§ 33:2740.50 — Pineville Downtown Development District

Louisiana § 33:2740.50

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 33: Municipalities and Parishes

Text

§2740.50. Pineville Downtown Development District
A. Intent. The legislature hereby finds and declares that it is necessary for the public
health, safety, and welfare of the city of Pineville that the property value deterioration in the
downtown area be halted and that the causes of such deterioration be halted.
B. Creation. (1) The Pineville Downtown Development District, referred to in this
Section as the "district", is hereby created for the primary purpose of redevelopment of the
central business district. The district shall be a political subdivision of the state as defined
in the Constitution of Louisiana.
(2) The district shall be comprised of a certain piece, parcel, or lot of ground being,
lying, and situated in Sections 2, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21, Township 4 North, Range
1 West of the Louisiana Meridian, District North of Red River, City of Pineville, Rapides
Parish, Louisiana; being more particularly described as follows, to wit:
Commencing at a point located at the intersection of the centerline of Red River with
the western right-of-way line of Union Pacific Railroad (abandoned), said point being located
in Section 10, Township 4 North, Range 1 West, District North of Red River, Rapides
Parish, Louisiana, and also being the point of beginning of the tract to be described;
Thence proceed in a northeasterly direction, along the western right-of-way line of
said Union Pacific Railroad, a distance of approximately 7,000.00 feet to a point being South
90 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds West from the frog of the Union Pacific Railroad and the
Kansas City Southern Railroad/Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad intersection, said frog being
located in Section 2, Township 4 North, Range 1 West, District North of Red River, Rapides
Parish, Louisiana.
Thence turn right and proceed North 90 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds East, a
distance of approximately 100.00 feet to a point located on the eastern right-of-way line of
the Kansas City Southern Railroad/Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad.
Thence turn right and proceed in a southeasterly direction, along the eastern right-of-way line of the Kansas City Southern/Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad, a distance of
approximately 12,000.00 feet to a point located near the Pineville Expressway;
Thence turn right and proceed in a southwesterly direction, along the center line of
Highway 167 (Pineville Expressway), a distance of approximately 5,000.00 feet to a point
located in the centerline of Red River, said point being located in Section 21, Township 4
North, Range 1 West, District North of Red River, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
Thence turn right and proceed in a northwesterly direction, along the centerline of the
Red River, a distance of approximately 11,000.00 feet to the point of beginning.
C. Governance. (1) The district shall be governed by a board of seven
commissioners, referred to in this Section as the "board", appointed as follows:
(a) The governing authority of the city of Pineville shall appoint three members.
(b) The governing authority of the parish of Rapides shall appoint one member.
(c) The Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance shall appoint one
member.
(d) The governing board of the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce shall
appoint one member.
(e) The North Rapides Business and Industry Alliance shall appoint one member.
(2) The appointments made pursuant to Subparagraphs (1)(b) through (e) of this
Subsection shall be subject to confirmation by the governing authority of the city of
Pineville.
(3) If any appointing authority fails to make an appointment within thirty days after
notification by the board of a vacancy, the governing authority of the city of Pineville may
appoint a member of its own choosing. Each member of the board shall be a registered voter
of Rapides Parish. The appointing authority may remove any member for cause.
(4) Terms of members shall be four years, except for initial terms which shall be as
follows: one shall be appointed for a term of one year, two for a term of two years, two for
a term of three years, and two for a term of four years as determined by lot at the first
meeting of the board. Vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of a term shall be filled in
the manner of the original appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(5) The board shall elect a chairman, a vice chairman, and a secretary-treasurer from
among its members. Officers shall serve one-year terms but shall be eligible for reelection.
The board shall adopt such rules for the transaction of its business as it deems necessary and
shall keep a record of its resolutions, transactions, studies, findings, and determinations,
which record shall be a public record.
(6) The board may employ or contract with an executive director and set his
compensation and terms of employment. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, the board may establish the term of such contract. The board also may employ such
other employees as are necessary to carry out the functions of the district as authorized by
the board.
D. Redevelopment activities. (1) In order to effectuate the purposes of this Section,
the board shall have the specific authority provided in R.S. 33:4625(F), except the power of
expropriation; such authority shall be exercised solely within the district.
