Proposed ordinance would shake up parking on Lakeshore Drive, Trailhead area

Outlaws lakefront parking before 6AM — even for workouts

Would prohibit parking ‘between’ 2AM and 6AM in listed areas

Adds Trailhead streets, parking lot to ‘prohibited’ list

Could end overnight school-bus parking on Woodrow Street

Comes on heels of Marigny Avenue parking and dumping signs kerfuffle

Updated to include reporting on existing no-parking signage along Lakeshore Drive. (1/24/2025)

MANDEVILLE — Predawn parking along the lakefront, including for those who briefly leave their vehicles while they walk or jog, could soon become illegal — before 6 a.m. that is — if a proposed ordinance becomes law.

Councilman at Large Scott Discon has proposed Ordinance 25-03 which would outlaw parking, regardless of how brief, between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. along Lakeshore Drive, General Pershing Street, Woodrow Street, and a city-owned parking lot near the Mandeville Trailhead.

The far western end of Woodrow Street is where St. Tammany Parish School System buses are often seen parked overnight, a practice that would presumably become illegal with this ordinance.

The typical morning routine on Lakeshore Drive begins around 5 a.m. when a cluster of cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks are parked along the street. Their owners, usually in the dark, embark on their morning exercise routines, particularly during the summer months, to avoid the heat.

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Related: OPINION | Proposed parking ordinance highlights lakefront’s confusing and cluttered signage crisis

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Local bars and taverns, such as “Donz on the Lake” and “The Barley Oak,” close at 2 a.m. on weekends, which means patrons parking on Lakeshore Drive would need to move their vehicles by closing time else risk being cited, should Ordinance 25-03 become law.

Muddying the waters is the fact that there are already no-parking signs scattered along Lakeshore Drive with wording to prohibit parking between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. or 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Ordinance 25-03 does not address these existing no-parking signs or where the prohibited parking starts and stops, nor could Mandeville Daily find where or when they were established in city code.

Ordinance 25-03 would alter Section 10-70, of the City of Mandeville’s Code or Ordinances which prohibits “permanent parking” along the lakefront.

Section 10-70, titled “Permanent parking prohibited; definition; penalty for violation,” currently defines “permanent parking” as “parking in excess of six(6) hours.” The fines are set forth under Appendix C of the code of ordinances.

Ordinance 25-03 would change that definition to read, “‘Permanent Parking’ shall be defined as parking between the hours of 2:00am-6:00am. (sic)”

This means that under a stricti juris interpretation, Ordinance 25-03’s redefinition of “permanent parking” would consider any vehicle parked even for a short period between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. in violation of city code.

Discon’s proposal would also add to the prohibited areas Woodrow Street from Girod to Carroll streets (except for certain local residents), General Pershing Street from Girod to Carroll streets (except for certain local residents), which lie on the north and south sides of the Mandeville Trailhead, and the city-owned parking lot at the Trailhead.

The preamble of Ordinance 25-03 mentions a “hardship” faced by the Mandeville Police Department in enforcing the “in excess of six (6) hours” rule as one of the factors prompting the proposed modifications:

“WHEREAS, recognizing that the current time limitation on parking in the above-described areas imposes a hardship on the City of Mandeville Police’s record keeping efforts of ‘permanent parking’;”

In December, Mayor Clay Madden directed the removal of recently installed “NO PARKING” and “NO DUMPING” signs from the historic Marigny Avenue median, as he had not authorized their installation. Residents reported confrontations with city officials, including Discon, regarding activities like blowing leaves onto the median. In response to a Mandeville Daily request for comment as to who ordered the signs erected, Discon responded that parking and littering on public thoroughfares are illegal and that the Public Works Department had installed the signs. However, Public Works Director Keith LaGrange previously indicated that City Council approval via ordinance is required to erect no-parking signs.

Ordinance 25-03 was slated for “introduction” at the January 23rd City Council meeting, but that meeting was canceled due to the aftermath of the snowstorm that hit the deep south January 21st.

Assuming the January 23rd agenda is moved to the February 13th regular meeting, the earliest Ordinance 25-03 could come up for discussion and a vote would be at the February 27th regular meeting. Ordinances are neither discussed nor debated when introduced.

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