Coquille Parks and Recreations Is Growing Along With Its Community

 St. Tammany has seen a big growth spurt with the current housing market trends. The growth in the

area has also brought many new residents. Coquille Parks is expanding along with the community growth.

"This area has seen over 5% growth for the last five years," Richard Bentley-Smith, executive director at Coquille Parks and Recreation said. "We really are just trying to keep up with the growth of this area off La. 22 and U.S. 190 as much as possible, so we can offer a place for every kid to play. And not just baseball or football or volleyball, but we want as many kids in the area to come to our splashpad or playgrounds and not be overcrowded."

"The key to running a recreation department, no matter where you are, is listening to your community," Bentley-Smith said. "What Madisonville, Goodbee, Covington and the District 14 area wants may not be what Baton Rouge or even Slidell wants. So you have to really listen to your taxpayers and build to suit their needs."

This summer the center hosted a cheer camp for over 100 kids for the first time. In fact, organized program participation has grown 750% since 1999, when the recreation district was established. St. Tammany Recreation District 14 began with Little League ball fields in 1999  which consisted of 46 acres that were purchased by the Madisonville Youth Boosters. Currently, Coquille Park includes 130 acres fields, gyms, multipurpose facilities, tennis courts, playgrounds and outdoor exercise areas.

A bond that was passed at the beginning of 2021 will give the park the opportunity to focus on upgrades and maintenance. Bentley-Smith also hopes for additional funding in order to purchase additional land. The negotiations and funding are in the works for 35-acres of land next to the park.

A new baseball complex is slated to open next month. The park is also looking into purchasing outdoor fitness equipment and building a disk golf area as well as miniature golf courses. That's not all on the list of what is to come. A dog park is planned to open in the early spring of 2022, new trails are to be built through the wetlands area, and a campground with an accessible ball field will also be added.

"We listened to the public requests," Bentley-Smith said. "We build facilities based on what the public requests, and that includes the bond dollars. We heard the public, and we want to put those funds to the best use possible."

The new park will be for all residents from toddlers to senior citizens. Bentley-Smith gives the credit to the town of Madisonville where the two fields started out on Pine Street. The citizens and St. Tammany have come together to help the park continue to grow to meet the needs of the community.

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Rezoning Moratoriums in St. Tammany Parish Will Stay the Same for the Time Being

 

December 2020 began a debate among the St. Tammany council whether to proceed with an amendment that would have fewer restraints on establishing or extending a moratorium. The St. Tammany Parish Council has decided to table the amendment that would change how rezoning moratoriums are adopted and extended.

In April 2021, council members narrowly voted to introduce a version that would remove the requirement that the council member requesting a moratorium present a written justification and a timeline and process for addressing the reasons for applying it, and an account of any progress being made toward addressing the issues when requesting that the moratorium be renewed.  It was again set aside on May 6th’s meeting, and another version of the amendment was moved by District 11 Councilman Steve Stefancik and seconded by District 14 Councilman T.J. Smith.

This newer version would change the requirement for written justification regarding the enacting moratorium. The time for which a member would have to update the council regarding a new moratorium would be pushed back from three months to six months. Among them were several council members, District 7’s Jimmie Davis, who did not agree with changing the time frame from three months to six months.

District 13 Councilman Jake Airey moved to remove the amendment from the table completely. “What’s existing in law will stay there. If people then want to make changes, so be it, but this alphabet soup is just too hard to follow,” Airey commented. This motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

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The New Slidell Casino Will Come With Some Awesome Amenities

 

Residents and the casino resort developers gathered in the Slidell Municipal Auditorium for a “show-and-tell” of what’s to be included with the $250 million casino resort. St. Tammany Parish will be the home of the future casino resort that will be located on 120-acres close to the Interstate 10 twin spans in Slidell.

The casino resort’s amenities will include a lazy river, water slide, resort pool, a 6,000-seat outdoor amphitheater, an indoor entertainment area with 1,500 fixed seats and a stage and a crab leg buffet. The Blind Tiger will also be included in the development in a new location close to the marina and boat slips.

P2E, a Los Angeles-based developer, purchased the land for just under $14 million. This same developer owned DiamondJacks in Bossier City which closed down after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. The Bossier City casino was  the lowest-performing casino in the saturated Shreveport/Bossier City market,

Concerned residents and businesses were not present at the meeting but they have been sharing their concerns relayed Slidell City Councilman at Large Glynn Pichon. There is a chance that the site plan will change but as of now, the site plan shows the casino located farther away from subdivisions than originally planned.

“My only concern is that the company has closed a casino in Bossier City,” said Deb Horrocks, who lives in Eden Isles, not far from the site. “What’s going to happen to the property if they decide to do the same thing?”

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