When is a metal building not a metal building?

That was the question posed by certain Slidell City Council members Tuesday night as the issue of banning metal buildings in the city was put on hold for the second time in a month.

Mayor Ben Morris submitted a bill that would force contractors to use brick, cement, stucco or wood instead of metal on all four sides of a building inside city limits.

Metal buildings such as this one in Slidell will no longer be permitted within city limits if the City Council agrees to a Slidell Zoning Commission'€™s amendment to the zoning ordinances that would ban metal buildings. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

The idea was to clean up the city’s image and stop the proliferation of corrugated sheet metal buildings, especially near residential areas. The proposed legislation would not affect metal buildings already standing.

“The mayor wants me to improve the aesthetics of the city,” Slidell Planning Director Tim Jackson told the council. “We want to keep metal buildings out of the entry points to the city.”

Some citizens who spoke at the council meeting focused on the many metal buildings on Old Spanish Trail.

Paulette Barris, who lives just off Old Spanish Trail, said the city must adopt stronger regulations when it comes to development.

“Our city is not growing in a beautiful way,” Barris said.

The Slidell Planning and Zoning Committee gave the bill a favorable vote at its March 18 meeting, going so far as making stricter regulations. The original legislation stated the buildings only had to be surfaced with something other than metal on three sides. The amended bill specified that all four sides, and all levels, could not be metal. The bill does let contractors use vinyl siding on 25 percent of the exterior walls.

However, Councilman Joe Fraught said more thought should go into the legislation and moved to postpone the bill. He said developers and contractors had complained to him that building costs would increase if metal exteriors were banned on buildings, especially covering all four sides.

“I don’t want commercial buildings to look industrial,” Fraught conceded. “But you can’t see the sides and rear of these buildings.”

He said a contractor working at a Slidell mall project said construction costs would increase by $50,000 if he used nothing but stucco for the exterior.

Fraught also said metal materials have changed in the past several years, and there are metal surfaces that don’t look like metal. He pointed to the ECO building on Old Spanish Trail as an example.

“That building is 90 percent metal, and you can’t tell,” Fraught said.

Morris did not want the vote postponed. He said he hadn’t heard from contractors about the legislation.

“Developers have not shown up at the P & Z meetings, nor the Master Plan meetings. They haven’t said a thing,” Morris said.

He said the bill is very specific, and contractors have an appeal process if they are turned down.

“We are not closing the door on all metal buildings,” Morris said. “If the bill is too onerous, we can always change it. Let’s just forbid what’s been going up and go on from there.”

Jackson said no one has currently applied for a permit to construct a metal building.

Everyone agreed a uniform code is needed to make sure the aesthetics of Slidell remain pleasing to residents.

“I realize the economic costs, but we residents have to look at these buildings every day,” said Brugiere resident Buddy Lloyd, who is concerned about too many metal buildings going up on Fremaux Avenue.

“We have to bring the city into the 21st Century,” Councilman Landon Cusimano said. “Let’s not water down the measure. We need a uniform policy.”

But Fraught and Council President Raymond Canada said with new building materials being produced every day, the council should study the issue more before a final vote.

A motion to postpone the bill for 30 days passed 6-2, with Cusimano and Warren Crockett voting against. Councilman Richard Hursey was absent from the meeting.