St. Tammany Parish Council is not swayed by the appeals of more than two dozen subdivision residents
The St. Tammany Parish Council rejected the appeals of more than two dozen residents of Lakeshore Estates near Slidell who opposed the plans for an upscale mobile home resort across a waterway from their homes. The council voted 11-2 to allow developer Robert Torres to move forward with his plans for 99 "casitas," or small houses, plus concrete pads for Class "A" mobile homes on 23 acres in the same Planned Unit Development that houses the million-dollar homes along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
View full sizeA canal in the Lakeshore Estates subdivision near Slidell was photographed in July 2010. Council members Rebecca Crawford Howell and Henry Billiot opposed the plan, and Gary Cooper was absent for the vote.
The parish's Planning Commission had approved the plans for the resort, to be called Lakeshore Cove, last month in the form of a tentative subdivision review. However, many of the residents said they did not learn about the resort until after the commission took its vote.
Shirley Wagner, who lives on Sunset Boulevard, worried that Torres wouldn't stay true to his word and would allow "anything on wheels" to park at the resort. She said she thought the resort would devalue her property and urged the council to reject the plan.
Elaine Yuratich voiced similar concerns, saying that she expected to get the "best of the best" when she moved to Lakeshore Estates. Instead, she got noxious sound and dust when Torres leased land near her home to the state for the concrete-crushing operation related to the new Twin Spans construction.
As a result, the parish assessor's office has reduced her property value and those of her neighbors by 40 percent, Yuratich said.
Another resident, Deborah Hilton, said she came to Lakeshore Estates in 2003, seeking the waterfront lifestyle that Torres advertised. But the majority of the development that he promised has never come to pass, and now she has crumbling streets and a potential view from her home of a mobile home park, she said.
Wayne Collier, who represented Torres at the appeal hearing, said that the lots at the resort would be for sale, not rent, and that the resort would cater to people such as retirees seeking a home base when not traveling elsewhere in their high-end motor homes.
In addition, he noted that the state came to Torres to lease land, not the other way around, and that Torres feels he is performing a community service by allowing the state to use his land. Collier also said that the concrete operation is occurring three-quarters of a mile from any homes.
He provided letters of support for the project to the council, but only one person spoke in favor of the project. Howell noted that the supporters had not bothered to come to the hearing, though the plan's opponents filled almost half the room.
The homes would be 800 square feet in size, with one bedroom and ample living space on 40-by-100-foot lots in their own gated community, Collier said. It would be "more upscale" than the similar Heritage resort in Gulf Shores, Ala., he said.
Councilman Richie Artigue, who represents the area, made the motion to concur with the Planning Commission's decision, saying the resort would be a good thing that wouldn't affect Lakeshore Estates whatsoever.
Christine Harvey can be reached at charvey@timespicayune.com or 985.645.2853.