The New Orleans City Planning Commission met on October 24, 2023, to consider 17 agenda items including zoning dockets, subdivision requests, property acquisitions and dispositions, a federal grant application, the Downtown Development District (DDD) 2024 budget, and an extension request. The meeting featured public testimony from residents and developers, and the commission took votes on most items, often following or departing from staff recommendations.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming and attending the October 24th City Planning Commission meeting. My name is Katie Whitry, and I'll be chairing until our chair comes. Uh first I'd like to do roll call. Commissioner Steag. Here. Commissioner Stewart. Present. Commissioner Brown. Here. Commissioner Flick. Present. Commissioner Alexander. Present. And Commissioner Whitry is present. Thank you. Let's go ahead and read the formal public hearing rules. The City Planning Commission has established certain rules governing the procedures to be followed at public hearings. Before speaking, each person shall give their name, address, and state whom he or she is representing. Proponents for the proposal will speak for a period of ten minutes. Each speaker should be not allowed to speak more than two minutes. Opponents or other interested parties will speak second for a period of fifteen minutes. Each speaker will be allowed a maximum of two minutes. Proponents will be allowed period of six minutes for rebuttal. Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of two minutes. No material written photographs, reports, maps will be accepted by the commission or its staff at any time during this public hearing. The staff believes the proposed conditional use an amendment to the IMP with adherence to the recommended proviso to shift the building footprint away from the adjacent residential properties, which mitigates the additional height of the dorm, are acceptable and should be approved. The building and site changes do not substantially alter the function of the initially proposed plans to build a dormitory at this location. Also, the reduction in parking spaces will not have a practical impact on the availabil availability of off-street parking to visitors and employees of the university. Therefore, staff recommends approval of zoning docket 7223, subject to one proviso. Thank you so much. Is there an applicant? And everyone here, if you're wanting to speak, please go ahead and fill out a comment card and put place over here or right behind Mr. Kroll so that we can make sure to um add you to the list. Thank you, sir. Please have your name, um, your address, and got two minutes. Thank you, Todd Gennardo here on behalf of Xavier University. Uh addresses 201 St. Charles Avenue Suite 3920. Um, we're here asking, as the staff uh has has reported for a amendment to the master plan to allow for additional square footage for a proposed dormitory and additional height up to a maximum of 80 feet. Um we would ask that you know, we've worked with the staff for um for several months now. Um we would ask that you rec uh accept their recommendation for approval. However, uh we would like to ask that uh the recommendation not be subject to the proviso to alter the uh footprint of the building. I have Dominic Man um Willard from Manning Architects here to answer any questions related to that specific proviso. Um, but our position is uh twofold. One, uh, we're asking for an additional height of a maximum of eighty feet. We're actually going to be probably coming in closer to 77, so the the size is not not likely to reach 80 feet, and two, um, moving the the building creates some uh additional complexities cost uh uh and and time for what we view as a sort of a uh a minor change uh 10 feet on one side, resulting in a zero foot setback on another side. So um again, we would ask uh that that the um uh that this be approved without the proviso. However, um if you're so inclined uh to recommend approval uh only subject to the proviso, certainly Xavier University is willing to do what we can to make that work would you like to speak? Sure.