Discon cites his own coffee shop and empty restaurants during off-hours as signs of trouble
Citywide sales tax collections exceed budget and prior-year levels
There was nothing particularly remarkable about the Mandeville City Council considering another whole-house short-term rental in Old Mandeville at its Sept. 24 meeting.
The city has allowed them under a tightly controlled system since 2020. The original ordinance capped whole-house rentals at 10, in part because the council recognized that an excessive number could affect the character and tranquility of residential neighborhoods.
Last year, the council increased that cap to 20.
So when the council considered a conditional-use permit for a whole-house rental at 538 Girod St., the application was hardly breaking new ground. Eighteen applications have already been approved, making this the prospective 19th of the 20 allowed. The Planning Commission had recommended approval 7-0.
But Councilman-at-Large Scott Discon made the discussion about something else… himself.
“I used to own a coffee shop for three years,” Discon said. “It’s hard to own a business in Old Mandeville.”
Then came the assertion that deserves considerably more scrutiny:
“You’ve got a business district that’s struggling. I don’t care what anyone says.”
Discon pointed to Mandeville’s lack of a hotel and contrasted Old Mandeville with Covington. He encouraged people to spend time in Old Mandeville and observe the restaurants.
“When you see that there’s no one in the restaurant from 1:30 to 5:00, you tell me how you think they’re going to make it,” he said.
So according to his reasoning, because owning a coffee shop was hard and people don’t eat meals at 3 p.m., Mandeville has a struggling business district.
Perhaps this is simply the beginning of the 2028 election cycle — with no one yet saying exactly which office they intend to seek — when declaring Mandeville to be in trouble becomes much more politically useful than acknowledging the reality on the ground.
If Old Mandeville can’t support businesses, somebody forgot to tell the businesses
If the district itself is the problem, Old Mandeville has produced a remarkable number of exceptions.
Nuvolari’s has operated since 1983. Rip’s on the Lake has been a lakefront fixture for decades. The Rusty Pelican has built a lasting business selling hamburgers, sandwiches and other casual fare. Pat’s Rest Awhile has established itself as a lakefront destination. La Lou, a breakfast and brunch restaurant on Girod Street, has likewise become a popular Old Mandeville destination. And let’s not forget about the Barley Oak, the Grapeful Ape or Aperitif Spritz & Bites.
And just a few blocks from Discon’s former coffee shop sits The Bean, another independent coffee shop that has thrived in Old Mandeville since 2019.
Discon’s own experience with his coffee shop also deserves some context.
When The Scotts’ closed in December 2015, his partner Scott Williams told The Times-Picayune that the business had lost its lease. Williams said he and Discon had no immediate plans to reopen elsewhere and would “take a step back and regroup” before deciding how to proceed. The newspaper also reported that The Scotts’ had expanded into adjoining space after opening in 2012 and described its final day as one of its busiest, with loyal customers coming to say goodbye.
What happened at the location afterward is perhaps even more telling. After The Scotts’ Coffee Bar closed, The Candy Bank opened there. Nearly a decade later, it remains in business and has earned national recognition, placing sixth in USA Today’s 2024 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for best candy store.
But Discon’s statement about the absence of a hotel omitted a significant development. The city approved a 10-room boutique hotel for the top floor of the St. Tammany Bank Building, Discon’s former location, in January 2023, and by June 2025, city records described the project as under development, with a permit already issued.
All these businesses operate within the same streets, the same geography, and the same lack of a conventional hotel.
They found a way to make it work.
At the Sept. 24 council meeting, Finance Director Jessica Farno reported preliminary FY2026 sales-tax collections of $23.05 million — about $1.24 million higher than the previous year and above the city’s adjusted budget. She also said recent monthly collections had been running “well above” budget targets.
That is hardly evidence of a “struggling” business district. The things Discon pointed out are simply proof of how difficult operating a successful business can be, at least from his perspective.
Mandeville is not an island or some remote destination where visitors need hotel rooms to patronize local businesses. Old Mandeville draws day-trippers from neighboring communities and unincorporated St. Tammany Parish, as well as farther afield — Baton Rouge, Hammond, Washington Parish and southern Mississippi.
And we have yet to see the full economic impact of the new Trader Joe’s. The store is another reason for people throughout the region to visit Mandeville, creating opportunities for nearby Old Mandeville restaurants and shops to attract some of those visitors.
An empty restaurant at 3 p.m. proves very little
Discon’s observation about restaurants being empty between 1:30 and 5 p.m. is particularly unconvincing.
Seeing an empty dining room at 3 p.m. only confirms that people typically don’t eat meals at that time of day, not that the restaurant is struggling or about to go under.
Does he truly expect one additional year-round Airbnb to prompt a wave of guests crowding dining rooms during mid-afternoons when people aren’t hungry?
Discon’s three years as a coffee-shop owner gives him legitimate firsthand experience with the difficulty of operating a small business. No doubt.
But what in the world does that have to do with filling one additional short-term-rental space — among 20 already designated by the council in prior years for that aim?
Give people a reason to come
There is also a larger question about what actually creates economic activity.
Certainly, short-term rentals contribute something. Visitors staying overnight eat at restaurants, buy coffee and spend money. That is a legitimate economic benefit.
But scale that beyond a certain point in a place like Old Mandeville, and you risk diminishing the very thing that attracts people here in the first place.
Mandeville has invested heavily in public infrastructure and amenities over the years, particularly under Mayor Clay Madden, and that spending sometimes draws criticism. Yet there is another way to view those investments.
The lakefront, Harbor Field, Sunset Point, parks, playgrounds and other public spaces help give people a reason to come to Mandeville. Its distinctive collection of restaurants and shops gives them even more reason to stay and spend money.
The challenge is preserving the idyllic character of Old Mandeville and the lakefront while continuing to invest in the things that make people want to be here. In the pursuit of economic development, we should be careful not to kill the golden goose.
And putting a large traditional hotel on the lakefront may very well do just that. Mandeville has already had that debate. The rejected Sucette Harbor development proposed a large hotel on the western end of the lakefront.
Political ambition should never come at the expense of the community
It was unnecessary to use an otherwise routine short-term-rental application to shoehorn a non-existent crisis into the discussion by declaring Old Mandeville a “business district that’s struggling.”
It was an insult to all those businesses that have succeeded and become part of what makes Mandeville a destination.
Some businesses make it. Others don’t. Some survive 40 years. Others close within months. Some people are good at it. Others aren’t. That’s the way it is everywhere, not just in Old Mandeville.
And perhaps the most telling part of Discon’s statement, regardless of which office he intends to seek, was the four words he inserted after declaring the district was struggling:
“I don’t care what anyone says.”
We do.
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