(The Center Square) – At Monday’s work session, the Caddo Parish Commission did not advance an ordinance that would have regulated temporary workforce housing facilities in unincorporated areas of the parish after the parish attorney advised commissioners they lacked the legal authority to adopt the proposed regulations.
The local law was drafted to address housing accommodations that may be constructed in response to major industrial development projects like the new Amazon data center west of Blanchard. An influx of workers is anticipated when construction of the data center site is fully underway.
It’s unclear if the commission will revisit the topic at a future committee meeting but it will not be included at Thursday’s regular meeting because it did not advance out of the worksession, nor was it assigned to a sub-committee for further development.
Parish attorney Donna Frazier said a master plan is required before issuing regulations related to zoning, which the parish does not have.
“Any areas that the governing authority intends to zone has to have a master plan,” Frazier said. “State statute specifically says that your police power is to be used through that zoning scheme that’s in the state statute. So, since you don’t have it in an incorporated area, you have to have a master plan to be able to enact these kinds of ordinances within the five mile area.”
Commission President Greg Young said it’s not responsible for the commission to send the matter to a committee “in its present form.” Seven out of the 12 commissioners agreed with Young.
Commissioner John-Paul Young sponsored the ordinance.
“In Richland Parish, the number of workers who have moved in temporarily varies between 3,000 and 5,000, which is a lot of housing need,” John-Paul Young said. “If they aren’t going to consume all the available housing that exists in Caddo Parish right now, many of them will need to be housed on temporary sites, and in advance of that, I think it’s important for us to have common sense regulations of those sites based on our police power.”
The ordinance would have required operators to register with the parish, meet health and safety standards, follow location restrictions for schools or residences, notification of ownership, post a restoration bond and remove the camp when the project ends.
For example, a housing facility – called “man camps” or “crew camps” – could not be located within 1,500 feet of a school or a childcare facility. Additionally, an on-site manager is required and the commission would allow 15 days for nearby property owners and neighborhood groups to submit comments.
The ordinance would have given enforcement authority primarily to the director of public works and parish code enforcement.
