THE GIRL BRIEF

By: Kayce Geezy

If you’ve been paying attention to what’s happening since Ida and especially since those new chunks of LA 3241 started opening up (2024–2025), this upcoming Parish Council meeting on March 12 isn’t just another boring agenda. It’s basically the parish doing its signature move: look like they’re keeping things slow and careful on the surface, while quietly letting certain pieces of land move forward exactly when and where they want.

I’ve seen this play out so many times now it’s almost predictable:

• They extend big “no new dense stuff” moratoriums over and over, saying they need more time to study drainage/traffic/schools.
• Then, in the same meeting, they quietly lift the rules for 1 or 2 specific parcels.
• They tweak the parish code so townhouses or duplexes can sneak into commercial areas without setting off the moratorium alarm.
• And when a giant new road like LA 3241 finally opens, they slap a fancy new overlay on it that sounds super responsible… but really just gives the council the last word on what gets built.

March 12 is doing all of that at once. Let me walk you through the highlights so you can see what I mean.

The moratorium flip-flop (Ordinances 8058, 8059, and those vacation resolutions)

They’re proposing two fresh six-month pauses:

• One in a chunk of District 5 near Slidell 
• One specifically in Tammany Forest east of Hwy 434 

But at the exact same meeting they’re also voting to let a couple of older moratoriums go away for individual properties:

• Two lots in Alton Annex near Slidell
• Tract F3 on Ed Yates Road in Pearl River 

You see how this works, right? The broad “we’re protecting rural character” rule stays in place for most people… but if your parcel happens to be one the council likes, poof; exemption via a quick resolution. It’s been happening since at least 2022. Not a bug. It’s the system.

The quiet code change nobody’s yelling about yet (Ordinance 8053: final vote)

This one lets single-family homes and duplexes go into medium- and high-multi-family zones, and it says townhouses are now okay by-right in a bunch of commercial districts (those NC, GC, HC, PBC ones along highways).

So while the moratoriums are supposedly stopping big subdivisions, this quietly opens the door for more houses in strip-mall-type areas. Fewer headlines, same end result: more units.

The spot rezonings and street vacations

A handful of individual parcels are getting flipped (rural R-1 to slightly denser R-2 in Folsom, commercial upgrades in Lacombe, etc.) plus some old unopened streets getting officially killed off.

Same story: little moves keep happening even while the big “no” sign is still up for everyone else.

The main event: Central St. Tammany Overlay (Ordinance 8064: Tanner & Cooper)

This is the one that actually matters long-term.

It covers about 20 miles hugging the new LA 3241 highway (plus bits of LA 434 and US 190). They’re calling it a “Corridor Enhancement” overlay with a “Planned Corridor” process: developer submits a nice plan (buffers, pretty landscaping, better drainage), Planning & Zoning looks at it, and if they say no… you appeal straight to the full council, where a majority vote can overrule them.

Early versions had “Town Center” zones near Bush and Talisheek that had people worried about 12 units per acre. Locals pushed back hard; petitions, packed meetings in Sun and Bush, and it looks like the parish backed off some of the scariest language. But the overlay is still there, and the council-appeal power is still very real.

That’s the new road slicing through what used to be pretty quiet, wooded, rural land. The overlay is supposed to keep it “sustainable” and protect rural character… but it also gives Tanner (who chairs the council and represents District 6) and President Cooper a ton of say over what actually happens.

Quick note on who’s pushing what

Tanner and Cooper are co-sponsoring the overlay plus several of the rezonings and budget tweaks. When those two line up on land stuff, it usually means it’s a priority for the administration.

Bottom line

St. Tammany has been walking this tightrope for years now:

• Flood trauma + crazy growth = moratoriums everywhere.
• New highway opens + developers circling = gotta let some stuff through.
• So you get public “we’re being careful” messaging… plus a bunch of small, targeted green lights.

It works. It’s legal. And it slowly changes the parish one decision at a time.

If you’re going (or just watching); March 12, 6:00 PM at the Government Complex in Covington

• Public comment is only 3 minutes (but written cards still go in the record); overlay is the hot topic.
• See if anyone pulls those moratorium vacations out of consent.
• Watch Districts 6, 7, 9, 11…  that’s where the corridor lives.

This meeting won’t be on the evening news, but it’ll help decide what the area around Bush, Talisheek, and the new highway looks like in 10 years.

If you’re local, or part of the “Keep Bush Rural” crowd, or just give a fudge about what is happening in your backyard; what are you hearing? The pushback earlier this year already got them to soften some language, so it clearly makes a difference.

I’ll check back after the 12th and let you know what passed and if anything big changed. Drop a comment if you’re following this too.

But, again, what in the data center do I know? I’m just a girl.