(2) The board shall formulate a redevelopment plan or plans for the district and shall
submit any such plan to the governing authority of Pineville for review. The board shall
formulate a program or programs to implement any redevelopment plan. Such a program
shall implement the various plans in such a manner as to aid and encourage private
development of the area and to promote and coordinate public development. In formulating
such a program, the board may conduct studies and may consult with all departments of the
city of Pineville and other public or private agencies concerned with matters affecting or
affected by the program.
(3) After adoption of the development program, the board may implement any
portion thereof in such manner as shall, in its judgment, most likely accomplish said
program. To that end, the district may employ or contract with engineers, architects,
attorneys, underwriters, and other professionals necessary for the financing and
implementation of the construction, renovation, maintenance, or operation of facilities
described in the redevelopment plan and may contract in accordance with law for the
construction, renovation, maintenance, or operation of the facilities.
E. Powers and duties. (1) The district, through the board, shall have all powers
necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this
Chapter, including but not limited to the following:
(a) To sue and be sued and as such to stand in judgment.
(b) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal.
(c) To acquire by gift, grant, purchase, or lease and to hold and use any property,
immovable, movable, mixed, corporeal, or incorporeal, or any interest therein, necessary or
desirable for carrying out the objects and purposes of the district, and to engage in any action,
such as the purchase of insurance, necessary or desirable for the maintenance or
improvement of such property.
(d)(i) To sell, lease for a term of up to ninety-nine years, exchange, or otherwise
dispose of or transfer to or with other political subdivisions of this state or public or private
persons at public or private sale any residential, commercial, or industrial land, property,
improvements, or portions thereof, including immovable property, which is, in the opinion
of the board, appropriate to accomplish the objectives and purposes of the district.
(ii) Prior to any sale, lease, conveyance, disposition, or transfer of property pursuant
to this Paragraph, the district shall fix the price and terms of the sale, lease, exchange, or
other contract to be made with reference to the property. Such sale, lease, conveyance,
disposition, or transfer shall comply with the terms and provisions of this Section.
(iii) Any sale of industrial land, as defined by Chapter 8 of Title 51 of the Louisiana
Revised Statutes of 1950 and the statutes referenced therein, shall be in accordance with laws
providing for the disposition or transfer of such land.
(iv) Other than the requirements of this Section, no other law limiting or regulating
the form or manner of the sale, lease, conveyance, disposition, or transfer of property by
public bodies, including without limitation R.S. 41:1338, shall apply to the sale, lease,
conveyance, disposition, or transfer of property by the district. All such sales, leases,
conveyance, dispositions, or transfers of property remain subject to the limitations imposed
by the Constitution of Louisiana.
(e) To convey to the United States, the state, or to any political subdivision of the
state any land, property, right-of-way, easement, servitude, or other thing of value, which the
district may own or acquire, for use by such governmental entity to accomplish the objectives
and purposes of the district, pursuant to the terms of any appropriate cooperative endeavor
agreement.
(f) To make and collect reasonable charges for the use of property of the district and
for services rendered by the district and to regulate fees or rentals charged for use of privately
owned facilities located on property owned or sold by the district when such facilities are
offered for use by the public or by a private industrial, commercial, research, or other
economic development entity or activity.
(g) To enter into contracts and agreements with public bodies or public or private
entities to achieve the district's objectives and purposes, including but not limited to contracts
for professional, legal, and other services and for the purchase, lease, acquisition, sale,
construction, operation, maintenance, marketing, and improvement of land, public works,
and facilities, as the board may deem necessary or convenient to accomplish the objectives
and purposes of the district.
(h) To plan, develop, regulate, operate, and maintain activities and planned land uses
to foster creation of new jobs, economic development, industry, health care, general public
and social welfare, commerce, manufacturing, tourism, relocation of people and businesses
to the area, shipbuilding, aviation, military, warehousing, transportation, offices, recreation,
housing development, and conservation.
(i) To acquire land and improvements to construct, operate, and maintain facilities,
improvements, and infrastructure, including buildings, roads, bridges, drainage, and utilities,
and to perform other functions and activities on property owned or leased by the district to
accomplish the objectives and purposes of the district. However, the district is prohibited
from constructing, operating, or maintaining any water, electric, or gas utility facilities which
duplicate, curtail, impair, or directly compete with a regulated water, electric, or gas utility
facility operating in or adjacent to the property owned or leased by the district.
