FuturEBR

[richyb83]

Missed this article from early August ; can't locate today's new aarticle  for the Kenilworth shopping center ....residential units on the upper floors ?   3 or 4 stories?

‘Live/work’ mixed use development planned near Kenilworth Shopping Center

ttps://www.businessreport.com/newsletters/live-work-mixed-use-development-being-considered-near-kenilworth-shopping-center

 

[richyb83]

Wonder what ever became of the above post?

Will EBR’s new master plan increase focus on infill development?

https://www.businessreport.com/business/will-ebrs-new-master-plan-increase-focus-on-infill-development

The current plan adopted in 2018 states that Baton Rouge’s growth trends tend to favor “decentralized and fragmented” development, which puts a strain on public budgets for providing infrastructure. The current strategy calls for 10% of new growth to take the form of infill or redevelopment.

The Planning Commission’s latest annual report says recent new development has exceeded that threshold. About 19% of new residential permits in 2022 were issued for either downtown or in “urban/walkable” areas—the highest share since the data has been tracked—along with almost 22% of commercial permits, the report states. Still, most residential and commercial permits (over 75%) were for suburban areas. 

[richyb83]

Baton Rouge faces $103,000 court setback over land for MovEBR traffic project

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/judge-blocks-expropriation-for-movebr-project/article_a257e01c-b492-11ed-b133-139089273e01.html

A judge has blocked Baton Rouge's attempt to seize land from a family for the MovEBR roadway improvement project, saying the city-parish "moved too fast" in suing to take the property.

After dismissing the city-parish's lawsuit last year, Judge Richard Moore ruled earlier this month that the city-parish must pay $103,000 to Terrence Donahue Sr., Patricia O'Neal Donahue and Terrence "Joe" Donahue Jr., who officials sued in 2021 in an attempt to expropriate land in front of their Old Hammond Highway Home. The land is needed for a project to widen the road and install medians and sidewalks between Millerville Road and O'Neal lane. 

Joe Donahue, who is also an attorney and represented the family, says the judge sided with his argument that the parish was trying to rush negotiations over how much to pay for the land.

“You can’t try to get a bargain,” Donahue said. “You can’t try to coerce people into paying less that they’re owed as a governmental entity who has the authority to go out there and take it without consent if you don’t get an agreement you like.”

The project is one of 71 planned under Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome’s $1 billion traffic improvement initiative, which is funded mostly by a parishwide half-cent sales tax. The city-parish estimates it will have to acquire 1,300 parcels of land over the life of MovEBR, according to a 2019 request for qualifications.

The case shows how difficult and time-consuming it could be for the city to obtain all those parcels through eminent domain, potentially delaying construction.

Along with the Donahues, the city-parish needs to acquire parcels of land from property owners along either side of a one-mile stretch of Old Hammond Highway in order to widen the road. The city-parish has the ability under state law to exercise eminent domain for projects, but it’s required to prove that the land seizure will benefit the public.

Donahue, a former Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development attorney, argued the city-parish’s lawsuit should be dismissed because it failed to meet minimum planning requirements and failed to prove its entitlement to the land.

[richyb83]

What’s the latest on the update to FuturEBR?

https://www.businessreport.com/business/whats-the-latest-on-the-update-to-futurebr

City-parish planning staff will update the planning commission on how work is progressing on revising the city-parishe’s comprehensive master plan, FuturEBR, on Monday, Aug. 14. 

More than 500 people have given input over the last few months regarding the five-year update of FuturEBR, according to Planning Director Ryan Holcomb. FuturEBR covers the city of Baton Rouge and the unincorporated areas of the parish and defines land use and policies intended to guide and address both current and future needs of the parish.

More than 125 people attended the initial round of community meetings held over the summer to solicit local feedback on the plan and 385 surveys were submitted, according to Holcomb.

“Planning staff is currently reviewing all of the comments submitted and we’ll respond at the next round of meetings,” Holcomb says. 

Some of the public input staff received indicate a desire for affordable housing options in the parish, he says, so staff members are considering making revisions to FuturEBR’s land-use map to help encourage diverse housing developments and increase densities where appropriate. 

They are also looking to incorporate plans that have been released since the original version of FuturEBR was released, such as the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, the Stormwater Master Plan and the Baton Rouge Electric Vehicle Strategic Plan. 

The next set of community meetings will be Aug. 23, Aug. 29 and Sept. 6. Holcomb anticipates the FuturEBR update to go before the Planning Commission and Metro Council for approval by the end of the year.