Inside Report for Oct. 21, 2008

• By KORAN ADDO
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Oct 21, 2008 - Page: 7B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Port Allen is growing. Both in size as the city continues to annex unincorporated areas, and in population as more people choose to move across the river from Baton Rouge.

In the run-up to the Oct. 4 primary elections, several candidates running for office in West Baton Rouge Parish delivered the phrase, “Growth is good, but only if it’s smart growth,” in various forms.

At an Oct. 9 West Baton Rouge Parish Council meeting, growth versus smart growth was again a hot topic as Jason Creighton, a developer with WBR Properties, lobbied the council to amend a zoning ordinance that prevents him from building a new two-story, 60-room hotel along a busy residential stretch of La. 1 in Port Allen.

Kevin Durbin, director of the West Baton Rouge Parish Department of Public Works, defines “smart growth” as growth that blends into the already established community.

To accomplish that kind of growth, Durbin said, new construction should be allowed only if the necessary infrastructure — including roads and water and sewer systems — are already in place. New business also should add something to the area while at the same time helping the neighborhood retain its “sense of place,” Durbin said.

In other words, be unique but not stand out.

During the council meeting, Creighton said he believes the proposed hotel would do just that. Add character to the area without being intrusive, while at the same time generating a substantial number of jobs and increased tax revenue for the parish.

Ravi Josi, a developer partnering with Creighton to build the proposed hotel, asked the council to “think for the future.”

The property in question at 4133 La. 1, is along one of the busiest thoroughfares in the parish, but also adjacent to a residential area, the Fairview Estates subdivision.

“The area is growing. Growth demands certain (amenities). If (the council) is too strict, that growth will go somewhere else,” Josi told council members.

And somewhere else is exactly where several residents of Fairview Estates and council member Jeff Kershaw said they would like a proposed hotel to go.

Some Fairview residents complained rezoning the property could open the floodgates for what they said might be large, unattractive businesses to move into the neighborhood when the area is more suited for smaller businesses, such as hair salons and dry cleaners.

Others said a hotel could attract transient workers who could pose a threat to their children’s safety.