PLAQUEMINE — Iberville Parish President Chris Daigle is hoping a new parish-wide Master Plan will help build a more united parish and shape “tomorrow, together.” After a series of four public comment meetings throughout the parish over the past several weeks, Iberville residents now have the opportunity to share their vision for One Iberville online through a public survey.
The master plan’s purpose is to determine the best path to enhance land use, transportation, recreation, and economic opportunities throughout the parish for the next five to 10 years, the parish president explained. There are five phases to the plan.
“We’re asking for community input, and to be engaged,” Daigle said. “As an administration, we as a parish and as parish president, cannot develop the master plan without the community’s vision and their interpretation of what they want to see…(These meetings) give you a full dynamic view of the process and how we’re trying to engage with the public and the community by getting their vision; their different community visions about what does ‘One Iberville’ look like.”
The master plan is currently in phase two of five, gathering information from the four public meetings and surveys. Over 350 residents and business owners took part in the meetings, per the parish. Now, Iberville Parish residents who were unable to attend the meetings can visit the master plan’s website to add input and suggestions of needs through a survey for incorporation into the overall plan.
Online surveys must be completed by Dec. 6.
“Because we’re so spread across Iberville Parish with six municipalities, every vision in each community may be different because, St. Gabriel’s needs are different than Bayou Pigeon’s and then the communities up north along the interstate, where they don’t have the industry and as much retail. So it’s a broad view.”
He added that in White Castle, one of the biggest concerns was the widening of Highway 30 and the need to widen Highway 1 from Donaldsonville to White Castle because of new construction taking place near the parish’s line. On the north end of the parish, many are concerned about drainage. The parish’s “One Iberville” master plan will help to identify and begin these necessary projects.
The next phase of the planning project will be the creation of a conceptual plan using information gathered from public input and data from neighborhoods, industries, employers, recreational sites, demographics, and more. The master plan’s project team is currently compiling and analyzing all data that has been received.
Phase four, which could take place in the spring of 2026, is when the project team will present the draft of the plan to key stakeholders and the community, Daigle said. After the conceptual plan is presented to the public and final input is considered, the team will take the finalized master plan to the parish council for adoption.
Daigle said the previous master plan was created two decades ago, and this is a chance to shift the parish’s focus onto current needs and the vision of the parish now.
“One Iberville is collaboration across the parish to help shape tomorrow together,” the parish president said. “I always say, ‘Not only do I live in Iberville, but Iberville lives in me,’ right? So as a parish, I want every resident to feel the same way. I want you to feel like not only do you live in Iberville, but I want you to be passionate and have the same drive of wanting to make Iberville Parish a better place to live, raise a family and retire.”
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