Library panel wrangles over sites

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 7, 2009 - Page: 1B

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A library board committee member summed up the difficulties of his task Friday when he said the committee has to pick a location for a new branch in south Baton Rouge from two sites which “can’t be built upon.”

The remark, which generated a little laughter, was made by subcommittee member Thomas DuBos, a Baton Rouge resident and one of four members of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library Board of Control’s South Branch Development Committee.

The frustration behind the remark has been aired by all four members, Library Board members Stanford Bardwell Jr. and Liz Tomlinson, Jermaine Watson with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, and DuBos.

The library board, armed with $6 million for the project, has proposed a library branch in south Baton Rouge and has two choices for the site: Burbank Drive south of Lee Drive or at developer Tommy Spinosa’s proposed Rouzan mixed use development at Perkins Road and College Drive.

The library board and the committee have serious concerns about both locations.

According to research done by Tomlinson, the Burbank Drive location, which has already been donated to the city-parish, is plagued with major wetlands problems.

She said the Burbank Drive land is in a flood plain, likely wouldn’t get the proper permits needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and could possibly cause flooding and drainage problems for nearby residents.

Spinosa’s Rouzan development, Bardwell said, is problematic because of two pending lawsuits involving the development that challenge the city-parish’s zoning designation and jeopardize Spinosa’s plans.

There has also been questions about Spinosa’s financial ability to follow through with Rouzan because of other lawsuits filed against him in connection with his Perkins Rowe development.

Spinosa attended the Friday committee meeting and said a couple of times that Rouzan is moving forward with various permits in place and his financing for the project is sound.

“It’s apples and oranges,” Spinosa said of the comparison between Perkins Rowe and Rouzan.

Although none of the four members has said outright which branch they would recommend to the full board, there appears to be a split between the four members with Tomlinson and Watson supporting Rouzan and Bardwell and DuBos leaning toward Burbank Drive.

Library Board President Dan Reed appointed four members to the committee.