(j) To require and issue licenses.
(k) To develop, activate, construct, exchange, acquire, improve, repair, operate,
maintain, lease, mortgage, sell, and grant a security device affecting the movable and
immovable property, servitudes, facilities, and works within the jurisdiction of the district
under such terms and conditions as the board may deem necessary or appropriate for any
public purpose, including industrial, residential, subdivision, and commercial development.
(l) To borrow money and to pledge or grant a security device affecting all or part of
its revenues, leases, rents, and other advantages as security for such loans.
(m) To appoint officers, agents, and employees, prescribe their duties, and fix their
compensation.
(n) To undertake and carry out redevelopment projects and related activities.
(o) To apply for and accept advances, leases, grants, contributions, and any other
form of financial assistance from the United States, the state of Louisiana, political
subdivisions of the state, or other public bodies, or from any sources, public or private, for
the purposes of this Section, and to give such security as may be required and to enter into
and carry out contracts or agreements in connection therewith; and to include in any contract
for financial assistance with the federal government such conditions imposed pursuant to
federal laws as the board may deem reasonable and appropriate and which are not
inconsistent with the purposes of this Section.
(2) The district shall not be deemed to be an instrumentality of the state for purposes
of Article X, Section 1(A) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
F. Revenues. (1) The district, through the board, may levy and collect ad valorem
taxes on all taxable immovable property situated within the boundaries of the district, if the
amount, term, and purpose of such taxes, as set out in propositions submitted to a vote in
accordance with the Louisiana Election Code, is approved by a majority of the qualified
electors residing in the district voting in an election held for that purpose.
(2)(a) The district, through the board, may also levy and collect sales and use taxes
within the boundaries of the district for such purposes and at such rate as provided by the
propositions authorizing their levy, not to exceed in aggregate one percent, which taxes may
not exceed the limitation set forth in the Constitution of Louisiana, if the proposition
submitted to a vote in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code is approved by a majority
of the qualified electors residing in the district voting in an election held for that purpose.
(b) The tax shall be levied upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the
consumption, the distribution, and storage for use or consumption of tangible personal
property, and upon the sales of services within the boundaries of the district, all as defined
in R.S. 47:301 et seq.
(c) Except where inapplicable, the procedure established by R.S. 47:301 et seq. shall
be followed in the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax, and procedural details
necessary to supplement those Sections and to make them applicable to the tax authorized
in this Paragraph shall be fixed in the resolution imposing the tax.
(d) The tax shall be imposed and collected uniformly throughout the jurisdiction of
the district.
(e) Any tax levied under this Paragraph shall be in addition to all other taxes which
the city of Pineville or any other political subdivision within the parish of Rapides is now or
hereafter authorized to levy and collect.
G. Bonds. (1) The district may incur debt and issue general obligation bonds under
the authority of and subject to the provisions of Article VI, Section 33 of the Constitution of
Louisiana, and Subpart A of Part III of Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana
Revised Statutes of 1950, for the acquisition and operation of district property or to carry out
the other public purposes of this Section, and to issue any other bonds permitted by law,
borrow money, and issue certificates of indebtedness, notes, and other debt obligations as
evidence thereof and provide for the manner and method of repayment in accordance with
law.
(2) The district may issue revenue bonds to finance the undertaking of a
redevelopment project under this Section, or otherwise to acquire, purchase, lease, construct,
or improve residential, commercial, research, industrial, or other plant sites and buildings,
or other capital improvements, including energy and pollution abatement and control
facilities and necessary property and appurtenances thereto; and may sell, lease, sublease, or
otherwise dispose of by suitable and appropriate contract to any enterprise locating or
existing within the jurisdiction of the district such sites, buildings, or facilities and
appurtenances thereto, all or severally. The funds derived from the sale of such bonds may
be disbursed in whole or in part upon delivery of the bonds as shall be provided in the
contract between the district and the residential, commercial, research, industrial, or other
enterprise to be aided, encouraged, or benefited subject to the requirements of this Section.
