Houses line the property where Greenfield Louisiana purchased land to build an export grain facility in Wallace, La., on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. On Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, a state judge blocked St. John the Baptist Parish officials from considering a resolution that would restore zoning allowing the terminal to be built on the site. A 1990 ordinance allowing the zoning change was declared void earlier in the month. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Houses line the property where Greenfield Louisiana purchased land to build an export grain facility in Wallace, La., on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. On Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, a state judge blocked St. John the Baptist Parish officials from considering a resolution that would restore zoning allowing the terminal to be built on the site. A 1990 ordinance allowing the zoning change was declared void earlier in the month. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
A controversial proposal to build a grain elevator in St. John the Baptist Parish faces a key test on Monday, when the planning commission takes up a zoning change that has been entangled in court disputes and community opposition to the project.
The parish has applied for the property owned by Greenfield, a grain export company, to be rezoned from residential to industrial land. Community activists oppose the change, saying the process has been improper and the project itself proposed to be built in Wallace would lead to levels of pollution they consider unacceptable.
The dispute has taken on symbolic importance as well in a part of the state with longstanding environmental justice concerns. The company says the project will provide jobs and not cause disproportionate health impacts.
The Descendants Project, a local advocacy group founded by sisters Jo and Joy Banner, have called out the parish for giving Greenfield what they call special treatment. The group points out that the parish itself, in an unusual move, has applied for the zoning change instead of the company.
“It really is important that you show up and voice your concerns,” Joy Banner said at a press conference earlier this month. “I think you should know… the decisions that are being made by our council members, and how important those decisions are and how they impact your life.”
The Descendants Project has asked the parish to remove the item from the agenda, calling instead for the issue to be worked out in court. The office of Parish President Jaclyn Hotard and the planning commission did not respond to a request for comment.
Justin Kray, a cartographer who has worked with environmental organizations like the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission, said the language for the change is too vague.
“(This land) has been proposed to shift to the most intense of industrial uses, but there’s no language about how they’re proposing to do that,” said Kray. “There’s no language in there about the buffers.”
The plot owned by Greenfield was initially zoned as industrial by the parish council in 1990, when Formosa was planning to build a chemical plant there. That plan was eventually abandoned.
The Banners filed suit to have the 1990 zoning change revoked in November 2021. They claimed that former parish president Lester Millet was trying to push the Formosa project forward despite objections from parish residents. Millet was indicted in 1995 on charges of money laundering, extortion and racketeering in connection with the Formosa deal.
Greenfield and parish officials argued that the 1990 zoning change was legal.
In early August, Fortieth Judicial District Judge J. Sterling Snowdy ruled that the 1990 rezoning wasn’t properly approved, though not because of Millet’s involvement. He said the process had not been correctly followed because the zoning change wasn’t approved first by the planning commission, as required under the parish’s charter.
The parish council’s Aug. 22 meeting agenda included an item that would reinstate the 1990 zoning decision. Prior to the meeting, The Descendants Project filed for a restraining order against the parish changing the zoning back to industrial. Fortieth Judicial District Court Judge Nghana Lewis granted that restraining order on August 21.
At the Aug. 22 meeting, the parish council voted to affirm the 1990 zoning change with 6 yeas 3 nays. Those opposed to the resolution asked why the council would vote on this right after Lewis’ restraining order. Councilmember Lenix Madere said they were voting to restart the process of rezoning the land and that resolutions like that one don’t have legal weight, only ordinances do.
“This resolution does not have the force of law. It does not change anything,” said Madere. “The judge did not rule that the land could not be changed again.”
Councilmember Tonia Schnyder moved to suspend the vote and work on the language of the resolution, which she said implied that the council agreed with the 1990 zoning change, but that failed with 3 yeas and 6 nays.
“I was not comfortable making any kind of decision on that, not having all the details,” Schnyder said. “I didn’t understand why we would vote to affirm the decision.”
Schnyder was not aware of the parish’s application to the planning commission for Greenfield’s plot of land.
The Descendants Project argues that Greenfield shouldn’t develop on the plot due to the area’s historical significance as home to descendants of slaves from nearby plantations and because of its vulnerability to climate change issues.
On Oct. 2, the Climate Vulnerability Index, from the Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University, ranked St. John as the most vulnerable county in the country to climate change.
In September, the Army Corps of Engineers published a review saying that the Greenfield grain terminal would have adverse effects on 5 of 20 historic places in St. John: the Whitney Plantation, Oak Alley Plantation, Evergreen Plantation, Great River Road and Willow Grove Cemetery.
The 11-mile stretch along the River Road in Edgard, including some of the land bought by Greenfield, was also designated as one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2023 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The planning commission meeting will be held on Monday at 5:30 at 1811 West Airline Highway.
This work is supported with a grant funded by the Walton Family Foundation and administered by the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Email Roshaun Higgins at roshaun.higgins@theadvocate.com.
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