Girard Park Rezoning

[NewsCopy]

Please join us at City Hall this evening at 5:30pm to oppose the request to rezone the Davidson property on Girard Park Drive. This property has been controversial on several occasions: - Davidson first tried to rezone it to commercial in order to sell it to Lafayette General, but the nieghborhood fought it and eventually Davidson withdrew his request. - In the initial Horse Farm deal, this 4.1 acre property was going to be exchanged for 36 acres of the Horse Farm, but after Planning & Zoning made the recommendation to the City Council that the property not be rezoned, UL pulled their request before the scheduled date for the councilmen to vote on the issue. Also, the new appraisals ordered by the UL Board of Supervisors showed that the properties were not of equal value after all. - In the current situation, the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended earlier this fall that this property NOT be rezoned commercial, citing reasons such as problems with traffic and accidents at the intersection of Hospital Drive and Girard Park Drive, issues with vehicular access to the property, and also the fact that no plan was offered by the property owner as to what kind of commercial developments would be persued. The fact of the matter is that Davidson is requesting a type of commercial that is very broad and could include a number of things, including high density apartments and convenience stores. The neighbors in the area are concerned that this worst case scenario may come to fruition OR it may be some sort of cover for an alternative plan that may involve the University acquiring the property (and they aren't required to follow ANY zoning restrictions, i.e. it could be the next parking garage.) Dr. Authement has stated several times recently that he is still interested in acquiring the property, and that he plans on obtaining as much property along that block as possible. The scary part is that in 30 years when Girard Park's 99-year covenant runs out, the University may be in a position to aqcuire the park and develop it, especially if they've already encircled it with buildings. So, ultimately it is quite possible that this rezoning could have far-reaching repercussions. Please join us today at City Hall at 5:30pm to object to commercializing this park-front property. The rumor around town is that Davidson has lobbied the City Councilmen and that even though the Planning & Zoning has recommended NOT to rezone it, he may get what he wants after all... Let's come together as a community and protect our park from commercial encroachment! GIRARDPARK.com

[NewsCopy]

After nearly two hours of discussion, the Lafayette City-Parish Council agreed to allow property near Girard Park to be rezoned for business and residential use. The property is owned by James Davidson III and is in the 500 block of Girard Park Drive, near Lafayette General Medical Center. Eleanor Buoy, director of the Planning, Zoning and Codes Department, said her staff recommended the property not be rezoned. Buoy said one major problem, later echoed by nearly 50 Girard Park-area residents, was that there was no definite plan for the property should it be rezoned. "Frankly, both the staff and the commission felt like this is a very important piece of property to our community, and we were looking for plans for the future development of this property that would include some idea of what kind of development we could expect," Buoy said. "We did not get that, and for that reason, we're not comfortable at this point that we're ready to proceed with this rezoning." The rest of the story Amanda McElfresh amcelfresh@theadvertiser.com

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does anyone here think that this is a bad idea?

Its too bad that the 99 year park covenant won't run out for 30 more years. If the city does end up buying the horse farm for a park, and I was the univeristy, I would make sure that there was a stipulation in the agreement that would force the city to allow the university to buy the Park within 10 years and remove the zoning restrictions there.

The university obviously needs space and this is the obvious place to go. And, because there are already walkways and the tracks and open spaces like the pond, UL could utilize that to add to the atmosphere of its new SE campus. How nice would it be to have an addition to Legacy park that overlooks the pond. A "dorm" with a view? I know there are students that would pay for that. And, how nice would it be to not have to look at those hideous basketball goals and that horrible rec center and pool? They could easily place two or three buildings there, with parking underneath for staff and such, and still keep a lot of the trees and open green spaces.

[Pup]

If you live around the park it is time to make a will and donate the property to the university.

[NewsCopy]

Day after Davidson rezoning, UL sends out reminder that it's landlocked A day after the Lafayette City-Parish Council voted to rezone the Girard Park Drive property UL has tried to acquire for years, the university sent out a press release reminding the public that its interested in acquiring property near the campus. During the council meeting on Tuesday, owner James Davidson III couldn't offer the council specifics about his plans for development of the residential property. The rest of the story

[Cajun Power]

_ does anyone here think that this is a bad idea?

Its too bad that the 99 year park covenant won't run out for 30 more years. If the city does end up buying the horse farm for a park, and I was the univeristy, I would make sure that there was a stipulation in the agreement that would force the city to allow the university to buy the Park within 10 years and remove the zoning restrictions there.

The university obviously needs space and this is the obvious place to go. And, because there are already walkways and the tracks and open spaces like the pond, UL could utilize that to add to the atmosphere of its new SE campus. How nice would it be to have an addition to Legacy park that overlooks the pond. A "dorm" with a view? I know there are students that would pay for that. And, how nice would it be to not have to look at those hideous basketball goals and that horrible rec center and pool? They could easily place two or three buildings there, with parking underneath for staff and such, and still keep a lot of the trees and open green spaces. _

If they did it in the way that you suggest, it could work. It would be tremendously unpopular unless a good deal of the land remained available for public use.

I think a more realistic compromise would be to cede the part of the park that borders the Alumni House to UL, and to keep the other side as a park.

I do agree that the rec center is hideous and your vision is intriguing.