Central soon to become fourth city in EBR

• By SONYA KIMBRELL
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Dec 30, 2005

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For years, people living in the community of Central in the northeast part of East Baton Rouge Parish have talked about turning their community into a city.

In a special election held in April, voters in Central made their community the fourth city in East Baton Rouge Parish and the 12th-largest city in Louisiana by approving a measure to incorporate.

The area that will be the city of Central will have a population of about 27,000 and contains 62 square miles.

Boundaries of the new city will be the Comite River to the west and south, the Amite River and Livingston Parish line to the east and La. 64 to the north.

Northeast Baton Rouge residents started their first serious attempt at incorporation in the fall of 2004. They collected more than 4,000 signatures, but Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti rejected the first petition because of its wording.

Rather than appeal the decision, Citizens of Northeast Baton Rouge decided to launch another petition drive.

Backers of incorporation collected more than 4,000 signatures on the second petition, which the parish registrar of voters certified. Gov. Kathleen Blanco set an election.

The push for incorporation was not without opposition, but of the 8,190 people who voted in the special election, 5,126 voted yes and 3,064 voted no. The area that will be the city of Central has about 18,000 registered voters.

The city will operate on $5.4 million budget. An interim mayor and council will be appointed by the Legislature to make the city operational. In the meantime, East Baton Rouge Parish will continue to collect sales taxes and provide services.

Much of the area that's included in the new city of Central is rural. However, there are growing commercial business zones along Sullivan and Hooper roads that include such big-name chains as Wal-Mart and Walgreens, as well as locally-owned businesses.

There are four public schools in Central: Central High School, Central Middle School, Tanglewood Elementary School and Bellingrath Hills Elementary School. They are part of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system.

Creating an independent school system was the driving force behind incorporation, although it is a separate issue. Backers of incorporation have said that creating an independent school system is at least a year away.

After the election was certified, there was a 30-day waiting period required by law before the city could begin operating. A lawsuit opposing the incorporation has extended that waiting period.