Heavy industry is an important component of Jefferson Parish’s economic success. In fact, based on a five-year economic-impact study, the eight largest industrial firms in Jefferson Parish contributed $506 million in capital spending, $816 million in new sales, $179 million in new household earnings and 688 new jobs, with an average salary of $123,000. Heavy industry also contributes millions of dollars in tax revenue to Jefferson Parish; it provides direct and indirect jobs; and it drives spin-off economic activity at other local businesses.
In 2022, Jefferson Parish consulted with a third-party private consultant, Camiros, to conduct a study of Jefferson Parish’s industrial zoning districts, as the zoning code had not been modified in more than 50 years. This study included an analysis of the then-current industrial zoning, which resulted in recommendations regarding an approach to modernizing industrial zoning and, ultimately, providing a new set of zoning districts for the parish’s important industrial areas.
“The [Jefferson Parish Industrial Zoning Districts Study] offered an opportunity to comprehensively evaluate the current industrial district structure and associated regulations to create a set of new, modern districts and standards that work with existing industrial development patterns and adopt parish industrial development policies,” says Ruth Lawson, President of the Jefferson Parish Chamber of Commerce.
While the Chamber understood the need for a modernized industrial code, Lawson says that the study’s original proposed regulations would have squashed economic development and growth of heavy industry in Jefferson Parish. “Considering the original proposal, which didn’t allow for the expansion of current facilities or any new facilities, we made significant progress with communication and collaboration,” Lawson says. “Through the Chamber’s influential voice, we worked for the benefit of those that live and work in Jefferson Parish.”
Discussions about the study first began in July 2021 with the Westbank Port Redevelopment Task Force. The first framework report of the Jefferson Parish Industrial Zoning Districts Study was presented to the Chamber and other interested parties in February 2022. During this time—and up until the new measure was passed by the Jefferson Parish Council in May 2024—the Jefferson Chamber organized regular meetings between industry and economic-development experts. “Often we would invite Jefferson Parish Councilman (Deano) Bonano and the Planning Department to discuss the many drafts of the code and address questions and concerns of the group,” Lawson says.
The Chamber also worked alongside business and industry to temper the onerous new regulations originally proposed in the study. As part of its work, the Chamber organized the Jefferson Parish Industrial Alliance to provide input and consult with the parish over the course of the revisions. “We organized many industrial firms and economic-development experts to discuss the proposed regulations and the impact it would have on the future growth of Jefferson Parish,” Lawson says. “We voiced our concerns at many community meetings, public meetings and private meetings with the Jefferson Parish Planning Department and Councilman Bonano.”
According to Bonano, who was elected to the Jefferson Parish Council in 2020, his district (District 2) contains approximately 90 percent of all the industrially zoned properties in Jefferson Parish. He says the vast majority of new and expanding industries in Jefferson Parish almost always need assistance (such as economic incentives) from his office.
Cornerstone Chemical Co. collaborated with the Chamber as a member of the Industrial Alliance. “[We] provided three sets of comments for the drafts of the ordinance, held meetings with the Parish Planning Department and provided input for one-page communication for the Chamber. Cornerstone also participated in meetings with Jefferson Parish council members,” says JoLena Broussard, Manager of Strategic Engagement and Communications at Cornerstone.
According to Shawn Ward, Director of Corporate Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Sustainability at Cornerstone, key factors included: a new nomenclature for heavy and light industrial; the creation of a hazardous material overlay; off-set requirements from other zoning classifications; buffer and landscape requirements; and reporting requirements for heavy industrial.
Traci Johnson, who has served as the Vice President of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security at International-Matex Tank Terminals since 2018, also was one of the members in the alliance. “Over the two-and-a-half year process, the alliance met regularly [and] was tasked with reviewing the various zoning drafts and presentations provided by the parish, and providing feedback,” Johnson says. “The Chamber consolidated that feedback and communicated it back to the parish.”
The new industrial zoning code strikes a fair balance between being business friendly and addressing environmental concerns. For example, it provides modern safety provisions such as a requirement for odor control, a 24-hour hotline and an air-permit compliance website where facilities will post environmental reports.
The old code (adopted in the 1960s) did not have the ability to consider new and developing industries. “In Jefferson, we now have a plant that produces different types of cooking oils and another that manufactures all types of drinks, including seltzers, sports drinks and alcoholic beverages,” Councilman Bonano says. “These new, emerging industries would have been treated the same as a chemical plant.”
Meanwhile, any new chemical plant, fuel refinery or hazardous material storage facilities will now have to comply with the safeguards outlined in the new code. For example, it will prevent any new chemical plant or hazardous storage facility from locating within 2,000 feet of a home. “Today, as we speak, there are facilities that were built in the past that are directly across the street from homes and schools,” Councilman Bonano says. “This legislation effectively puts an end to that practice.”
One issue that needed review was the setback requirements between hazardous materials and residential areas. The Chamber, along with its partners (JEDCO and GNO, Inc.), successfully advocated for the setback requirements to be no more than what is found in neighboring parishes. Furthermore, the Chamber advocated for a variance procedure for the setback requirements, without which Jefferson Parish risked the ability to be flexible for new and emerging industries.
Councilman Bonano says that, while Chamber leadership represented industry as a whole, they also were realistic in their expectations. “The Chamber knew that 80 percent of all Jefferson Parish voters supported this legislation based on a poll that I commissioned,” he says. “I believe that we ended up in a good place by having a piece of legislation that protects our citizens, while still allowing industry the opportunity to locate in Jefferson Parish. The Chamber’s willingness to seek a workable compromise was the key to getting this [legislation] passed, and I thank them for their hard work in seeking common ground.”
“As always, we will continue to fight for the business community of Jefferson Parish, getting in the middle of critical issues, collaborating with government, and educating our citizens. We remain committed to our mission of working for the advancement of the business community and improving the quality of life in Jefferson Parish,” says Ruth Lawson, President of the Jefferson Parish Chamber of Commerce.
For more information, visit jpindustrialzoning.com.
