Letter to St. Tammany Parish Council

1. THERE WAS NO PROPER NOTICE GIVEN ABOUT THIS MAY 4, 2004 ZONING COMMISSION HEARING, THUS THE LARGE NUMBER OF OPPONENTS OF AFORESAID DECISION WERE EFFECTIVELY DENIED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT THEMSELVES AND BE HEARD.

2. SOWL HEARD ABOUT THE MAY 4, 2004 ZONING COMMISSION HEARING BY ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERING SUCH FROM A TIMES PICAYUNE ARTICLE APPEARING IN THEIR METRO ST. TAMMANY PARISH EDITION OF TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2004. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THREATS MADE AGAINST SOWL OF ARREST AND VIOLENCE BY PARISH COUNCILMAN JOSEPH IMPASTATO DISTRICT 7, IN PARISH COUNCIL’S OFFICE ON APRIL 26, 2004 TO SOME OF SOWL CLIENTS, SOWL, OUT OF FEAR FOR HIS SAFETY AND SECURITY DECIDED NOT TO APPEAR AT THE MAY 4, 2004 AFORESAID PARISH ZONING COMMISSION HEARING (EXHIBITS_ 1-2__)

3. SOWL STATES THIS ZONING COMMISSION AND PARISH COUNCIL ARE ISSUING PUD AFTER PUD OVER RURAL AND MANY WETLANDS, CAUSING MASSIVE FLOODS WHERE NO FLOODS EVER BEFORE OCCURRED. AND THE CONTINUAL APPROVAL OF THESE PUDS IN CONSTANT VIOLATION OF PUD REQUIREMENTS AND THE MASTER 202.5 MASTER PLAN, AND YOUR DENIAL OF PROPER PROCEDURE, IS A VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION, PROTECTED BY THE L.A. AND U.S. CONSTITUTIONS. AND THE ISSUANCE OF THIS CAPTIONED PUD ALSO FLIES IN VIOLATION OF THE ABOVE STATED LAWS AND STATUTES.

4. WAYNE COLLIER APPEARED AT THE TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2004 ZONING COMMISSION HEARING AS THE ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANT, TAMMANY HOLDING CORPORATION. IT IS SOWL’S UNDERSTANDING THAT WAYNE COLLIER WAS A MEMBER OF THE PARISH ZONING COMMISSION. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN INVESTIGATION BY THE PARISH COUNCIL TO DETERMINE IF MR. COLLIER, WHILE ON THE PARISH ZONING COMMISSION, ISSUED PERMITS AND APPROVALS FOR THE APPLICANT, ST. TAMMANY HOLDING CORPORATION. IF THERE IS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST, THEN PAST ZONING COMMISSION DECISIONS RELATED TO THIS PROJECT ARE NULL AND VOID.

5. SECTION 38 OF PARISH CODE MANDATES A TRAINING SESSION 90 DAYS AFTER TAKING OFFICE AS A ZONING COMMISSION VOTING MEMBER. MORE THAN 90 DAYS HAVE PASSED, AND VOTING ZONING COMMISSION MEMBERS HAVE NOT TAKEN THE MANDATED TRAINING SESSION. AND THEREFORE, THE VOTE OF MAY 4, 2004 IS NULL AND VOID

6. SOWL ALLEGES THE ZONING COMMISSION MEMBERS ARE MAKING PUD AFTER PUD DECISIONS WITHOUT BEING FULLY INFORMED. AND THIS AFORESAID PUD APPROVAL IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF ACTIONS THAT ARE ILLEGAL, ARBITRARY, AND CAPRICIOUS, ACTING WITH CALCULATED OR PREJUDICIAL FACTS OF DISCRETION, CONTRARY TO THE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE SURROUNDING PROPERTY OWNERS IN VIOLATION OF 2025 MASTER LAND USE PLAN AND PARISH PUD ORDINANCES.

7. ACTIONS OF THE ST. TAMMANY PARISH ZONING COMMISSION AND PARISH COUNCIL, RUBBER-STAMPING PUDS AD INFINITUM, AD NAUSEAM OVER ONCE RURAL ZONE WETLAND AREAS ARE CREATING A MASSIVE MOMENTUM FLOOD HAZARD FOR THE RESIDENTS OF ST. TAMMANY PARISH. SOWL HEREBY PUTS YOU ON NOTICE OF SUCH.

