Ville Platte Council approves controversial alcohol permit

In a long meeting, preceded by two public hearings, and punctuated by a visit from royalty, the Ville Platte City Council approved retail liquor permits to two new businesses and started an employment program for the city’s teenagers.
At the start of the meeting, the reigning Miss Ville Platte and Miss Louisiana, Candice Bennatt, informed the council of her decision to name Ville Platte as the city she will represent at the upcoming Miss USA Pageant.
Bennatt said that as Miss Louisiana, she could have chosen any city in the state to list as her hometown, but she wanted to represent Ville Platte at the pageant.
Originally from Huffman, TX, Bennatt said that Ville Platte “reminds me of my home. There’s no Starbucks, and one big Walmart. It’s the second city that I visited in Louisiana, and it has been incredible for me.
“Ville Platte is a place where a person can relax and have a good, old sweet Louisiana time,” she said.
The Miss USA Pageant will be held in Baton Rouge on Sunday, July 12. It will be broadcast on NBC starting at 7 pm.
Before the actual council meeting, two public hearings were held. But only one was of any real interest: to grant an alcohol permit to J.C. Ceasar, who wants to open a restaurant at the corner of Dr. Carver and MLK streets in the Woods section of town. Five residents spoke in favor of issuing the permit, and only one person spoke against it.
Later, during the actual council meeting, Ceasar was unanimously awarded the permit for his proposed business, which he plans to call The Creole House.
There were two stumbling blocks that caused the furor: whether the sale of alcohol would cause a return of the kinds of problems seen in the neighborhood in the past; and where would customers be able to park.
On the first issue, Ceasar assured the council that he does not intend to open a business that would cause disruptions, noise, and violence in the neighborhood.
“This will be a bona fide restaurant,” Ceasar said, “not a bar acting under the guise of a restaurant. This will be the kind of place where people can come to get a home-cooked meal and break bread together.”
He reminded the council that he had a lot at stake in making sure the business succeeds.
“I just closed on the loan (to buy the property),” he said. “My name is on the dotted line. I don’t want anyone coming into my business that would serve as a detriment to its success.
“The council’s concerns about this restaurant are my concerns, too,” he continued.
Ceasar compared the issue to the role of the chicken and pig at a bacon-and-egg breakfast, saying that both he and the council are involved in getting the business started in Ville Platte. The council is like the chicken, he said: it is involved in the meal, “but, the pig,” he said, “is committed.
“I’m the pig who’s committed” to this deal, he said.
Mayor Jennifer Vidrine, to the surprise of Ceasar and some council members, referenced a 1994 city ordinance concerning parking at restaurants. This ordinance was not discussed when the permit came up last month or during the public hearing immediately before this meeting.
The ordinance, she said, requires that restaurants have at least one parking space for 25 percent of all seats and for 25 percent of all employees. She asked Ceasar if he had the available parking space.
Ceasar said that he only had enough parking on the property for about eight cars, but he was willing to look into doing whatever was necessary, even if it meant leasing property for a parking area.
However, Ceasar noted that he wasn’t sure if other restaurants in the city, Mi Hacienda as an example, are meeting that requirement.
The council granted another alcohol permit to Ceasar, this time for a business at the corner of Main and Northeast Railroad streets, directly across from City Hall. His plan is a Ville Platte High sports memorabilia-themed sports bar, called The Bulldog.
Because the business will be situated in the middle of the business district, there were no issues raised about selling alcohol. But, Vidrine and others raised the specter of parking issues again.
While parking along Main Street is not a problem, Vidrine wanted Ceasar to guarantee that he would personally make sure that people patronizing his business did not park on the city’s property or on private property nearby. Ceasar said that he would do his best to try to prevent people from parking on other property.
In other major news, the council approved the creation of a teenage jobs program. Called VP Youth On The Move Employment Program, the city will fund jobs for 24 teenagers this summer.
Saying that there wasn’t much grant money for this kind of program, Vidrine said that it is so important that the city should fund the program itself.
The program will be open to high school students between 16- and 18-years-old who live in the city limits, regardless of where they go to school. There will not be an economic component to the hiring. Instead applicants will be hired on their individual personal presentation.
Those who are hired will be placed with a local business to work for four hours in the morning. After lunch, they will attend job-skills classes and job-readiness training.
The spots will be split, with 12 applicants selected in June and a different 12 chosen for July. The application information is not available yet, but will be made available at City Hall soon.
In other moves, the council approved the creation of a Land Bank to help spur residential development. The bank would allow people to donate real estate to the city, which could then use the land to entice developers to build single-family housing through a grant foundation the city is applying to receive.
The other public hearing held before the regular council meeting concerned a proposed Safe Drinking Water ordinance. No one spoke about the topic. However, acting on the advice of City Attorney Eric Lafleur, the council tabled the ordinance. Lafleur said that he wanted more time to look at the grandfather provisions of the proposed ordinance.