Parish Council denies rezoning

Donna Nevels just wanted to sell a cup of joe.

But Thursday night, Parish Council members refused her zoning appeal for a coffee shop in Slidell, and later it led to stinging curse words and a near fight outside the council chambers.

Nevels, who appealed a denial to rezone a 15,000-square-foot plot from Suburban Agricultural to Neighborhood Commercial, was denied her motion after a heated debate from both proponents and opponents.

Nevels, who worked for two years to secure the permit, even buying a $15,000 side lot for parking, said her proposed coffee shop on Howze Beach Road, south of Louisiana Highway 433, would serve the local side street neighborhood only where, she said, about 6,000 cars pass daily.

She called it a small town shop, one neighbors could be proud of.

The approval “allows a minority owner like me to live the American dream,” she told the council.

Nevels even produced 193 signatures of support and motioned a handful of supporters waiting in the audience to hear the decision.

Problem is, said Parish Council President Jerry Binder, many of the signatures are from neighbors who live up to four miles away.

Binder, who since 1976 has lived one mile away from the proposed site, almost seemed to chuckle when he looked at petition.

“Everybody has a right to go through this process, and I will always support both sides,” he said. “But more than half of these signatures live more than a mile away.”

Meanwhile, Robert Mosley, who for 35 years has lived across the street from the site, said her plans “don’t fit.”

“Her project is not welcome,” he told the council. “If she wants to open a coffee house, then tell her to do it somewhere else. This is a side street, not a thoroughfare.”

More damaging to Nevels’ case was the infringement on New Directions 2025, a comprehensive planning and zoning initiative to direct a massive growth boom parishwide. The plan does not allow businesses in residential areas for fear the sprawl will encroach on resident’s home lives. The Parish Zoning Commission originally denied the approval based on that plan.

“I think we need to draw a line where we stop commercial creep into that neighborhood,” Council Vice President Marty Gould said.

Moments later Nevels’ appeal was unanimously denied. But it didn’t end there. Outside the council chambers, a woman carrying a baby quietly called another woman who spoke in opposition a curse word.

“Did you just call me a b@#$h?” that woman said.

The first woman just nodded her head, inciting the other to lunge after her. She was stopped short by family members.

A Sheriff’s Office deputy quickly broke up the scene.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” he said. “I’ll throw you all in jail.”

During the commotion, Mosley stepped aside.

“We’re just glad our voices were heard. It set a precedent here,” he said.