By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish leaders will begin a series of public meetings this week to collect resident input on the long term direction of future development when it comes to zoning and land use.

The parish is working with the University of New Orleans Division of Planning as part of the fourth phase of the St. John Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Residents are invited to participate in the process and provide input on where the parish needs to be for the best future growth. The first two meetings are Monday, at the Reserve Branch of the St. John Library, 170 W. 10th Street, and Tuesday, at the West Bank Community Center, 173 E. Third Street, in Edgard. Both meetings begin at 6 p.m.

“Some of this stuff has not been looked at in a number of years,” said parish spokesperson Paige Braud. “There are going to be parts of the parish that will have to be re-zoned and parish ordinances that will have to change and we want as much input as possible from residents, who will ultimately be affected by the changes.”

Braud said the meetings are not about addressing specific zoning issues. The hearings will instead cover broad topics such as land use, transportation and disaster evacuation, housing and historic preservation.

“A major theme of this phase of the process will be resiliency,” Braud said. “We want to prepare the community for long term sustainability. In St. John, resiliency will be incorporated into an update of the development management practices. The locations and types of current and future land uses will be evaluated for their susceptibility to hazards and natural disasters.”

Braud said the parish is also coordinating meetings with council members, civic groups and parish employees to hear their ideas and concerns. “They are the ones who see where the zoning issues lie, or where traffic problems crop up,” Braud said.

Braud said earlier phases, which mostly involved research on population growth patterns and economic analysis, began in 2007. She said the parish is hoping to have the entire master plan completed by mid 2013.

The public meetings will continue Feb. 6 at the Garyville Library Branch, 111 Front St., and Feb. 7 at the St. John Community Center, 2900 Highway 51, LaPlace.