New Orleans Community Development Committee Meeting - February 11, 2026
New Orleans Community Development Committee Meeting
Date: February 11, 2026
Meeting Type: First meeting of the Community Development Committee for the new term
Presiding: Councilmember Willard (Chair)
In Attendance: Councilmembers Green, King, Harris, Morell, and Hughes (partial attendance noted)
The committee convened to hear presentations from the Department of Code Enforcement and the Office of Community Development, discuss departmental priorities, and approve previous meeting minutes.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the December 8, 2025 meeting were approved by a voice vote (motioned by Councilmember Green, seconded by Councilmember King). All present voted in favor.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No in-person public comments were made. Online comments were submitted and will be included in the official record as directed by the Chair.
Discussion Items
1. Presentation by Director Davis – Department of Code Enforcement
Director Davis, along with Chief of Staff Ariane Patton, Council Liaison Ashley Givens, and Assistant Council Liaison Shia Norris, provided an overview of the department's mission, structure, and recent initiatives.
- Mission: Eliminate blight and enforce the Minimum Property Maintenance Code.
- Key Divisions: 11 divisions and 3 sections, including a new Code Compliance Division (2026) focused on educating property owners to avoid administrative hearings.
- Process: Complaint intake → inspection → title research (reduced from 4 to 9 researchers, eliminating backlog) → potential hearing or compliance.
- Enforcement Types: Chapter 26 (minimum property maintenance/healthy homes) and Chapter 66 (lot abatement, graffiti).
- 2025 Statistics:
- Total inspections: 8,934 (5,600 minimum property maintenance, 211 healthy homes, 3,000 Chapter 66).
- Demolitions ordered: 196 (non-emergency).
- Graffiti abated: over 100 properties.
- Strike Team: Created to respond rapidly to council/administration requests; goal is to expand to one team per district.
- Plaza Tower Update: Phase 1 safety work (netting) completed by Renaissance Inc. for $2.7 million. A potential buyer fell through; no further update on demolition or redevelopment.
- Barriers: Funding and staffing shortages; need more inspectors, laborers, and equipment operators. Current goal is minimum 15 inspections per inspector per day.
- Historic Preservation vs. Code Enforcement: Department follows evidence and conditions; if a property is a blighting public nuisance with no action by owner, may demolish after coordination with HDLC and VCC.
Councilmember Green praised the department's work, noting over 100 demolitions in his district and the positive impact on community morale. He also condemned graffiti vandalism.
Councilmember King highlighted the department's professionalism and responsiveness, and asked about options for neighbors when property owners neglect lots. Director Davis emphasized aggressive enforcement and potential need for additional legislative penalties.
Councilmember Hughes raised the issue of commercial blight and the single demolition contractor contract, suggesting a wider bidding process could reduce costs (e.g., for 6700 Plaza Drive).
2. Presentation by Director Schwartz – Office of Community Development (OCD)
Director Schwartz, joined by Liz Holman (Housing Policy and Strategy), provided an overview of OCD's mission, funding, and priorities.
- Mission: Beyond affordable housing; includes commercial corridors, amenities, quality of life.
- Funding: Almost entirely federal grants (CDBG, HOME, ESG, etc.) – approximately $20 million annually. Not a drain on the city's general fund.
- 2026 Allocation: Still awaiting HUD confirmation; delayed compared to typical schedule.
- Structure: Six units: Affordable Housing, Neighborhood Services & Facilities, Fiscal & Compliance/Disaster, Asset Management & Construction Inspections, Planning & Resource Development, Housing Policy & Strategy.
- Key Programs:
- Soft Second Program (first-time homebuyer) – restarted in 2026.
- Gap financing for affordable housing (using CDBG/HOME, now also bond dollars).
- Owner-occupied rehab, land trust models.
- Post-IDA disaster recovery: $33 million pot (Resilient Communities Infrastructure Program) – projects include drainage, food incubator, small business solar/battery, public building hardening.
- Housing Needs: Recent transient lodging study (January 2026) cited a need for 40,000 affordable housing units. Director Schwartz suggested setting achievable annual goals (e.g., 2,000 net new units per year) and preserving existing tax credit units nearing compliance expiration.
- 100-Day Priorities: Accelerating multifamily developments (e.g., NSA groundbreaking in December, Mercy Hospital redevelopment, Charity Hospital), implementing the Housing Trust Fund by end of Q1 2026.
Councilmember Willard asked about the 40,000-unit figure given population decline; Liz Holman noted the study likely accounted for recent demographic trends. Director Schwartz emphasized focusing on achievable targets.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes Approved: December 8, 2025 meeting minutes approved unanimously.
- No formal votes taken on the presentations or policy changes.
- Next Steps:
- Director Schwartz will engage with council members on annual planning priorities starting in spring 2026.
- Council will continue to work with Code Enforcement on potential legislative solutions for neglected properties.
- Housing Trust Fund implementation to be finalized by end of Q1 2026.
- Online comments to be included in the official record.
Meeting Adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. I think we're ready to go, y'all. Did you roll call? Councilmember Willard. Here. Councilmember Morell. Councilmember Harris. Councilmember King. Council Member Green. We have three members. We have a quorum. Thank you, Anita. Now we have to take up the approval of the minutes from the December 8th meeting. So move. Green. Move by Councilmember Green, seconded by Councilmember King all in favor. Aye. Aye. Next up. Were you going to take um presentation from Office of Housing and Community Development or Yes? So Director Davis, if you want to come up. Before we get started, I just want to say a couple of things. This is the first meeting of the community development committee. In this new term. It's existed for about 12 years. Consolidation of three previous committees. Some of our responsibilities are looking at state and federal housing laws, looking at how infrastructure projects will affect the quality of life in our neighborhoods, reviewing Nord programming facilities and how we can improve them. And really just providing a place for the community to share some of their resources and ideas related to recreational, educational opportunities, uh health opportunities for the people in the city of New Orleans. So I certainly look forward to working closely with the departments of code enforcement, safety and permits, community development, health and human services. So for the next few meetings, we'll have some of the directors of those departments come before us to give us a little bit of information about their department, make introductions for their staff members who we'll be working closely with, and just to really understand what you guys are working on and how this city council can be a better partner to you. So, Director Davis, um, I want to thank you for coming down and bringing your staff here. So before you get into your presentation, um, can you just do introductions for your team? Yes, sir, absolutely. Good morning, uh honorable city council. I'm Director Davis, Department Director for the Department of Code Enforcement to my immediate left is the chief of staff for the Department of Code Enforcement, Miss Ariane Patton. To her left is our council liaison, Miss Ashley Givens, and then to my immediate right is my assistant council liaison, Mr. Shia Norris. Thank you, Director David. Um you want to get into your presentation? Yes, sir. Again, good morning. Thank you all for having us today. So the Department of Code Enforcement, our mission is simple. Our mission is to eliminate blight and to enforce the minimum property maintenance code for uh the city of New Orleans and to ensure that all buildings are in compliance. Our vision is is that we hope to help improve the quality of life of every new Orlean. Uh we're going to do that by educating them on the ordinances and the requirements, enforcing those standards and mitigating any hazardous hazards that may exist that adversely affect the quality of life of New Orleanians. Our departmental overview, our structure, obviously the executive team consists of myself, the chief of staff, and we do have a deputy director position that's unfield, but our job obviously is to coordinate with the leadership and to ensure that we do all that we can to maintain the operations of the department and work with the community to educate citizens on code compliance. Our office consists of, as you can see from the slide, 11 divisions and three sections in the department of code enforcement. Next slide. Next slide.
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