The free 15th annual Community History Festival is at the Pride-Chaneyville Branch Library from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m March 29. The event will have country fun, food, games, crafts, music and entertainment.
THEADVOCATE.COM | Wednesday, March 19, 2025 $1.00n
BY OLIVIA MCCLURE
This year’s theme is “Country Crafts,” and various artists and craftsmen will display and sell homemade items. The Louisiana Lagniappe Dulcimers and The Upbeats will provide live music, and the cake walk will be held every hour Other activities will include a pie contest, vintage dancing with the Lagniappe Historic Dance and Pastime Society basket weaving, candle making, wood carving with the Pelican Wood Carver Guild, herb gardening with Master Gardener Claire Fontenot, jewelry making, a kiddie fishing pond and more.
Play golf to help Zachary Zachary Charity League is holding its golf tournament April 4 at Fennwood Hills Country Club, Zachary. The four-player scramble is $500 a team and has a 1 p.m. tee time. Contact Claire Simmons at (225) 202-8297 or send us an email at zacharycharityleague@gmail.com with team information. Payments can be made by check or through Venmo @ Zacharycharity-league Email zacharycharityleague@gmail. com with any questions. Bunny Hop coming
The Zachary Rotary Club is hosting the Rotary Bunny Hop 2025 on Saturday, March 22, near Lee and Virginia streets.
The 1-mile run/walk is at 8 a.m. and the 5K run/walk starts at 8:30 a.m. Register at runsignup.com/Race/LA/Zachary/ZacharyRotaryBunnyHop.
Send news and events for the Zachary area to zachary@ theadvocate.com by noon Friday or call (225) 388-0731.
Zachary school assistant principal arrested in child cruelty Leila
BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer
An investigation into a complaint from a parent about the treatment of her 6-year-old child at a Zachary elementary school ended Monday with the arrest of the school’s assistant principal, Zachary Police said Monday Kristy Gilpin, 41, assistant principal at Rollins Place Elementary School, accompanied by her attorney, surrendered to the Zachary police department early Monday morning, Chief Darryl Lawrence said. Gilpin, of Zachary, was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a count of cruelty to juveniles. An arrest warrant was issued for Gilpin last week Lawrence said. The police department began its investigation after the parent reported an incident last month
A spokesperson with the Zachary Community School District said the district could not comment on the arrest.
Contributing writer
Two weeks after hotly contested zoning changes were approved by a slim majority of Zachary City Council members, discussion on the matter continued at the panel’s March 11 gathering.
Council members James Graves and Jennifer Landry voiced concerns about the changes, which they had voted against, warning that Zachary’s housing scene now offers fewer options for prospective residents and developers.
The updates, which were proposed by Councilwoman Brandy Westmoreland and passed on a 3-2
ä Council discusses rules for food trucks. Page 4G
ä New rules for development code violations explained. Page 4G
vote, eliminated Zachary’s residential rural zoning district and consolidated it with the residential estate zone. Another change was upping the minimum size required for residential estate lots from 1 acre to 3.
“Now we have a zoning district of RS (residential suburban), which is basically quarter-acre lots, and now we have a zoning district of
3-acre lots,” Graves said. “So we don’t have anything in between.”
“What I consider this to be is just a missed opportunity for thoughtful development,” Landry said.
“We now have a zoning gap that could lead to sprawl, infrastructure challenges all actually opposing smart growth principles and not aiding them. We’ve been left with a lack of a middle housing ground. It’s going to reduce housing diversity and it’s going to limit our choices for residents.”
Graves also noted that 74% of lots designated as residential estate now do not meet the zone’s requirements. The city’s unified development code, he said, speci-
fies that amendments should “not create a significant number of nonconformities.”
He’s concerned that the changes will lead to an uptick in requests for waivers, such as in situations where people want to subdivide family property into parcels smaller than the mandatory 3-acre minimum.
Landry tried to be optimistic, suggesting that the issues be addressed in upcoming discussions about the city’s new master plan.
“I’m confident and hopeful that we can work this out,” she said. None of the three council members who backed the zoning changes spoke on the topic.
