GONZALES - A proposed development in Ascension Parish that residents thought had been defeated has been resubmitted to parish leaders for approval after changes were made. 

Dantin Bruce Development has its eye on a property along Highway 44 in Gonzales for a neighborhood called Harvest Fields. The proposal was resubmitted after the applicant made adjustments to the plot map and traffic was analyzed. 

Neighbors living in Cotton Fields, adjacent to those 37 acres, say the changes don't make them feel any better.

The large yellow public hearing sign was posted at their dead-end street, Cotton Fields Avenue, about a week ago. Dantin Bruce Development is proposing an 115-lot neighborhood that connects to Cotton Fields. 

"Why are they back already? Why are we going through this again?" resident Bill Guidry asked.

The Ascension Parish Planning Commission denied the application in February. 

Developers studied a few intersections and included some mitigation efforts in their latest proposal, but Guidry's concerns remain the same, illustrated with yard signs displaying the grim reaper. 

"The only thing they did was add more failing traffic," Guidry said.

The neighbors are concerned that the traffic study was done while road construction went on nearby. They also point out that a quarter of the property lies within the AE flood zone. They wonder if the water will have somewhere to go.

"To handle that, we've got five ponds; four of the five are in the flood zone," Guidry said.

But that's not all. One neighbor living in Cotton Fields discovered public records detailing an old oil well in the proposed neighborhood. That well was dug in 1980, according to records, thousands of feet below the surface. It's now plugged and abandoned. 

Jeff Nolan is a retired environmental scientist who lives in Cotton Fields. He fears that homes and other infrastructure could be built right on top of the well.

"Drilling mud and bent clay buried underground don't make for good foundations," Nolan said.

The scientist said any building on top of the well is a gamble and a big "what if."

"We don't know what's in that pit; there could be all types of contaminants," Nolan said.

The residents of Cotton Fields have a lot of unanswered questions.

Nolan has sent a lengthy report to commissioners and the parish about the findings concerning the well, he said. The planning commission is meeting on Wednesday.

Dantin Bruce Development did not return calls for comment.