Parish creates permit procedure for certain facilities

The St. Landry Parish Council has created a series of hoops through which anyone wishing to open a mental health center, general hospital, nursing home, halfway house, detox center, forensic facility and such will have to jump in order to be licensed to operate.
Drafting of the ordinance for the permitting procedure began earlier this summer after residents of a high-end residential area near Sunset learned their neighborhood was the proposed target site of Acadiana Addiction Center.
The council, following a public meeting attended by several dozen Choctaw Road-area residents there to be heard on the subject, all of them with essentially the same message, on Wednesday night created the permitting process on a 13-0 vote.
Gaining a permit will require agreement of at least 75 percent of residents lying withingh 1,000 feet of any such proposed location.
Additionally, no such facility can be located within 1,000 feet of any premised authorized to deal in alcoholic beverages in the parish.
Any such facilities already operated in the parish are grandfathered by the ordinance.
Under the ordinance, final approval of a permit application is subject to the approval of the parish president and parish council.
Parish President Bill Fontenot attempted to have the council’s assent deleted from the ordinance but was unsuccessful.
He believes the permitting is an executive function resting with the parish president, not a legislative function resting with the council.
Before the vote, Eunice at-large alderman and former parish counsel encouraged passage of the permitting ordinance, saying it would help keep traditional neighborhood uses in place as the parish grows.