More than 20 dogs participated in the Must Luv Dogs Rescue Pawdi Gras parade on March 16 in downtown Zachary. ä More photos. PAGE 2G
Inclement weather may have postponed the Must Luv Dogs Rescue Pawdi Gras parade, but the group celebrated Sunday with blue skies and lots of dogs in downtown Zachary
A dog named Opie was the king of the parade, which included more than 20 dogs and their owners.
The group also shared information about their rescue program and encouraged dog adoption.
Warren Brady ZACHARY SPORTS
It was almost 100 years ago — 1927 — when the Zachary High girls last won a basketball State Championship. On March 8, in the last game of March Madness at Southeastern University the 202425 Lady Broncos made history by winning the nonselect Division I State Championship. Coach Tami McClure explained the feeling well “so proud of my girls. They put in so much work over the years, and they finally got to see the end result of this hard work.”
For McClure, this is her first title with Zachary but third overall after winning two at St. Michaels.
The championship dream began in February of 2024 as McClure noted that “this group was on a mission after the twopoint loss last year to Mandeville in the quarterfinals and was a driving force for us all year long.”
The semifinals and finals provided an opportunity for the team to earn a championship, make history by beating both the first and seconds seeds, and get a little revenge in the process. In January 2024, semifinal opponent Walker beat the Broncos 88-44. This team was not that team and, in addition to not dwelling on previous experience, coach McClure emphasized that “I let the girls know that the pressure was not on us but on them.”
This was true for both games. In the semifinals they played wide open and avoided the pressure winning 50-48 over Walker (32-3). Ava Raymond lead the Broncos with 17 points followed by Cimiya Rideaux with 12 and senior Tiarra McPipe with 8 points.
“I kept asking my seniors what do you want your legacy to be. The Zachary team that almost did or did you want to be that team that finally erased the Long time coming: ZHS girls basketball wins state title
Community news report
Don’t miss a chance to be a part of the 10th annual Lane Foundation Code Red Chili & Salsa Cook-off from 9 a.m to 3 p.m., Saturday, March 22, in Downtown Zachary, 4650
Main St. Admission and parking are free.
The Code Red Chili & Salsa Cook-off competition is open to amateurs and professionals of all ages, and offers companies, organizations and individuals the opportunity to compete
The five cooking competition categories are Judges Red Chili, Judges NonTraditional, Judges Salsa, People’s Choice Chili, and People’s Choice Salsa. The Team Spirit award is not solely about the taste of the food, but how well the team embodies the spirit of the cook-off through their presentation, team costumes, decorations and overall attitude. Music at the Gazebo kicks off at 10 a.m. with Scenic Highway Band, followed by Chris LeBlanc & Friends at
11:15 a.m., and Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters at 1 p.m. Chairs and blankets welcome. Activities during the day include chili and salsa tasting; arts and crafts market; Kids Zone with face painting, crafts and games; and food trucks. All proceeds benefit the Lane Foundation. To enter the chili or salsa competitions, or both, or for information on the event, contact Theresa Payment at tpayment@lanermc.org or (225) 658-6699.
Luv Dogs
1927 state championship and stamped the banner with 2025,” McClure noted
The last time the girls were this close was in 1984 when they made it to the finals and lost to DeRidder
With the victory, the top seeded Parkway Panthers, (25-3) who were incidentally going for their third straight state title, were waiting.
I saw McClure at the boys home playoff game the night before the championship and she appeared cool, calm and collected She noted that “when you feel it you feel it.” Her confidence the night before facing the repeating state champions says much about where she and the ZHS girls basketball team have taken this program
“I just told the girls to go out and play. Just play Keep fighting no matter what,” McClure said.
Fight they did with a dominant performance where they led for the majority of the game. Title game MVP McPipe was crucial with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting (including two three-pointers) with eight rebounds followed by Raymond’s 16 points
“They fought every game to the end, and the fourth 4th quarter was big in each game for us,” McClure commented.
