Photograph: Kim Smith speaks to the Parish Council about an abandoned group home. (Photograph by Bobby Ardoin.)
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Contributing Writer
St. Landry Parish Council members are considering what action to pursue in connection with a currently abandoned house west of Opelousas that one resident says became a nuisance for her and her neighbors.
Kim Smith said the house located on U.S. 190 and Third Street previously resembled a group home that was suddenly abandoned by the individuals who appeared to live there.
Smith said her research indicates that the house was not registered or licensed by the parish as a group home and that people residing at the house occasionally posed a threat to those living nearby.
Parish president Jessie Bellard told the Council that he is aware of the condition of the house after making a personal inspection.
The yard at the house was being mowed regularly, but the inside, which now contains no individuals, was empty along with trash that had been left behind.
“The Department of Health was contacted (Dec. 27) and it was discovered that the home had been occupied, but although at the time there were lights, there was no gas and no water,” Bellard said.
Bellard said the St. Landry Parish Sheriff Department and the District Attorney’s Office have been contacted about potential prosecution.
Council Attorney Garrett Duplechain said the house seems to be owned by the First Horizon Corporation, which Duplechain said has been paying the annual property taxes.
Council member Mildred Thierry said that she has a relative living on an adjacent street and the home at one time was considered as a group home, run by a female who Thierry did not identify.
Jimmy Red Jr.,a Council member, said that it is obvious the former occupants of the house were creating problems for the neighbors.
Smith said the number of persons supposedly living at the house indicated that it was a group home, although Duplechain and Bellard said no group home permit had been granted by the parish.
Thierry said she was notified by her relative that occasionally a van would appear at the house and then apparently take the residents to other places.
Members of a Finance Committee said it might be appropriate to contact the corporation that owns the house and suggest boarding up the residence if it remains vacant.
