ST. MARTIN PARISH — A St. Martinville man is fighting a city council order to demolish a property his family has owned for generations. Redonda Beauchamp, the current owner of a home on Labbe Street, recently learned of the city's concerns about the property's condition during a City Council meeting on December 8.
Beauchamp explained that his brother was informed by a city employee that the property was at risk of being condemned, prompting the family to attend the meeting for clarification. “my brother was told by a gentleman that worked for the city that we needed to go to the council meeting to see what was going on with our property, at that time we were told they were trying to condemn the property”.
During the meeting, Beauchamp shared that the only significant issue with the home was damage from a longstanding water leak, which caused rot in part of the flooring. He emphasized that the rest of the property’s issues were cosmetic.
Despite this, St. Martinville City Councilman Mike Fuselier explained that after receiving complaints from neighbors about the state of the house in 2023, the city hired a third-party inspector who deemed the home to be in need of total demolition.
Beauchamp stated that he has made efforts to maintain the property over the years. He explained that he had already addressed issues such as overgrown grass and boarded-up windows. During the meeting, Beauchamp questioned Fuselier’s push for demolition, asking, "Why is it so important that you're pushing so much for this?" Fuselier responded, "There are several issues I push for because neighbors are complaining."
Following the meeting, Fuselier shared that the city had attempted to reach the Beauchamps to discuss the situation but had difficulty making contact due to an outdated mailing address for the property. “We’ve been trying to contact them and serve them notice to come back, tell us what you’re doing and we can’t even make contact” Fuselier says.
In a public hearing on January 6, the St. Martinville City Council discussed the potential demolition of the home. Beauchamp, however, expressed his intention to contest the decision, stating that he planned to restore the property and would appeal the condemnation order. “We’re gonna appeal this condemning stuff, that’s not gonna happen,” he said.
During the December 8 meeting, Beauchamp was granted 90 days to address the issues surrounding the property.
“We always want the property owner to take care of their properties and give them, whatever they want, sixty, ninety days , one hundred twenty days, we’ll give them the time if they want to tear it down themselves. A lot of times they don’t and so it becomes the point where we have to bring it back to the city council and we have to get bids and do the demolition ourselves.” Fuselier states.
Despite the current setback, Beauchamp remains hopeful that he can keep the property in his family and restore it.
