Council to vote on ‘spot zoning’ request to turn Livingston St. property into multi-family rental

Request failed to receive ‘favorable’ recommendation from P&Z Commission

MANDEVILLE — The City Council will give a final yes or no on a proposed zoning amendment, which would allow a Livingston Street fourplex to be re-zoned to R3 Multi-Family. It is currently zoned as R1 Residential.

The property had been granted a legally “non-conforming” exception years ago when the zoning in the area was changed. This status was lost, however, when the previous owners turned off the utilities for six months or more, which means in order for the new owner to operate the home as a multiple family rental, it would have to be re-zoned to R3 Multi-Family by the City Council. This is also referred to as “spot zoning.”

The parcel lies just to the west of Woodlake Elementary School in Old Mandeville.

This issue was at the center of a procedural snafu at the June 22nd Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, where a poorly worded motion caused a vote to be mis-tallied before the matter was finally set straight. The commission ultimately voted not to return a favorable recommendation to the council.

The City Council meeting is tonight (July 8th) at 6 p.m. at the Paul Spitzfaden Community Center.