Former CAO Lance Joseph's request fails 2-3 after packed public hearing

PORT ALLEN — The Port Allen City Council voted 3-2 last week to reject a rezoning request that would have allowed a used car dealership to operate out of the former West Side Journal building at 668 N. Jefferson Avenue.

The vote ended a two-week fight between the applicant, former Port Allen CAO and City Attorney Lance Joseph, and residents who argued the change would amount to spot zoning in a residential neighborhood. The meeting drew a packed council chamber, with three residents signing up to speak and others addressing the council from the floor.

Councilwomen Adrain Joseph and April King and Councilman Garry Hubble voted against introducing the rezoning ordinance. Councilwoman Charlene Gordon and Councilman Gregory Payne voted in favor.

"A fraud and a shame"

Joseph, who owns the property through L. Carnell Sartorial, LLC, opened his remarks by citing two prior deviations from the zoning ordinance that the council approved in 2023. On June 14, 2023, the council voted to amend the ordinance to allow Court Street Cafe to operate a microbrewery, a use that didn't previously exist in the code. The same night, the council rezoned a property at 441 Courthouse Street from Downtown Mixed-Use to single-family residential.

"Ms. Gordon and Mr. Hubble were the only two members present today who were on that council in 2023," Joseph said. "They both voted yes."

Joseph described the Planning and Zoning Commission's unanimous denial of his application as illegitimate, saying he was not allowed to present his case at that meeting because he arrived two minutes late and hadn't signed the sign-in sheet.

"That planning and zoning commission meeting was a fraud and a shame," Joseph said. "They voted 4-0 without any presentation or opportunity for the applicant to address the board."

He said he would pursue a court order to invalidate the commission's action if necessary.

"Your lawyers are sitting right here and they know I had a fundamental right to address that commission," he said. "I wasn't afforded it. So that action is null and void."

Residents organize against rezoning

Three residents delivered prepared remarks against the rezoning.

Claire Saradet, a 73-year resident of 7th Street, presented a detailed case against what she called a textbook example of spot zoning. Citing research from Michigan State University, the Fordham Law Archive, and the University of North Carolina School of Government, Saradet argued that spot zoning undermines the structural integrity of zoning ordinances and threatens their legal standing.

"If taken to court, municipalities must be able to prove that the zoning change benefited the entire community's health, safety, or general welfare, rather than just enriching a single property owner," she said.

Susan Langlois, a realtor with 42 years of experience in the parish and a former Planning and Zoning Commission member, warned that spot zoning had damaged neighborhoods she'd worked in across the region. She cited Old South Baton Rouge as a cautionary example where residents regretted not paying attention to zoning changes until it was too late.

"Whether you call it spot zoning or down zoning, allowing this even once could open the door to compromising all of our zoning restrictions," Langlois said.

She also questioned Joseph's commitment to the property, noting a house he is renovating at Pine Street and Georgia Avenue has been under construction for years.

"I have nothing against him personally," Langlois said. "But I question if his word is good."

Bennett Sia, a lifelong Port Allen resident and former Planning and Zoning Commission member, challenged the council directly.

"Do you want to be that group that actually goes against the planning and zoning committee and be known for that?" Sia asked. He also noted that Joseph himself acknowledged at the meeting that the vacant lot adjacent to the building could be redeveloped in the future.

Jason Hammock, owner of Court Street Cafe, stood up without signing the sheet after Joseph cited the microbrewery ordinance as a precedent. Hammock said the zoning on his property never changed and the microbrewery permit is available to anyone, not just his business. The mayor stopped him, saying the discussion was outside the scope of the motion on the floor.

Joseph fires back

In his rebuttal, Joseph dismissed Saradet's spot zoning argument, saying the property was commercially zoned before 2016 and his request is to revert it to what it already was.

"This is not spot zoning," he said. "This property was previously zoned commercial. This is a reversion to what it already was."

He also turned on Langlois, calling her a hypocrite for receiving two variances from the council for the house she is building at 567 Avenue C, one in December 2023 and another in June 2024, while opposing his request.

"She came in here and asked for a variance," Joseph said. "But now she's vehemently opposed to me doing the same with my property."

Joseph clarified that he is only requesting the rezoning for Lot 4, the building at 668 N. Jefferson, not the adjacent vacant Lot 5. He said his law office will operate out of the building regardless of the rezoning outcome and repeated that the proposed dealership would be an indoor concierge service, not an outdoor lot.

Langlois told the council that Joseph does not live in Port Allen. Joseph said otherwise.

"I too was born and raised here and still live here," Joseph said. "I've served this city as city attorney. I've served as the CAO, admirably, honorably. And this is what I get. Objection and obstruction."

A question from the council

Before the vote, Councilwoman Adrain Joseph pressed the applicant on timing. She asked why he didn't begin the rezoning process while he was still employed by the city. Joseph said he had no plans for a dealership during his tenure as a full-time city employee and only began pursuing the venture after leaving city government.

"When I was here, I worked here full time," Joseph said. "I had no plans of going down the street and opening a concierge auto dealership at the time."

The councilwoman also said she had consulted a realtor about property values and didn't like the tone of the two-week debate.

"I don't like the spitting and all this and that," she said. "I don't like that kind of language."