(3) The issuing authority may enter into, amend, or terminate, as it determines to be
necessary or appropriate, any ancillary contracts (a) to facilitate the issuance, sale, resale,
purchase, repurchase, or payments of bonds, including without limitation bond insurance,
letters of credit, and liquidity facilities, or (b) to attempt to hedge risk or achieve a desirable
effective interest rate or cash flow, all subject to the approval of the State Bond Commission.
(4) Bonds issued under Paragraph (2) of this Subsection shall be authorized by
resolution of the board and shall be limited obligations of the issuing authority; the principal
and interest, costs of issuance, and other costs incidental thereto shall be payable solely from
the income and revenue derived from the sale, lease, or other disposition of the project or
facility to be financed by the bonds issued under this Subsection, or from the income and
revenue derived from the sale, lease, or other disposition of any existing project or facility
acquired, constructed, and improved under the provision of this Subsection, or from any
source available for such purpose. However, in the discretion of the issuing authority, the
bonds may be additionally secured by mortgage or other security device covering all or part
of the project from which the revenues so pledged may be derived. Any refunding bonds
issued pursuant to this Subsection shall be payable from any source described above or from
the investment of any of the proceeds of the refunding bonds authorized under this
Subsection and shall not constitute an indebtedness or pledge of the general credit of the
district within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory limitation of indebtedness and
shall contain a recital to that effect. Bonds of the district issued under this Subsection shall
be issued in such form, shall be in such denominations, shall bear interest, shall mature in
such manner, and be executed by one or more members of the board as provided in the
resolution authorizing the issuance thereof. Such bonds may be subject to redemption at the
option of and in the manner determined by the board in the resolution authorizing the
issuance thereof.
(5) No bonds or other evidences of indebtedness may be issued under this Subsection
without the prior approval of the State Bond Commission of the terms and provisions
thereof.
(6) Bonds issued under this Subsection shall be issued, sold, and delivered in
accordance with the terms and provisions of a resolution adopted by the board. The board
may sell such bonds in such manner, either at public or at private sale, and for such price as
it may determine to be in the best interests of the district, subject to the approval of the State
Bond Commission. The resolution issuing bonds shall be published in a newspaper of
general circulation within the jurisdiction of the district, and for a period of thirty days after
the publication, any interested citizen may bring an action to contest the bonds and the
security therefor, as provided in the Constitution of Louisiana. If, after the expiration of
thirty days, no suit has been filed, the issuance, sale, and security of the bonds shall be
incontestable, and no court shall have authority to entertain any action questioning or
contesting such matters.
(7) Bonds issued by the district under this Section are deemed to be securities of
public entities within the meaning of Chapters 13 and 13-A of Title 39 of the Louisiana
Revised Statutes of 1950, and shall be subject to defeasance in accordance with the
provisions of Chapter 14 of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, shall be
subject to the refunding provisions of Chapter 14-A of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised
Statutes of 1950, and may also be issued as short-term revenue notes of a public entity under
Chapter 15-A of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.
(8) No bonds, other debt obligations, or contracts of the district shall be a charge
upon the income, property, or revenue of the parish of Rapides or the city of Pineville, as
appropriate, nor shall any obligations of the district be the obligations of the parish or city.
(9) Any bonds issued by the district shall be subject to the provisions of Part XVI of
Chapter 32 of Title 13 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, pursuant to which the
issuance of the bonds may be submitted to the courts for validation.
H. Budget. (1) The board shall adopt an annual budget in accordance with the Local
Government Budget Act, R.S. 39:1301 et seq.
(2) The financial records of the district shall be audited pursuant to the provisions
of R.S. 24:513.
I. Governmental functions. The exercise by the board of the powers conferred by
this Section shall be deemed and held to be essential governmental functions of the state.
As the exercise of the powers granted hereby will be in all respects for the benefit of the
people of the state, for the increase of commerce and prosperity, and for the improvement
of their health and living conditions, the district shall not be required to pay any taxes
including but not limited to sales and use taxes, ad valorem taxes, income, or any other taxes
of any kind or nature, or assessments upon any property acquired or leased by the district
pursuant to the provisions of this Section, or upon the income therefrom, and any bonds
issued pursuant to this Section and the income therefrom shall be exempt from taxation by
the state and by any parish, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state.
NOTE: See Acts 2015, No. 352, §2, regarding terms of board members.

Legislative History

Acts 1999, No. 1191, §1; Acts 2015, No. 352, §1.