225BatonRouge.com

“Complaining” means you love something and want to make it better. Silence kills your business, your family and your community as people simply move away.

Two months ago, City-Parish crews bulldozed one of Baton Rouge’s largest privately-funded beautification projects without calling even one of the more than 100 contributing businesses along a three-mile section of Florida Boulevard.

Shock and awe silenced my neighbors.

Ten years ago, after founding the Florida Boulevard Development District, we followed Baton Rouge Green’s one-mile Goodwood Boulevard beautification project. Three parts private funding to one part public added up to nearly $500,000. The state Department of Transportation and Development and the City of Baton Rouge formally approved the master plan.

First up were medians in front of businesses that could not afford to put up money. So we landscaped the area in front of Bon Marche. Then, a mostly empty shopping center gasping for life. Today, it’s a bustling 800,000-square-foot business center. We also landscaped the area in front of the Rebel Shopping Center, which was an aging center that today is the home of Baton Rouge Community College and nearly 10,000 students.

We extended the landscaping all the way from Foster Drive to Airline Highway. We mowed, weeded, picked up litter and even swept the state and federal boulevard and paid for it all with private funds. Two years ago, the City-Parish ended its meager financial contribution.

So why did the City-Parish bulldoze our landscaping project?

Recent e-mails cite poor visibility for motorists at the corner of Donmoor Avenue. Weeds were simply not sprayed. But weeds also abound on College Drive, Jefferson Highway and Government Street, to name a few. Even the “crown jewel”—the downtown riverfront—is an embarrassment of litter.

The City-Parish claims lower vegetation along Florida is forthcoming, but unmowed grass won’t cut it again.

There’s no plan, and worse, no apology.