8. SECTION 2.801 PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE PUD ORDINANCE STATES THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA REPRESENTS THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PLANNED DISTRICT:
   1. ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE DESIGN THAT IS OF A HIGHER QUALITY THAN WOULD BE POSSIBLE UNDER THE REGULATIONS OTHERWISE APPLICABLE TO THE PROPERTY. OUT OF A ONCE VAST 5,200 ACRE WETLAND ESTUARY CRIMINALLY DIKED AND DAMMED AND DRAINED THRU THE YEARS (EXHIBIT__3__), THERE ARE NOW REMAINING 650 ACRES OF WETLANDS THIS PROJECT WOULD DESTROY. THERE ARE OTHER REGULATIONS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE THIS REMAINING 650 ACRES OF WETLANDS AND EVEN TO HAVE IT RESTORED. THIS IS THROUGH FUNDING UNDER SENATOR BREAUX’S COASTAL WETLANDS PROTECTION PRESERVATION ACT.
      THERE IS NOTHING OF AN “ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE DESIGN” IN THIS PLAN TO DESTROY SUCH A VAST 650 ACRES OF WETLANDS, PARTICULARLY WHEN THERE ARE MONIES AVAILABLE UNDER CWPPA TO PURCHASE THESE ECONOMICALLY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY VALUABLE WETLANDS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

9. A READING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DATA FORM RELIED ON BY THE ZONING COMMISSION AND ATTACHED TO THE RECORD IS COMPLETELY INCOMPLETE IN THAT IT DENIES ANY IMPACT OF THIS PROJECT UPON THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE. READ WHAT “SAVE OUR LAKE” _ _ THE LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN FOUNDATION SAID ABOUT THIS PROJECT:
   1. “THE NEED FOR THIS DEVELOPMENT HAS NOT BEEN DEMONSTRATED.
   2. THIS PROJECT WILL FURTHER DEGRADE WATER QUALITY.
   3. THE PROJECT WILL EXACERBATE FLOODING THREATS.
   4. LDEQ MUST COMPLETE AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ON THIS PROJECT.
   5. AN EIS MUST BE COMPLETED ON THIS PROJECT.
   6. THE PROJECT IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH ON-GOING COASTAL RESTORATION EFFORTS.
   7. THE PROJECT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON WATER QUALITY.
   8. THE STORM WATER DISCHARGE FROM THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT WILL EFFECT NEARBY WATER BODIES.
   9. THE SUBDIVISION LACKS A PERMANENT SEWAGE PLAN.
   10. THE PROJECT WILL DESTROY A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WILDLIFE HABITAT.
   11. THE APPLICANT HAS NOT MINIMIZED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS FROM THE PROJECT.
   12. THE PROJECT INVOLVES A LARGE AMOUNT OF (LAND) FILL.
   13. THE PERMIT APPLICATION LACKS A MITIGATION PLAN.
   14. THE PROPOSED PROJECT LIES NEAR LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN (EXHIBITS 4-7 )”

10. SOWL SUPPLEMENTS THIS RECORD TO SHOW ONCE AGAIN THE DEFICIENCIES OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS SUBMITTED AND RELIED UPON BY THE ZONING COMMISSION:
    1. JULY 13, 2003 COMMENTS SUBMITTED BY GLYNN BROCK, HOMEOWNER AND OTHERS (EXHIBITS__9-10__)
    2. INEZ SHELTON (EXHIBIT 11)
    3. AUGUST 12, 2003 COMMENT BY JERRY E. WHITMAN (EXHIBIT 12)
    4. DORIS S. WILLIAMS COMMENT TO COE (EXHIBIT 13)
    5. EPA AUG. 13, 2004 TO COE (EXHIBIT 14)
    6. JULY 16, 2003 COMMENT OF FRED CUREAU (EXHIBIT 15)
    7. JULY 23, 2003 COMMENT OF JON LAYTON (EXHIBIT 16)
    8. JULY 21, 2003 COMMENT OF W.C. AND CHARLOTTE BRISTER (EXHIBIT 17)
    9. LA AUDUBON COUNCIL AUG. 12, 2003 COMMENT (EXHIBIT 18)
    10. GEORGE AND JOYCE MOORE COMMENTS (EXHIBIT 19)
    11. JULY 30, 2003 COMMENT BY WAYNE M. FRADY (EXHIBIT 20)
    12. MARCH 28, 2004 COMMENT BY GLYNN BROCK (EXHIBIT 21)
    13. MAY 2, 2004 COMMENT BY GLYNN AND MARLETTA BROCK (EXHIBITS 22-23)

