Applicant says he was denied the right to speak before Planning Commission voted down his request

PORT ALLEN — A request to rezone the former West Side Journal building for use as an indoor car dealership turned contentious last Wednesday, with the applicant accusing city staff of misleading the council and raising questions about whether he was denied due process at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting where his application was rejected.

Lance Joseph, owner of L. Carnell Sartorial, LLC, is seeking to rezone 668 N. Jefferson Avenue from Downtown Mixed-Use to General Commercial to operate what he described as a concierge-style used car dealership. The Planning Commission denied the request 0–4 at a previous meeting — but Joseph says he was never given the chance to present his case.

"I'm the applicant," Joseph told the council. "The applicant has a fundamental right to due process to speak on his item."

Joseph said he arrived at the Planning Commission meeting at approximately 6:02 p.m. — two minutes after the posted start time — and was told he couldn't speak because he hadn't signed the sign-in sheet. He said opposition speakers were allowed to address the commission, but he was not.

"What you really did was you denied it without any information relative to what the plan was," Joseph said. "All they had was an application."

Planning Commission Chair Walt Braud, who was present last Wednesday, said the commission followed its standard sign-in procedure. CAO Philip Mason said the commission has granted exceptions in the past when members unanimously agreed to let someone speak — but that didn't happen at the Planning and Zoning meeting.

Councilwoman Adrain Joseph pushed back on that explanation, noting the council itself has allowed people to speak without signing up on multiple occasions.

"There are times we have been through and let people spoke and didn't sign," she said. "So I'm going to have to disagree with that."

A building with history

The property at 668 N. Jefferson Avenue housed the West Side Journal for decades. It was zoned commercial until 2016, when the city adopted a new zoning ordinance that reclassified the area as Downtown Mixed-Use.

Downtown Mixed-Use allows a range of businesses but does not permit vehicle sales. General Commercial — the C-2 designation Joseph is requesting — would broaden the types of businesses allowed on the property.

Braud said the commission has followed the city's master plan without exception since he joined in 2009, denying any request that doesn't align with it.

"Anybody that comes to us and wants to rezone something that's not in our master plan, we have denied it," Braud said. He pointed to a previous case where a request to rezone property behind Councilman Gregory Payne's home was also denied.

Braud warned that rezoning to commercial would be effectively permanent. If the dealership closed, a future owner could open any commercial business — including a bar or nightclub — without needing another rezoning.

"Once it's commercial, it won't go back unless that owner wants to revert it back to something else," Braud said.

The denial is consistent with a pattern in Port Allen. In November 2025, the council rejected a request to subdivide property in the same downtown mixed-use district at 444 Maryland Avenue, citing similar concerns about precedent and neighborhood impact. Councilman Garry Hubble made the motion to approve that request, but the rest of the council voted it down. Hubble sits on the Community Development Committee reviewing this application.

Joseph challenged that characterization, saying bars and nightclubs are already permitted under Downtown Mixed-Use according to the ordinance he has reviewed, unless it's been amended in the last six months. He also argued the property sits outside what most people would consider downtown Port Allen.

"It's nowhere near the traditional lines of downtown Port Allen, which is the Court Street, Jefferson intersection," Joseph said. "That's typically downtown."

Indoor operation, not an outdoor lot

Joseph said the dealership would operate entirely indoors. The building is over 100 feet deep and already has a roll-up door for vehicle access, he said. No exterior modifications are planned.

"It's a used car dealership. It's not a used car lot," Joseph said. "All the cars are going to be indoors."

The building at 668 N. Jefferson is a Quonset hut — an arched metal structure with a painted cinder block front — that formerly housed the West Side Journal's printing operations. A historical printing press from the newspaper remains inside the building. It sits on a 0.33-acre parcel totaling roughly 14,400 square feet, according to parish records. The building itself occupies a fraction of that area, with the remainder consisting of open, undeveloped ground.

Joseph told the council he owns two lots — lots 4 and 5 — and said he would not use the vacant portion for vehicle storage. But a rezoning to General Commercial would apply to the full parcel, not just the building footprint. Single-family homes border the property on multiple sides, and an apartment complex sits across Jefferson Avenue.

He said he plans to present detailed plans at Wednesday's council meeting before a final vote.

Occupational license dispute

The discussion grew more heated when Mason told the council that L. Carnell Sartorial has never paid its occupational license — a point Joseph called misleading and irrelevant to the agenda item.

Joseph said the LLC was formed in 2023 to hold property and develop a custom clothing line, but is not currently conducting business. He said he received a compliance notice dated June 16, didn't receive it until June 29, was asked to comply by June 30, and completed the required online form the same day.

"I wasn't prepared to be ambushed with this that's not even before this body at the moment," Joseph said. "That issue is not on the agenda."

Councilwoman Charlene Gordon appeared to side with Joseph on the timing question, saying she didn't have to get her own occupational license until she was ready to open for business.

Mason maintained that businesses registered with the West Baton Rouge Revenue Department are required to obtain an occupational license from the city as a matter of routine.

The exchange escalated. Joseph accused Mason of slander and referenced the work history of a "former assistant CFO," calling it a "very decorated history." Multiple participants said the matter wasn't personal — a point Joseph repeatedly disputed.

"You want to fight? We can fight," Joseph said. "But I don't want that. I want to bring something here in a facility I own that's not going to change the character of that building one iota."

Neighbors speak out

Two neighborhood residents spoke against the rezoning.

Charlene Kemp, who said she has lived at 309 Pine Street for 44 years directly across from the property, asked the council to uphold the Planning Commission's recommendation.

"We strongly object to this rezoning because it would devalue our property and spoil the surrounding residential neighborhood," Kemp said.

Bethany Bass, a Port Allen Middle School teacher who grew up in the area and currently lives on Pine Street, said the neighborhood is full of children and the location should be used for something that benefits them.

"I'd like to just think that that area should be used for something that would benefit those children, very much the way the museum property does," Bass said, also citing the city's new tennis and pickleball courts.

What's next

The matter is expected to come before the full council for a vote at Wednesday's regular meeting. Joseph said he will present a detailed plan for the property at that time.

Council members also asked Mason to email the comparison materials shown on screen last Wednesday to all members ahead of the vote, and Councilwoman Gordon said council members should start attending Planning and Zoning Commission meetings directly.

The Port Allen City Council meets on the first and second Wednesdays of each month at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 375 Court Street, Third Floor.