Youngsville Residents Petition Against New Neighborhood

Some residents of Youngsville are asking their neighbors to sign a petition to try to prevent a new development from being built.

With the continued growth of their city and (what appears to be) an increase in flood events, it is easy to understand their concern.

The new development is a proposed neighborhood just north of Youngsville proper.

According to the petition, posted on the Change.org website, an "out-of-town developer" has plans to come in to Youngsville to build a new development that would consist of townhomes.

The petition starts out by directing the attention of residents of Youngsville, and those who drive through Youngsville on their commute, to the proposed development.

ATTENTION RESIDENTS AND COMMUTERS OF YOUNGSVILLE AND SURROUNDING AREAS

According to the petition, the new development will be rental properties and it includes plans for over 100 new townhomes to be built near (what the drafters of the petition are calling) a "floodway". The proposed site for the new construction would be on Fortune Road, just off the Youngsville Highway.

An out-of-town developer has proposed a neighborhood with 116 3,450 sqft 2-story townhomes (58 6,900 sqft multi-family dwellings) to be built on 23 acres at the corner of Fortune Road and Youngsville Hwy (on the triangle scrap piece of land with drains and gas/pipelines running all across it, behind the Shell/Circle K station, across from Sabal Palms/Meches).

The petition points out that residents who live near the proposed development were sent a notice of a public meeting to discuss the development, set to be held November 10 at 5:15 PM at Youngsville City Hall.

Drafters of the petition are hoping to get enough people to sign the petition AND attend the public meeting to have the development reconsidered.

We need to make sure that interest of people who actually live, work and vote here remain a priority.
A hearing on the proposal will be held November 10 @ 5:15pm at the Youngsville City Hall. I encourage everyone who lives or commutes in this area to attend!!

In their attempt to deny the proposal, the drafters of the petition made it a point to say that they are against this particular development, but they are not against the idea of new developments in Youngsville.

The petition says that they are in favor of the continued growth of Youngsville, and they want to see the city continue to prosper.

This denial of the proposal is in no way meant to stifle/discourage the growth of the city as a whole, or even this portion of Youngsville, as long as the place, time and conditions are appropriate.

The biggest concern presented by the drafters of the petition? Flooding and traffic.

The main issues are flooding and traffic. This area is located immediately adjacent to a floodway, and is 99% in a flood plain.

The property on which the proposed development would be built is now in the hands of an investment company (allegedly, as per the petition).

The drafters feel that if that company (or anyone else, for that matter) develops this parcel of land, it would adversely affect drainage for areas all around that parcel of land.

Any alteration in drainage will affect what is in front of it and what’s behind it, not just the immediate area.

As for the traffic, drafters estimate that at least 116 more vehicles will be on the roads during commutes, further choking up the roadways. And if any of those townhomes have multi-car families, that number would be a conservative guess.

Extensive studies were done in the area. The point of building a roundabout at that very intersection is to ease traffic congestion that has already been identified.

What are your thoughts on this petition? Are you a resident of Youngsville or someone who drives through the area on a regular basis? How would more traffic impact your daily life?

At the time of this story (November 5, 2022), there were less than 200 signatures on the petition.