The Broncos outscored the Panthers 20 to 9 in the fourth quarter and Walker was outscored 11 to 6 in the fourth. The ZHS bench showed the strength of the entire team outscoring Parkway 11-2. After a whirlwind week, McClure wanted
to make sure that she gave “a big thank you to everyone who came out and supported us on this journey and what an amazing ending”
In addition to acknowledging the girls and Zachary fans she specifically called out assistant coach Antonio Keller who “put in a lot of hours in scouting both teams during our playoff run.”
Not surprisingly, three Broncos — McPipe, Raymond and Rideaux made the 4-5A all district team. McPipe was named the Defensive MVP Stay tuned to find out who makes all state. Many memories with a 26-4 overall record and a huge championship.
Warren Brady covers sports for The Plainsman. He can be contacted at zachary@theadvocate.com.
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Council discusses possible need for changes
BY OLIVIA MCCLURE
Contributing writer
At their March 11 meeting, members of the Zachary City Council discussed the possibility of putting new restrictions on food trucks and other mobile vendors.
Councilwoman Brandy Westmoreland brought up the issue, saying she’d been contacted recently with concerns about mobile vendors detracting from business at local restaurants.
“Personally, I don’t have a problem with mobile vendors,” she said. “I think the general consensus when mobile vendors started was for events — food trucks and things like that would come in. But there is a concern with some of our local business owners that have restaurants that, to them, it is a deterrent, and they wanted me to express that to the city.”
She noted that food trucks, which have less overhead than brick-and-mortar restaurants, can be a good way for entrepreneurs to test drive business ideas before committing to permanent locations.
“Some of our businesses here don’t feel that that ever happens, though,” Westmoreland said.
Council members pondered whether mobile vendors, who go through a permitting process with the city should be subject to more restrictions.
“Can we put a certain
timeline or something like that?” suggested Councilman James Graves. “Or events only, or to say Let’s try this business for 90 days and see how it goes over with the city and then we can graduate to a brick and mortar?’ I think I would entertain that.”
City planner Bryant Dixon said the council would have to approve amendments to the city’s unified development code to make changes to permits for mobile vendors.
“We would have to talk about the language that would be put in to clarify what ‘operating’ actually
means,” he said.
Dixon clarified the city’s current rules, saying mobile vendors are held to many of the same standards as their brick-and-mortar counterparts.
“Mobile vendors are treated just like traditional businesses,” he said. “They have to file an occupational license with the city They’re updated every year If they don’t meet the compliance, then they are given a ceaseand-desist to stop operation throughout the city.”
And, just like restaurants, mobile vendors can only operate in areas zoned for commercial uses, he said.
BY OLIVIA MCCLURE
Contributing writer
Zachary leaders are making progress on converting penalties for development code violations from criminal offenses to fines.
L.T Dupré, assistant city attorney, reported on his work at the City Council’s March 11 meeting.
The council requested the changes last year “It won’t take every single thing out of the criminal realm,” he said. But people won’t face criminal charges for things like putting up disallowed types of signs. In addition to updating the code to call for civil rather than criminal punishments, Dupré also has been researching administrative law schemes that would take the council out of the
equation when it comes to handling complaints of code violations.
Once the new setup is in place, Zachary will have an administrative law judge who will issues notices of infractions and hold hearings with people accused of disobeying the code. The judge will determine whether the code has been violated and assess fines.
Other municipalities use this system.
“It’s a lot like criminal court but you’re not destroying someone’s record or anything like that. You’re not putting criminal charges on them,” Dupré explained. “And you’re addressing the matter in such a way that hopefully will be a lot quicker and take all of the hard feelings out of it. It’ll be a person who’s
not the council and not the mayor telling them, and it’ll be a finding at law of the violation.”
The council will eventually have to approve a series of ordinances to make the changes official. First, however, the council must get a recommendation on how to vote from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
“I don’t see a reason why this should drag past the spring,” Dupré said when council members asked him for a timeline.
He said the new system will provide a more efficient, practical way of enforcing rules.
“I think we got it to a place where you’re going to really appreciate the load it takes off of city staff and the city council,” he said.