11. AS FURTHER PROOF THAT THE PARISH ZONING COMMISSION AND PARISH COUNCIL ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DESTROYING THE WETLANDS, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND HABITAT OF ST. TAMMANY PARISH, SOWL ATTACHES THE JULY 2002 REPORT COMMISSIONED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS - COASTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY (UNO-CRL) ENTITLED “URBANIZATION EFFECTS ON HABITAT CHANGE IN ST. TAMMANY PARISH (EXHIBIT 24); THIS REPORT SPECIFICALLY STATES:
    1. ST. TAMMANY WAS SELECTED SINCE IT IS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING PARISHES IN THE STATE AND THE EFFECTS OF DEVELOPMENT CAN BE SEEN IN THE PARISH’S DECLINING HABITATS AND DEGRADING WATER QUALITY.

    2. UNO-CRL USED STATE-OF-THE-ART MAPPING TECHNOLOGY, KNOWN AS GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS or GIS, TO DOCUMENT HABITAT CHANGE THAT OCCURRED IN THE PARISH BETWEEN 1982-2000.

    3. THE REPORT DETERMINED THAT 52,216 ACRES OF HABITAT HAVE BEEN ALTERED IN THE PARISH OVER THE NEARLY 20-YEAR PERIOD. THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO PLACING TWO METAIRIES IN ST. TAMMANY PARISH.

    4. THE REPORT MAKES CLEAR THAT URBANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT HAS LED TO SIGNIFICANT HABITAT LOSS, MOST OF WHICH HAS OCCURRED IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF ST. TAMMANY.

    5. MUCH OF THE HABITAT LOSS HAS OCCURRED IN WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS.

    6. DURING THE STUDY PERIOD: MORE THAN 11,000 ACRES OF MARSH WERE LOST, NEARLY 4,000 ACRES OF UPLAND FOREST WERE LOST, ALMOST 34,000 ACRES OF WETLAND FOREST HABITAT WERE LOST, AND OVER 3,000 ACRES OF SHRUB/SCRUB WETLAND HABITAT WERE LOST.

    7. URBANIZATION IN ST. TAMMANY HAS OCCURRED AT A RATE OF 2,699 ACRES PER YEAR. AT THIS GROWTH RATE, URBAN AREAS WILL OCCUPY OVER 138,000 ACRES, OR 19.2% OR 1/5 OF THE PARISH BY 2025, AND ALMOST 206,000 ACRES, 28.6% OR 1/3 OF ST. TAMMANY BY 2050.

    8. SINCE WETLANDS NATURALLY FILTER OUT POLLUTANTS ANT TOXINS FROM THE WATER AND THEY CAN ABSORB TREMENDOUS AMOUNTS OF WATER FROM RAIN EVENTS, WETLAND LOSS CAN LEAD TO POOR WATER QUALITY AND FLOODING.

    9. MANY OF THE CONVERTED HABITATS ARE LOCATED IN FLOOD PLAINS - AREAS THAT, WHEN LEFT IN THEIR NATURAL STATE, PROVIDE FLOOD STORAGE. AREAS OF SIGNIFICANT HABITAT LOSS ARE NOW EXPERIENCING FLOODING PROBLEMS, ESPECIALLY IN THE SLIDELL AREA.

12. APPLICANT CLAIMS OPEN SPACE IS 36%, BUT THESE CALCULATIONS ARE NOT BACKED UP BY WRITTEN PROOF AND THEREFORE SOWL ASSUMES SUCH IS NOT CORRECT.

13. APPLICANT CLAIMS RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS, BUT SUCH IS NOT BACKED UP BY WRITTEN PROOF AS TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 499.

