By MOLLY DRYMAN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE — Land disputes between local residents of the Peavine area will now be handled by the Louisiana State Land Office.

The St. John the Baptist Council granted two letters of no objection to Murray Daniels and Gary Keating at the council meeting Tuesday night.

Councilman Sean Roussel and Councilwoman Jaclyn Hotard suggested to go ahead and grant the letters as long as they both state in the letters that their would be no adverse effects to the boat launch or the jetty, before they are reviewed by the state land office.

“I will be reviewing both letters before they are sent,” said St. John Parish Attorney Jeff Perrilloux. “To make sure both letters state precisely what the council intended.”

Daniels, owner and designer of Acadiana Design in Baton Rouge said he plans to keep moving forward from here.

“It is up to the state land office to say who can reclaim the land,” Daniels said. “The restaurant will still go up. If I do not get the reclaimed land, there will just be less parking.”

Peavine Bait and Snack Shack owners Barbara and Chip Hicks said they are not concerned about the restaurant being built. It is the problems that come along with it.

“The restaurant is not the problem,” said Barbara Hicks. “My main concerns are still the same. They are all the problems that will come along with the growth of the area. It’s safety issues from the railroad tracks to lighting to the road. The Parish has promised a long time ago to fix these problems. It never happened. Then they said they would fix the problems after the restaurant was built, but we cannot wait that long or any longer.”

Both Barbara and Chip said they would not have a problem if the things promised to be fixed by the Parish were addressed.