Growth Spurs Youngsville To Eye New Rules

YOUNGSVILLE, La. (AP) — Youngsville is considering new regulations to guide commercial and residential development in a once-tiny municipality that has seen its population grow by more than 400 percent over the past two decades.

Youngsville Mayor Wilson Viator says the city has no zoning laws, and there are only a handful of regulations on new developments.

What's under consideration by the city is not zoning, he said, but rather what's called a "land-use" plan.

Conventional zoning laws designate certain areas of a city for certain types of developments — industrial, residential, commercial.

Viator said the land-use plan would not specify what should be built where, but the plan would impose requirements for buffers and green space when a new development conflicts with what's already been built.