Rezoning Moratoriums in St. Tammany Parish Will Stay the Same for the Time Being
December 2020 began a debate among the St. Tammany council whether to proceed with an amendment that would have fewer restraints on establishing or extending a moratorium. The St. Tammany Parish Council has decided to table the amendment that would change how rezoning moratoriums are adopted and extended.
In April 2021, council members narrowly voted to introduce a version that would remove the requirement that the council member requesting a moratorium present a written justification and a timeline and process for addressing the reasons for applying it, and an account of any progress being made toward addressing the issues when requesting that the moratorium be renewed. It was again set aside on May 6th’s meeting, and another version of the amendment was moved by District 11 Councilman Steve Stefancik and seconded by District 14 Councilman T.J. Smith.
This newer version would change the requirement for written justification regarding the enacting moratorium. The time for which a member would have to update the council regarding a new moratorium would be pushed back from three months to six months. Among them were several council members, District 7’s Jimmie Davis, who did not agree with changing the time frame from three months to six months.
District 13 Councilman Jake Airey moved to remove the amendment from the table completely. “What’s existing in law will stay there. If people then want to make changes, so be it, but this alphabet soup is just too hard to follow,” Airey commented. This motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
