A Walmart Neighborhood Market proposed near three Dutchtown schools did not go before the Ascension Parish Council on Thursday after the developer deferred a request to rezone the property.

Jones Graham of Fletcher Bright, a Tennessee-based real estate development and brokerage firm, said he voluntarily deferred the application because it was placed on the council’s agenda for an earlier meeting than originally anticipated. Graham declined to comment further.

The application sought to rezone about 22 acres on the west side of La. 73, across from Dutchtown Middle and Primary schools and adjacent to Dutchtown High School. The property is currently zoned medium residential, but Graham is requesting it be zoned for mixed use.

Plans presented to the Ascension Parish Zoning Commission on Sept. 9 called for a grocery retail center anchored by a Walmart Neighborhood Market, along with an outparcel for related development and a gas station.

The commission recommended approval of the rezoning in a 5-2 vote, despite parish planning staff recommending denial, “due to the uses that mixed-use district allows that are not compatible to the surrounding area,” according to its report.

Traffic was among the primary concerns raised during the Zoning Commission’s discussion, given the property’s proximity to three schools.

“The real big issue is this butts up pretty much next to the crown jewel high school of our parish,” said Commissioner Wade Schexnayder, who cast one of the votes in opposition.

Commissioner Michele Unitas, who also opposed the rezoning, questioned the amount of commercial development already concentrated along that stretch of La. 73.

“Just doing the math, if you do intend to put the neighborhood Walmart store on it, that’s two grocery stores, three pharmacies and a fifth gas station on less than a half-mile of road. That’s going to be congestion worse than we have,” Unitas said.

She also noted that a new access road at Dutchtown High School was added before the start of school to help with traffic and that adding another development there would “totally obviate” the road work done by the parish.

Commissioner Nicholas Miller, who voted in favor of the rezoning, said the property was likely to be developed regardless. He said approving a specific grocery development could be preferable to leaving the property open to other uses allowed under the parish’s zoning rules.

“No matter what, something is coming to that area,” Miller said. “We have someone here who is explicitly stating that it’s going to be a certain thing versus a neighborhood or a Dollar General or something else that may be less palatable,” he said.

Had the Parish Council approved the rezoning, the development would not have been required to return to the Zoning Commission or other parish commissions for additional approval of the land use.

Traffic and drainage studies still would have been required, however, and would have been handled by parish administration staff.