6-2. Ina and Councilman Les Rulf of Patterson abstained, and Chairwoman Gwendolyn Hidalgo was absent.
The yes votes came from James “Jimmie” Davis of Morgan City, Mark Duhon of Amelia, Dr. Kristy Prejeant Rink of Centerville, Patrick Hebert of Berwick, David Hill of Bayou Vista and Mathews.
The council also passed these resolutions and proclamations.
•At the request of Council on Aging Director Beverly Domengeaux, the council voted to proclaim September to be Senior Citizen Center Month in St. Mary.
The council operates three senior centers in St. Mary serving 50 seniors a day and provides meals at the centers and meal delivery to the homebound.
The council has a waiting list for services and needs more people for its staff, Domengeaux said.
•The council voted to support the third annual Puttin’ on the Pink, a project of the Roots & Ribbons Foundation.
The foundation was started to keep local donations in the local area for the support of breast cancer survivors. This year’s Puttin’ on the Pink 5K will be 4 p.m. Oct. 4 at Patterson’s Morey Park.
Last year’s Puttin’ on the Pink drew 350 people, including at least 50 breast cancer survivors.
•The council passed a resolution of respect for Lorena Gaudet Aucoin, the grandmother of Hebert’s wife. She died Aug. 12, four hours before she would have turned 104 years old.