The New Orleans City Planning Commission (CPC) met on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 1:30 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting addressed a wide range of zoning, subdivision, capital improvement, and housing policy items. Key actions included the denial of a new VCR-3 zoning district, approval of several conditional uses and subdivisions, and presentations on a PRO Housing grant application and a Transit Oriented Communities study.
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Proponents for the proposal will speak first for a period of 10 minutes. Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of two minutes. Opponents or other interested parties will speak second for a period of 15 minutes. Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of two minutes. Proponents will be allowed a period of six minutes for a rebuttal. Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of two minutes. Opponents will not be allowed to rebut. No material, written matter, photographs, or maps, will be accepted by the commission or its staff at any time during this public hearing. This procedure shall be followed except at such a time when the presiding officer shall, with the approval of the commission members present, extend such time. And our first uh item is the adoption of the minutes of the September 12th, 2023 meeting. Commissioner Flick will make a motion for approval of September 12th meeting minutes. Commissioner Alexander will second. Yes, sir. Is there any further discussion? If not, we'll uh vote our machines. Minutes are approved. Uh next up is zoning docket item 06523 zoning docket 6523 is a request to amend Article 9, historic core neighborhood residential districts of the CZO to create a new zoning classification, VCR 3, and to make the associated zoning map changes to effectuate the new zoning district. The purpose of the VCR 3 district is to allow a mix of primarily residential uses limited to singles and doubles, educational and cultural uses. When compared to the VCR 1 district, VCR1 and VCR 2 districts, BCR 3 is intended to promote educational and cultural uses that are compatible with single and two family residential uses. The proposed zoning district is aimed at steering potential future uses of the Homer Plessy School located at 721 St. Philip Street, which is currently zoned VCR 1. If the new zoning district were to be approved, a subsequent a subsequent zoning change would be required to effectuate the new zoning district for the intended site. While the impetus for this text amendment is the Homer Plessy School, if the amendment were approved, it could theoretically be applied across the French quarter, not just to the subject site. When compared to the existing zoning and land use trends within the French quarter, including its residential zoning districts, the proposed VCR 3 district is very restrictive and is out of context with the current historic land use trends of the neighborhood, which has historically featured an array of housing types, including multifamily and neighborhood serving commercial uses as noted in ticker three of the staff report. If approved, the new zoning district would conflict with the city's future land use map, which aims to promote a mix of use of mix of uses across the French quarter and explan and explicitly notes adaptive reuse projects, which will be precluded by the proposed VCR 3 district. While staff is sympathetic to the preservation of institutional and educational uses, the proposed text amendment is not guaranteed to serve the applicant's end goal of preserving the Homer Plessy school. It could also have the unintended consequence of creating a zoning district that would serve as a tool for housing opponents and even potentially result in the future underutilization of this property or similar similar properties across the French quarter, which could result in vacancy and blight. Even if the zoning district were adopted and applied to the site, there's still potential that the owner could vacate the site, leaving the building with a zoning that precludes virtually all compatible uses given its size and location. For the stated reasons, staff recommends denial of zoning docket 6523. Thank you. Is there any further discussion from the commissioners? Questions for staff. If not, I'll look for a motion. Oh mic is off. I'll make a motion to um move forward with staff recommendation as denial of zoning docket 065-23. Commissioner Flick will second. With no further discussion, uh vote your machines. Okay. Thank you. Uh the zoning docket is deferred. Nope. I'm sorry, motion passes.