GONZALES — An Ascension Parish judge has ruled that the kids at LA Force Soccer can keep playing and practicing at their Bluff Road soccer complex, but 90-foot stadium lights cannot be used there.
Judge Erin Wiley Lanoux’s courtroom was packed most of the day on June 18 with both soccer club families and unhappy neighbors. Even after more than five hours, groups of about 25 people from each side waited in court to hear Lanoux’s ruling.
MORE Parish, soccer complex set to face off in court Thursday
The dispute between Ascension Parish government and Mike Robichaux, who started the soccer complex years ago on land near his house that he’s owned for decades, ramped up when those lights were installed.
Neighbors in the subdivision that backs up to Robichaux’s compound complained that the light spilled into their yards and homes.
“It’s like living next door to Price LeBlanc,” neighbor Tim Dier told the court, referring to the brightly-lit car dealerships.
Neighbors also dislike the noise and traffic. Dier said that when he moved to Oakbourne subdivision in 2020, he was aware that soccer fields were on the next property, but bamboo about 40 feet high limited the view and buffered the noise.
“Nobody really paid attention,” he said, expaining that it was happening “behind the bamboo curtain.”
That changed earlier this year when Robichaux made some changes to the property.
Shortly after erecting the 90-foot lights, Robichaux started working to create two turf fields for the soccer club to use. Dier said seeing and hearing the construction made him and his neighbors worry about traffic, draining, and property values.
The parish got a restraining order to stop use of the lights and further construction, but days later allowed Robichaux to pour concrete needed for the two turf fields he was building.
Robichaux said he’s followed the orders from the parish.
Robichaux added he’s had soccer fields on the land going back to about 2004, when he started coaching his daughter’s team. Over the years, his work as a hand surgeon limited how much coaching he could do, but he was eventually able to spend more time coaching and has worked with a group of girls throughout their school years.
In 2018, he added some lights to the fields, but they point away from Oakbourne and didn’t draw any complaints.
Austin Reis, another neighbor, said the stadium lights, which were installed in February, are tall enough that his house 45 feet away from the poles could be in danger.
“It would absolutely crush my house,” he said.
The lights are 18 feet from his fence line, Reis said. The light bothers his wife, who has chronic migraines, and his son, who has autism. He said his son has to go into the room farthest away from the lights and shut the door when they are being used.
Reis has kept a journal of when the lights were in use. He told the court that they were generally out by about 9 p.m. One night, they stayed on until after midnight and he went out to complain.
Robichaux said that was the night he had the lighting company out trying to “re-target” the lights to reduce the annoyance to neighbors. They were not able to complete the work and he hasn’t been able to use the lights since.
After court, Robichaux said he was pleased that the kids will be able to keep playing soccer.
“I thought it went reasonably well,” he said.
It’s not a complete resolution. Neighbors, including Dier and Reis who testified Thursday, have filed a class action lawsuit against LA Force, Robichaux and his wife Bonnie, and the parish.
After Judge Erin Wiley Lanoux ruled in the Thursday’s dispute, Parish Attorney Jean-Paul Robert and defense attorney Anthony Gambino said they would continue to discuss the situation and would return to court if necessary.
Lanoux said the parish had failed to prove that Robichaux was running a commercial enterprise not allowed by current zoning.
The parish is also limited in how much it can try to change, because lighted soccer fields have been in use there for more than five years, which is the time limit for the parish to make such challenges.
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