Council clears the way for Community Coffee at old Conn's warehouse
The old Conn's warehouse in Port Allen is now zoned for coffee. The parish council rezoned it for Community Coffee on Oct. 22, and heard updates on the health unit tax, road projects and a new fire captain.
[LEAD PHOTO: wide horizontal of Conn's sign] The former Conn's HomePlus distribution center at 2070 Commercial Drive in Port Allen, photographed in late July 2026. (WBR Independent)
The former Conn's warehouse in Port Allen that drew months of rumors earlier this year is now zoned for coffee.
On Oct. 22, the West Baton Rouge Parish Council rezoned 2070 Commercial Drive from industrial transitional commercial to light industrial. That lets Community Coffee turn the empty building into a place to process, package and ship coffee.
The rezoning covers about 13.7 acres. It also changes the parish master plan, the long-range map of how land across the parish should be used, so it needed a two-thirds vote of the council.
No one from the public spoke, and the council passed it without discussion. Councilman Gary Joseph made the motion, and Councilwoman Katherine Andre seconded it. The parish Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended it unanimously earlier that week.
What's planned
Community Coffee plans to convert the building in phases, according to an Aug. 5 letter from Parish Public Works Director Brandon Bourgoyne to the company. The letter was in the council's meeting packet.
The site will first be used as a warehouse and distribution center. Later, the company plans to add food-processing equipment and packaging lines and make coffee there.
The company told the parish that as production grows, the site may run extended hours and multiple shifts. It also said it does not plan any permanent outdoor manufacturing. Under the parish noise ordinance, construction is limited to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, Bourgoyne's letter says.
The Baton Rouge company isn't new to Port Allen. It has roasted and packaged coffee at its plant on Louisiana Highway 1 South since the early 1970s. In 2019, when the company opened a second plant in Harahan, a company executive told The Advocate the Port Allen plant was at capacity.
The setback waiver
The council also waived the rear setback. Light industrial zoning requires 30 feet between a building and the back property line. This building sits 14.9 feet from it.
Without the waiver, the back 15 feet or so of the building would have to come down, according to the application.
The property is owned by CAP Industrial Park I LLC of Baton Rouge, a company tied to the Saurage family that owns Community Coffee. Henry N. Saurage IV signed the rezoning application for the owner. Michael Davis of Landsource Inc. filed the rezoning request.
Months of rumors
Earlier this year, residents came to council meeting after council meeting as rumors spread that the building could become a federal immigration detention center. In July, Parish President Jason Manola told the council that Community Coffee had asked the parish to confirm what uses the property's zoning allowed.
Also at the Oct. 22 meeting
Health unit tax: The parish could keep its health unit running at today's level for about a year and a half if voters turn down the tax that pays for it, Manola told the council.
"Without this millage, we could potentially continue to operate as we currently do for about another year and a half based on using the fund balances that we have in place," he said.
The 1.75-mill property tax renewal is on the Nov. 3 ballot, and early voting runs through Tuesday, Oct. 27. Manola said the tax brings in about $1.3 million a year, while the health unit costs about $1.1 million a year to run, not counting capital expenses. The money can only be spent on the health unit. Manola said the tax has been in place since 1959, and the parish took the health unit over from the Louisiana Department of Health in 2019.
Plant worker recognized: The council recognized the coworkers and parish paramedics who saved John Haydel after he collapsed at the ExxonMobil plant in Port Allen in August.
John Summers
New fence rules for industrial sites: The council approved changing the fence required between industrial sites and nearby homes. Instead of an 8-foot chain-link fence with a windscreen, industrial properties will now need an 8-foot wood or vinyl fence with no more than a quarter-inch gap between boards. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the change 7-0.
Cajun Drive waiver: The council approved setback and fence waivers for three lots at 1161, 1181 and 1233 Cajun Drive in the PARR Industrial Complex off U.S. 190. A 2025 change to the parish's agricultural zoning raised the required rear setback on those lots from 30 feet to 100 feet, which would have taken up more than a third of each lot. The new buildings will sit about 34 feet from the back line instead, and the fence requirement was waived.
Councilman Alan Crowe, whose district includes the lots and who said he developed the property years ago, said waiving the fence broke with how the council has handled fences in the past, when it made some owners go back and put up fences after their projects were finished. He supported the waiver anyway, saying about five major pipelines cross the land behind the lots, so nothing will ever be built there.
"I just want to make that statement, that that's the reason I'm okay, is because it's really undevelopable property behind this property," Crowe said.
Port Allen sewer plant: Manola said Port Allen plans to buy land next to the parish's Louis Mouch Jr. Multi-Purpose Facility on Turner Road for a consolidated sewer plant and annex it into the city. He said the plant will serve only the city.
Road projects: Parish officials said DOTD expects to break ground on the LA 415 connector, meant to ease traffic on the Mississippi River Bridge, in January 2027. The completion estimate for the LA 1 Intracoastal Bridge replacement slipped from the second quarter of 2028 to the third quarter. The parish has issued a notice to proceed on its project at the intersection of Rosedale Road and LA 415, and surveyors are already working there.
No burn ban, for now: Manola said the parish doesn't see a need for a burn ban yet but will keep watching conditions. He said cane burning wouldn't fall under a burn ban anyway. As of Oct. 26, West Baton Rouge was still not under a burn ban, but most of the parishes around it were, including East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana, according to the state's burn ban map.
Budget hearings: The parish's budget hearings are set for Monday, Oct. 26, and Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m.
Fire district: Before the council meeting, the board of Fire Protection District No. 1 voted to advertise for bids on a new fire truck for Station 10, the new station being built on Rougon Road. The truck will be paid for with part of $1.5 million in state money the district secured.
Fire officials said they expect the truck to cost about $680,000, which would leave money for other fire apparatus. The state money can only be spent on apparatus. Bidding now lets the district order the truck as soon as the money is budgeted on Jan. 1. Some manufacturers are taking up to two years to build a fire truck, so the bid will call for delivery within 250 days. Fire officials said they hope to move into Station 10 in February or March.
Fire officials told the board the department answered 398 calls in September, about 13 a day. They said the average EMS response time was 7 minutes, 56 seconds. WBR Independent has not independently verified that figure.
Charging lithium batteries caused four significant fires in the parish, fire officials said. During Fire Prevention Month, the department took that message to about 1,480 people. The advice: once a drill, scooter, golf cart or phone is fully charged, unplug it.
Nine recruits in the department's in-house rookie school are set to graduate Dec. 16.
The board also met the department's newest captain, Brie Collins, the first Black woman to make captain in the department.
"I'm not a public speaker," Collins told the board. "I shine at the station where y'all can't see me."
Coming up: Manola said the council will consider an agreement with Louisiana State Police at its next meeting. State Police want to put equipment on a parish tower. In exchange, they'll check how much weight the tower can hold and take down old parish equipment that's no longer used, at no cost to the parish. The next council meeting is Thursday, Nov. 12, at 5:30 p.m.
