Morgan City rezones 77 agricultural acres to residential
Sep 17, 2024 09:28AM ● By Linda Peterson
This property in Morgan City has been rezoned to residential. Courtesy photo/Morgan City
Morgan City has approved the rezoning of 77.4 acres at 400 West 400 North in the southwest area of town from agricultural to single-family residential, paving the way for development in the area. This would allow up to 328 homes to be built on the property. About half of the property has been rezoned to R-1-12 which would allow a minimum of 12,000-square-foot lots; the remainder has been zoned R-1-10 with a minimum of 10,000-square-foot lots.
“This area has been identified as changing uses and zones if requested by the landowner, meaning the general plan has said we do see this area changing at some point in the future,” City Planner Josh Young told the city council at their Aug. 20 meeting.
Earlier, the council devoted most of its work session to discussing the property, the proposed rezone and the implications if it were developed. City council members peppered Young and City Attorney Gary Crane with questions about the proposed zoning, overlays and needed infrastructure such as roads, power and water.
“What a lot of our discussion was so essentially as a city council we’re here tonight just to determine whether or not we are going to go ahead and pass the ordinance to approve the zone change,” Councilmember Tony London said later in the formal meeting. “That done, there's still a ton of work to do in the future, so that's what a lot of our discussion was about.”
The area is ideal for trials, particularly near East Canyon Creek, Young said in the earlier discussion.
“Even small streams make for great trails. While we have this chance, let's talk with the landowner and see if there's any way,” Young said. “I know their discussion has been that they if it were developed again that they like the idea of backyards on a stream. Who wouldn't want a stream in their backyard? I think it would be wonderful and fantastic but there's also significant real estate value when that's a shared resource, a shared trail.”
That area does not have much in the way of parks, Young said in the later meeting, and he suggested city officials try to discuss the possibility of developing a park or parks with the landowner.
Per the earlier discussion, city officials would like to see more trials in the area.
“We'd like to have conversations with landowners and developers to look at how trails could happen, and that is I think regardless of whether there's a development or not, but certainly if there's a development that's a good time to have that conversation,” Young said.
Any potential development of the property would need to provide detailed engineering and the city’s utility standards would be required to be met, he said. “If our standards could not be met then the project would not go forward at that time until there's adequate services and utilities.”