Kenner, LA Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)

The Kenner Unified Development Code's Mixed Use District standards, in Section 6.15(j), require roof designs to include specific elements to reinforce the district's pedestrian-friendly, sustainable building goals, and Section 6.15(j)(5) defines a compliant 'sustainable roof' as meeting one of four listed options. A developer can install a Solar Reflectance Index roof across 75 percent of the roof surface, a vegetated roof across 50 percent, a rainwater collection system or grey water system such as a cistern across 50 percent of the roof surface for reuse of water or delayed release that reduces pressure on the municipal stormwater system, or a combination of a vegetated roof, rainwater collection, and SRI-compliant materials across 75 percent of the roof.

The rainwater or grey-water cistern option is the only pathway in the MU district that ties directly to stormwater management rather than heat reflection or vegetation, giving builders in Rivertown-adjacent and other Mixed Use parcels a way to meet the roof standard while capturing runoff for reuse. This sustainable roof option sits alongside the MU district's broader Section 6.15(g) open space requirements, which mandate that at least 10 percent of a master plan's net area be open space, and its Section 6.15(f) setback rules, so a rainwater harvesting roof does not substitute for those separate open-space or yard obligations. The requirement applies only to development within the Mixed Use district; the code does not impose a citywide rainwater harvesting mandate outside MU.