The downtown Covington and Claiborne Hill areas were the focus of the final rezoning ordinance hearing conducted Tuesday night at the Bogue Falaya Hall of the Greater Covington Center.

As in previous hearings, Steve Villavaso, planning and zoning consultant, led the discussions and asked for comments from the participants. In the rezoning process, Covington has conducted five prior hearings based on zoning areas of the city. The subject of this hearing is mainly a commercial area, although there are some residences.

Previous issues of concern in the area known as Planning District 6 include parking, vacant commercial space, development inconsistency, deteriorated infrastructure, traffic, after-hours activity on Columbia Street, pedestrian safety and ox-lot development and housing provisions. Maureen Clary of Habitat for Humanity reiterated a familiar concern for the city of a lack of affordable housing for the workforce. She said surveys are showing about 67 percent of workers at St. Tammany Hospital live outside of Covington and commute to work, many from neighboring parishes. "It's hard to find a place to live in Covington if you don't make $80,000 a year," said Clary.

How citizens want the area to look, particularly on Collins Boulevard and U. S. Highway 190, is also a concern. It would be a simple thing to add medians and landscaping to dress up the area; we need to think about what we want the area to look like, said Trevor Watkins.

Traci Birch, Villavaso's associate, asked for comments and conducted a planning exercise for the area. Three goals were presented: achieve a balanced, diverse and dynamic pattern of land uses that preserves and embraces the character of Covington; utilize, revitalize and maintain the urban character of Covington in a manner that represents dynamic character and strengthens economic capacity; and promote pedestrian and bicycle pathways as a viable alternative to automobile traffic.

Attendees were asked to write comments on a variety on questions concerning District 6, including preservation of area landmarks, specific issues unique to Covington, areas where walkability is a problem, areas where taller buildings may be appropriate and what "mix of uses" would be appropriate in the area.

In response, discussions included the artsy, small business, small town aspect of the city should be kept. Bicycle safety is a concern with bike paths in the downtown area not always clearly marked. The problem of parking on both sides of the narrow streets can also be a problem with rear view mirrors falling victim to passing SUVs. Villavaso explained that streets meant for ox carts do not always mix well with SUVs.

The next stage in the rezoning ordinance process is to report to the city council what has been expressed in the district meetings. The report will be presented to the City Council on March 18 at their regular meeting.