14. APPLICANT STATES INITIAL WETLANDS DELINEATION IS NOT APPLICABLE TO THIS APPLICATION. HOWEVER, SOWL IS OF THE OPINION THAT THE COE HAS DETERMINED THAT 650 ACRES OF THIS PROJECT ARE JURISDICTIONAL WETLANDS. THESE WETLANDS COULD BE PURCHASED AND RESTORED UNDER SENATOR BREAUX’S CWPPA BILL

15. APPLICANT STATES THAT PERMITTED USES AND COVENANTS FOR LAKESHORE ESTATES PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT EXIST TO INCLUDE MULTI - FAMILY DWELLING UNITS, TOWNHOUSES, CONDOMINIUMS, HOTELS, PROFESSIONAL OFFICES, HEALTH AND MEDICAL FACILITIES, PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENT, SPECIALTY RETAIL SHOPS. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO WRITTEN PROOF TO CONCLUSIVELY PROVE WHERE THESE PERMITTED USES COME FROM. IF THEY COME FROM OR UNDER WAYNE COLLIER (ATTORNEY NOW FOR THE APPLICANT, TAMMANY HOLDING) WHEN HE WAS ON T HE ZONING COMMISSION, THERE COULD EXIST A CONFLICT OF INTERESTS THAT WOULD MAKE THESE AFORESAID PERMITTED USES NULL AND VOID.

16. SOWL ATTACHES SECTION 2.8 OF PLANNED DISTRICT AND STATES RECORD THAT SOWL HAS SUBMITTED CLEARLY SHOWS VIOLATION OF THIS PUD ORDINANCE (EXHIBIT 25)

17. BECAUSE THERE ARE MAJOR CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN, THE DEVELOPER IS REQUIRED TO GO BEFORE THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION AGAIN.

18. APPROXIMATELY 50 OR MORE APPEAL LETTERS HAVE BEEN FILED AGAINST THE MAY 4, 2004 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION DECISION. A DECISION BY THIS PARISH COUNCIL CONFIRMING AFORESAID PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION DECISION WILL BE CONSIDERED ILLEGAL, ARBITRARY, AND CAPRICIOUS, AND THIS COUNCIL IS ACTING WITH PREJUDICE OR CALCULATED LACK OF DISCRETION, CONTRARY TO THE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE SURROUNDING PROPERTY OWNERS, IN VIOLATION OF THE 2025 MASTER LAND USE PLAN AND THE PARISH PUD ORDINANCE.

19. ON MAY 7, 2004 THE STATE OF LA ISSUED AN ILLEGAL WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION CONTRARY TO THE LAW THAT REQUIRES THEM TO PERFORM AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS (EXHIBIT 26). SOWL IS FILING A LAWSUIT IN THE 19TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT IN BATON ROUGE TO OVERTURN DEQ’S ILLEGAL CERTIFICATION. SOWL HAS BEEN DOCUMENTING THE DEQ RUBBER - STAMPING OF WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATIONS, AND IT’S QUITE OBVIOUS THAT GOVERNOR KATHLEEN BLANCO IS DETERMINED TO CONTINUE THIS “BUSINESS AS USUAL” TRADITION. (EXHIBIT 27 )
    SOWL REQUESTS THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION AND PARISH COUNCIL NOT ISSUE APPROVAL OF THIS PROJECT UNTIL SUCH TIME AS DEQ PERFORMS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AS REQUIRED BY LAW. ANY DECISION REACHED BY EITHER THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION OR PARISH COUNCIL UNDER THIS OBVIOUSLY ILLEGAL WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION WILL BE PROCEDURALLY DEFECTIVE AND THEREFORE REVERSIBLE.

20. SOWL’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON APRIL 12, 2004 WROTE THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS, CONCERNING THIS PARISH COUNCIL AND PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION PERMITTING THE RAMPANT DESTRUCTION OF WETLANDS IN ST. TAMMANY PARISH FOR SHOPPING/STRIP MALL CONSTRUCTION AND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN FLOOD PLAINS. AND HOW THIS COUNCIL IS NOT ONLY DESTROYING THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF THIS ONCE BEAUTIFUL PARISH, BUT IS ALSO CAUSING A MASSIVE FLOOD POTENTIAL DISASTER TO THE LIVES AND PROPERTIES OF YOUR CITIZENS. SOWL HAS REQUESTED A U.S. CONGRESSIONAL AND F.B.I. INVESTIGATION OF YOUR ACTIONS BENEFITTING LAND DEVELOPERS OVER THE MASSIVE AND OVERWHELMING OBJECTIONS OF THE VOTERS WHO PUT YOU IN OFFICE (EXHIBIT 27)