Metro Council approves new development rules to help reduce flooding issues

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The East Baton Rouge Metro Council approved a new set of rules to help mitigate flooding issues around the parish.

At a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 18, the council approved tighter rules for developers that plan to build any properties in the future.

Per the new guidelines, developers will have to make sure their projects can handle a 100-year storm event, similar to what happened in 2016.

Contractors will be required to make sure their projects don’t cause water to flow off their property, and potentially flood any of their neighbors. This could include elevating homes and building detention ponds.

Leaders created the new standards-based off of data collected over the past few years that measured how the previous rules affected flooding in the parish.

“I think we actually are moving in the right direction to address the concerns residents have, and where they’re going to be living at in the future.”

Leaders believe this will heavily mitigate the problem, and people should slowly start the effects.

“There will be a phase in approach, but it’s going to be moving in that direction where people will see the buy-in and the positive impact on that.”

The new rules will not affect any current projects that are happening right now, but any permits handed out in the future will have to abide by the new policies.

Councilman Aaron Moak considers this one of the biggest moves for the council in recent years.

“Whether your Baker, Central, Zachary, or the city of Baton Rouge itself, this here is going to help everyone out.”

The new rules will take effect on April 1.

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