Annexation chess match continues

Written by Walter Pierce
Tuesday, June 01, 2010

For the second week running, the Lafayette City-Parish Council went into executive session to discuss its next move in an ongoing war of wits with the city of Broussard over annexations in south Lafayette Parish, mostly along the recently opened Ambassador Caffery South extension. The executive session was called to allow council members and Lafayette Consolidated Government’s legal department to discuss a lawsuit filed by Broussard in state district court accusing LCG of failing to follow state public notice laws when it annexed almost 275 acres that include Les Vieux Chenes Golf Course on April 26.

To counter Broussard’s lawsuit, the CPC voted Tuesday to rescind the April 26 ordinance and to revote on it, both of which were unanimously approved. Lafayette’s rescindment of the original annexation is likely to void Broussard’s lawsuit. It remains to be seen whether Broussard will file a second suit challenging the annexation, although it’s unlikely Lafayette’s adherence to the public notice law could again be assailed since notice of Tuesday's final vote was published at least 10 days ago.

At the request of the Durel administration, the council also voted to table for a week a final vote on annexing an additional 220 acres north and south of the Ambassador extension west of Vivian Drive and east of La Neuville that includes Plantation Oaks subdivision. That annexation was also up for final adoption Tuesday night. However, the Broussard City Council on Monday voted to annex a 50’ x 50’ square of land within the bounds of the Plantation Oaks annexation.

Consequently, the LCG ordinance was amended Tuesday to exclude the Broussard property. In what may be an acknowledgement of Broussard’s newfound litigiousness (Broussard also filed a lawsuit against Youngsville over a disputed annexation), LCG published notice of the June 8 final vote of the Plantation Oaks annexation on Friday, May 28, in The Daily Advertiser, an indication that the administration intended as long ago as last week to table the ordinance, amend it and put it on hold for a week.

Walter Pierce
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written by I Noticed , June 01, 2010 - 05:09 pm

I Noticed that some of the annexation participants are checker players. The real chess player will ultimately check-mate the checker player. It will be interesting to watch!!

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written by Unempirical Observer , June 01, 2010 - 10:52 pm

Let's see the law or interpretation in a court which allows a city to annex a dis-contiguous island of land into it's corporate limits without even so much as a "land bridge" right of way of a road, drainage easement or utility corridor connecting the segments together.

Maybe Broussard is trying to prove a point, that they haven't stated...that Lafayette could incorporate the Vieux Chenes Golf Course without physical contiguity to C.O.L. corporate limits.

Prediction: Lafayette wins this round, lawsuit voided without merit, ............ unless by creative interpretation, judges can show that 1st annexation by 24 hour notice of hearing of the tabled LCG ordinance set in process dominoes falling, for tabling by Broussard of its proposed ordinances which would otherwise gone forward one day later annexing north/south of Ambassador predating LCG and Youngsville actions. Of course, LCG annexation was only delayed by Broussard acquisition of land in original LCG annexation, seemingly violating "good-faith" dealing by landowners 1st agreeing to incorporation.

The state needs to revise its laws and put something up stronger into force regarding these "Areas of Influence" and use of land bridges within these AOI's. Where AOI's are overlapping, provision should be implemented for binding cooperative agreements for allocation of land into one municipality or the other.

To be fair, LCG's creative annexation of one or two resident property owners to trump one non-resident property owner to get access to Vieux Chenes seems unjust, just as Broussard has done to get open property near Vivian before subdivision was developed. Yet also, of LCG's Plantation Oaks annexation seemingly attaches greater blocks of contiguous open land than did Broussard's along Ambassador ....
let's see the petitions from both.
Any Cherry-picking here ain't right. What about the vast subdivision next door on Chemin Metairie not claimed by either city, what of that?

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