Part Two of Three: What the Roy/Brewer Run-Off Teaches Us About Alexandria
Both Delores Brewer and Jacques Roy spoke frequently about a concept known as “smart growth.” Mrs. Brewer stated that the city had already been engaging in smart growth for years, but that’s not quite accurate.
Smart growth is an umbrella term that encompasses many aspects of the ways in which a City develops and expands, and it relies on forward-thinking, research-based analysis of growth patterns and demographic trends.
During the past decade, Alexandria has been steadily expanding, but the ways in which our city has grown may present problems for the future. Although the expansion of Versailles and the developments occurring down Highway 28-West are exciting, this growth must be tempered with appropriate agreements with developers in order to ensure that the growth isn’t an isolated off-shoot, but a vibrant part of our community, one in which all Alexandrians can enjoy and utilize.
Mr. Roy often mentioned the fact that during the past forty years, Alexandria has nearly tripled in size, but its population has remained stagnant. This is due, in part, to the reigning paradigm of suburban sprawl, but it’s also due to the fact that Alexandria has enabled developers to build subdivisions right on the fringes of our city limits, without making the case for annexation. In other words, developers have been able to avoid paying city taxes (and have used this as a selling point for their clients) while, on some occasions, they have used certain city services (i.e. sewage). This hardly seems fair for the average taxpayer. And it is one of the reasons Alexandria’s population painfully hovers at 48,000- 49,000 people. If Alexandria finds creative ways to bolster its population by making the case for annexation to residents who live in subdivisions right in the middle of the city (yet somehow outside of the city limits), we may be able to boost our population to 50,000 people overnight, and once that occurs, Alexandria becomes eligible for all sorts of federal entitlement grants– grants that can transform our city in a number of positive ways.
When urban planners speak about in-fill, particularly in a city as disjointed as Alexandria, they’re not just talking about building new construction in already-developed areas, they are also talking about using the powers of annexation (which are unfortunately limited in Louisiana) to effectively control and manage our city’s growth.
But again, smart growth isn’t just about in-full; it’s about making a community more livable. It’s about finding solutions to traffic problems, public transportation, garbage pick-up, sewage, utilities, fire and police coverage, and access to resources.
Smart growth was always the foundation of Mr. Roy’s campaign, and during the next four years, he will be faced with the challenge of articulating and executing his message, stewarding a paradigm shift on how Alexandria understands itself.
CenLamar 
Lamar,
Now you are making me absolutely giddy! Wow, a young professional writing about smart growth and its importance to our community and to our new, young mayor. There are many of us who are dedicated to working on this issue. We are truly excited about working with the new administration on smart growth concepts. Please continue help us educate our citizens about this issue. Many thanks.
Lamar, consider this point also. I was raised in a rural area just outside of the City limits. The original people that have resided their have large acreages of farming and livestock activities. The area has built up recently, and farms and ranches that have existed for generations fear what will happen to their enterprises if annexed into the City. For some reason, the City has provided water and electricity since the 1960’s to areas south of the City. I do not think that because those people had no choice in where they obtained water and electricity, they have a duty to become part of the City’s limits.
Another consideration, is that often subdivisions were allowed to be developed partially due to public funds and deals made with the developers. As a result, and as been mentioned, often the drain on the City’s infrastructure has been stretched too thin. For those reasons, many also fear growth not well thought out. I am happy to see that more thought is being given to how the City grows and its consequences.
Many of the subdivisions developed in the past few years have actually been annexed prior to approving the acceptance of water and sewer systems for the subdivisions being connected to the City’s infrastructure. I know of 2 that haven’t, one requires it remain outside the city for at least 3 more years because of the way the funding of the project was set up.
Surprisingly enough, Alexandria has been following, for the most part, the Comprehensive Plan 2010, working towards many of the issues laid forth by the consulting firm out of Nashville, whether they meant to or not.
The areas within the boundaries need to be addressed as far as annexation is concerned for several reasons, not just taxes. First utilities. These areas are not just served by COA utilities. They can be served by CLECO electric. Now, they City can, without annexation offer service to those customers – in a sense buy them from CLECO – and make profit from the users without annexation. The other REAL issue is police and fire protection. Confusion begins over who should actually respond to these pocket areas within our boundaries – the parish or the city? Granted, both have mutual aid agreements, but why should someone outside the city limits, not paying taxes get the benefit of city protection without paying for it?