In a rare moment of disunity, members of St. Tammany Parish Council unexpectedly killed a resolution that would have ended parish government opposition to the construction of a controversial apartment complex near Covington.
The resolution before the council Monday night would have allowed Parish President Mike Cooper’s administration to settle a lawsuit brought by the developer of the Covington Trace Ridge apartments proposed at a site off Military Road not far from U.S. 190. Without that lawsuit, the developer, HRI Properties, would likely have been able to move forward with construction of their 100-unit, $34 million development.
Monday's special meeting marked the last meeting for the current council. The incoming council, with nine new members, takes office next month.
Even though the council didn’t resolve the apartment issue, it did get two major votes passed Monday: Council members approved the 2024 budget, and approved an update to the parish’s zoning codes.
Controversy over the apartment complex has roiled parish government — and the neighborhood surrounding the proposed development — for the much of the last year.
Council Chairman Jake Airey was surprised by the outcome of the vote, as was council administrator Gina Campo. They thought they had the votes to settle the issue and avoid handing it off to the next council, which takes office in January.
The council members who voted “No” may have been swayed by outgoing Council member David Fitzgerald’s impassioned speech opposing the proposed development. Fitzgerald has been a vocal opponent of the apartment complex and the Cooper administration's handling of the permitting process.
“I’m firmly convinced that what is driving this project isn’t a concern for anything in particular other than cash,” Fitzgerald said. “We want to make money but we want to do the right thing — that’s what we want to do first.”
Also a factor may have been Cooper’s unwillingness to openly support the resolution.
“Mr. Cooper, I assume since you’re co-sponsoring this that you’re in agreement with the council settling this,” Airey said, hoping to get the nod of approval from the parish president.
Cooper, however, refused. He shifted responsibility back to the council.
“No assumptions, please,” Cooper said. “This is y’all’s vote.”
He later clarified that he did support settling the lawsuit, but emphasized that in the process of handling this development, he had only sought to adhere to existing zoning laws and regulations. “The zoning, the codes — those are all established by the Parish Council,” he said.
The resolution ultimately failed in an 8-5 vote. Airey and Council members Mike Lorino, Rykert Toledano, Chris Canulette and Jerry Binder voted to settle. Fitzgerald was joined by Council members Marty Dean, Martha Cazaubon, Cheryl Tanner, Mike Smith, Maureen O'Brien, Arthur Laughlin and Ronald Randolph in opposing a settlement. Council member James Davis was absent.
The issue will now pass on to the next council — and the Covington Trace Ridge controversy will live on. The nine freshmen council members, along with the five incumbents who will stay on next term, will have to keep the lawsuit on their agenda.
With the lawsuit still on the table, the council also postponed a vote to end an investigation into Cooper’s administration’s handling of the permits related to the apartments.
As they have at every meeting on this topic, area residents arrived in numbers to voice their concerns over the project. They worry that the development will increase flood risk and traffic in the surrounding area. This is, many said, the wrong place for an apartment development of that size. The overwhelming consensus among those opposed to the project is that the apartments would be better suited to some other part of the parish.