LIVINGSTON, La. — The Livingston Parish Council approved opioid litigation funding for specialty court programs and a contested Kelly Road rezoning request Oct. 22, while sending another rezoning request back to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The council first discussed a resolution authorizing the parish president to execute a contract between the council and the 21st Judicial District Court to distribute and use local government opioid litigation funds for certain court programs.
Judges Brian Abels and Charlotte Foster addressed the council about the court’s specialty programs, which provide opioid remediation for eligible residents with opioid use disorder.
Funding for these programs originally came through a federal grant awarded to the court in 2021. However, the nonrenewable grant has expired, prompting the request for funding.
One program, the Veterans Court Program, provides benefits to veterans and covers treatment expenses. Eligible participants are veterans in the criminal justice system, excluding those with a violent or sexual offense or a dishonorable discharge. The four-phase, 18-month program includes counseling services to help veterans with opioid use disorder.
The Drug Court Program is a broader opioid mitigation program that seeks to help between 160 and 200 people in the criminal justice system who have opioid use disorder. Each month, the court system logs 2,000 hours of treatment and 1,600 drug screenings in specialty courts, including the Juvenile Drug Court Program, which will also receive support through the resolution.
Foster explained to the council that “you see people who have run out of options, they don't have family connections, and everyone’s given up on them… they start our program… they catch traction, you can see when they start turning the corner, they get their pride back. Once they really start putting that energy from trying to find drugs into their life they get relationships back, they get jobs, they get promoted… they just blossom in front of your very eyes.”
“It truly is one of the best ways you can spend money – to help these people get back to the person that they were supposed to be,” Foster added.
The council unanimously approved the resolution.
The first rezoning ordinance to draw opposition involved a request to change two tracts on Kelly Road from Agriculture (AG) to Rural Single Family (R1).
Lisa Vicari spoke first, saying she wants the area to remain a peaceful, agricultural farming community. She expressed her belief that there are “other underlying motives” for rezoning the property rather than dividing it so the owner’s four heirs can build homes on their sections.
“We, the neighboring residents, need a clear understanding of the uses and density that could follow,” Vicari said.
Michelle Stilly then read a letter on behalf of Megan House, who could not attend the meeting.
House’s letter also expressed concern about preserving the area’s rural character, including its open land, privacy, and atmosphere.
The letter also alleged spot zoning, “raising legitimate questions about fairness, consistency, and the long term implications for neighboring property owners.”
Property owner Jim Kelly then defended his request to divide the property among his four children.
Kelly cited his past work on the School Board Committee as evidence that he “did work in the communities,” noting that he “farmed that land, plowed it with a mule and a plow… so I’m not the kind of people that I hear that’s coming in to take over and bring in bad folks.”
Pamela Kelly-Lenton, one of Kelly’s children, explained to the council and audience that “what we are seeking to do is to take that land that he and my mother paid for… and get it into those four pieces.”
“If it were up to us, the land would remain agricultural, but the ordinances don’t allow for that. If we could do a family partition we would but that’s [to divide] into three. There are four of us,” Kelly-Lenton added.
She also noted that “when people talk about it being a pleasant environment, we helped it be a pleasant environment because we’ve been there over 80 years. We were there before many neighbors, we were there before many people were even born.”
The motion to approve the rezoning passed, with Councilwoman Erin Sandefur abstaining and Councilmen Joe Erdey and Dean Coates voting against it.
The second rezoning ordinance to draw debate involved a request to change a tract on Duncan Bluff Road from AG to Single Family (R2).
John Muninger, who has headed the Architectural Review Board for the past 17 years and is a volunteer member of the Community Development District Board, expressed support for the request. He said he has seen the nearby Carter Plantation area grow from 60 homes to 287 during his time serving and expressed surprise at the opposition to further growth.
“We have more than adequate water capacity,” Muninger added, saying opponents “simply don’t want any kind of development on that property at all. They want it to remain as it is, but that is to deny the reality of growth.”
Jamie Lee, a homeowner in the community and a member of the neighborhood homeowners association, asked the council to require the developer to submit plans showing consistency with the future land use plan and sufficient infrastructure to support the development.
Lee said the property is classified as a conservation area in the future land use plan, adding that “he is talking about bringing those homeowners through our residence… on residential streets we have no sidewalks, we have children and dogs and we are talking about 1,000 more cars a day… there has been no traffic study done and we, at least, deserve that.”
Jim Johnson, another resident, also expressed concern, noting that “R2 allows four houses per acre… so 100 acres there, that’s potentially 400 houses not 133. Granted, they’d have to use some of it for roads, maybe a little green space, but still that’s a lot of traffic, a lot of people coming through there, and the roads simply can’t support it.”
The council unanimously approved a motion to send the request back to the Planning and Zoning Commission so the community could play a more active role in plans for the property’s development. The meeting adjourned shortly afterward.
