Louisiana
Buying Land in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
Plaquemines Parish -- a narrow strip running along both banks of the Mississippi River from just south of New Orleans down to the Gulf -- is defined by its relationship to water: levees, wetlands, and a coastal-zone permitting layer that applies to the entire parish. Where a parcel sits relative to the federal levee system matters more here than almost anywhere else in the state.
A narrow parish defined by the river, the levee system, and the Gulf
Plaquemines Parish runs as a narrow strip along both banks of the Mississippi River from just below New Orleans down to the river's bird's-foot delta at the Gulf of Mexico, making it, geographically, one of the most distinctive parishes in the state -- almost entirely defined by its relationship to the river, the surrounding marsh, and the Gulf. Belle Chasse, on the parish's upper west bank, hosts the parish's main government functions today along with Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, an active military installation; the historic parish seat further south, Pointe a la Hache, reflects the parish's older settlement pattern along the river's east bank. Because so much of the parish's usable land is essentially reclaimed river and delta wetland, levees -- both along the river itself and as back-levees facing the interior marsh and Gulf side -- are not a background feature here the way they are in most of the country; they are the reason large parts of the parish are dry land at all.
Flood risk and the federal levee system's boundary
Hurricane Katrina's second US landfall in 2005 came ashore near Buras-Triumph in Plaquemines Parish, and the storm caused catastrophic, well-documented damage across the parish's lower reaches, including major levee failures and overtopping. In the years since, the federal government substantially rebuilt and upgraded hurricane risk-reduction levees protecting the New Orleans metro area and the upper part of Plaquemines Parish -- but that federal system's protection generally does not extend to most of the parish's lower reaches, which continue to rely on lower, non-federal, locally maintained levees offering meaningfully less protection against storm surge. This is arguably the single most important flood-risk fact to establish for any Plaquemines Parish parcel: whether it sits inside or outside the federal system's boundary. See the dedicated flood-zones page below for more on how this affects flood-map designations, insurance, and rebuilding rules.
Wetlands, the Coastal Zone, and land loss
All of Plaquemines Parish sits within Louisiana's statutorily defined Coastal Zone, meaning a Coastal Use Permit -- reviewed by the state's Office of Coastal Management -- generally applies to uses affecting coastal waters or wetlands, on top of whatever parish-level review exists. Louisiana's coastal parishes as a group have experienced significant, well-documented land loss and wetland subsidence over recent decades, and Plaquemines, sitting at the outermost edge of the Mississippi River delta, is among the parishes most exposed to that dynamic. See the dedicated wetlands page below for more on how coastal-zone permitting and land-loss trends specifically affect a Plaquemines parcel.
Agriculture, sulfur, and oil and gas: a working industrial and agricultural landscape
Plaquemines Parish has a long-standing citrus industry -- satsumas and other oranges grown on the parish's natural river-levee ridges, the naturally higher and better-drained ground immediately along the Mississippi River, as distinct from the lower interior marsh further from the river. Alongside that agricultural identity, the parish carries a substantial industrial history: large-scale sulfur mining operated near Port Sulphur for decades under the historic Freeport Sulphur Company, and the parish's southern end, around Venice, has long served as a major hub for the Gulf's oil-and-gas industry given its deep-water access to the Gulf. For a land buyer, this combined history means severed mineral rights are common in older chains of title -- confirm through a full title examination what mineral interests (if any) actually pass with a specific parcel, rather than assuming surface ownership includes them.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Plaquemines Parish
Department names reflect Plaquemines Parish's general government structure; specific websites, phone numbers, and current staff were not independently confirmed via live web access this pass -- verify directly before relying on them. Levee-district administration in particular has been restructured multiple times since Hurricane Katrina and should be confirmed directly.
Planning & Zoning
Plaquemines Parish Government -- Planning & Zoning
Parish zoning, subdivision review, and building-permit questions for a specific parcel.
Other
Louisiana Office of Coastal Management
Coastal Use Permit requirements for a parcel located within the Coastal Zone (all of Plaquemines Parish).
Septic / Onsite Wastewater
Louisiana Department of Health -- Office of Public Health (Plaquemines Parish Health Unit)
Individual sewerage system (septic) permits.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Plaquemines Parish Clerk of Court
Recorded deeds, mortgages, mineral servitudes, and succession records affecting a specific parcel.
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Get local guidanceTopics Specific to Plaquemines Parish
Sources
- R.S. 49:214.24 -- Coastal Zone Boundary — Louisiana State Legislature (accessed 2026-09)
- Applying for a Coastal Use Permit — Louisiana Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Office of Coastal Management (accessed 2026-09)
- Hurricane Katrina — National Hurricane Center / NOAA (accessed 2026-09)
- Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana — 64 Parishes (Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities) (accessed 2026-09)
- Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 51, Part XIII -- Sewage Disposal (Sanitary Code) — Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) (accessed 2026-09)
- National Flood Hazard Layer / Flood Map Service Center — Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09