New Orleans City Planning Commission Meeting - March 5, 2024
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New Orleans City Planning Commission Meeting - March 5, 2024
The City Planning Commission (CPC) met on March 5, 2024, at 1:40 PM in Council Chambers, with a hard stop at 5:00 PM. The meeting began with roll call and adoption of public hearing rules. The agenda included subdivision ratifications, reconsideration requests for two zoning dockets (019/24 and 020/24) related to properties at 5700 and 5775 Deer Park Boulevard, a property acquisition for emergency preparedness, and multiple Future Land Use Map (FLUM) amendment requests for Planning Districts 9, 10, 12, and 13. Due to time constraints, only a portion of Planning District 9 items were heard; the remaining items were deferred to subsequent meetings.
Consent Calendar
- Subdivision Ratifications (Item 2): Approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Zoning Docket 019/24 and 020/24 Reconsideration: Multiple speakers opposed reconsideration, including Don Abair (President, East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Commission), who read a letter from State Representative Jason Hughes expressing "staunch opposition." Kamalita McKee and others cited oversaturation of affordable housing, lack of retail and grocery stores, and insufficient infrastructure (police, transit). Stephen Kennedy (applicant) argued for due process, noting the zoning change was staff-suggested and that a related FLUM change (PD 9-09) could affect the recommendation. Myesha Francis supported reconsideration for a fair process. Ethan Elstat (Muslim Culture Coalition) urged hearing both sides for procedural integrity.
- Property Acquisition 002/24: Colin Arnold (Director, Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness) spoke in support, emphasizing the need for warehouse space for emergency supplies, fire department equipment, and police barricades. No opposition.
- FLUM Amendments (Planning District 9): Henry Walther (Office of Community Assets and Investment) and others supported mixed-use designations to attract retail and transit-oriented development. RTA representative Joanna Farley supported changes along the planned Bus Rapid Transit corridor. Opponents, including Don Abair (ENO NAC), Kamalita McKee, and Brian Jardin, argued that New Orleans East already has enough multifamily housing and lacks basic services; they urged focusing on commercial development and infrastructure before adding housing density. Ronald Wright and Thomas Smith supported specific developer Kimberly Burbank’s plans for high-quality housing. Charles Nicholson (Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance) supported transit-oriented development.
Discussion Items
- Subdivision Ratifications: Approved without debate.
- Zoning Docket 019/24 Reconsideration: The public hearing was continued from February 27. After hearing opposition testimony and rebuttal, Commissioner Steag moved to deny reconsideration, citing overwhelming neighborhood opposition and the applicant’s failure to present at the previous meeting. The motion failed (needed 5 votes). No motion for approval succeeded; the request was transmitted to City Council as a recommendation of denial.
- Zoning Docket 020/24 Reconsideration: Similar process. Commissioner Whitry seconded a motion to reconsider, which also failed. The item moved to City Council with a denial recommendation.
- Property Acquisition 002/24 (3035 Earhart Boulevard): Staff recommended approval. After Arnold’s testimony and no opposition, Commission voted to approve.
- FLUM Amendment PD 9-01 (West Lake area): Changed from Residential Single-Family Post-War to Mixed-Use Low Density. Approved per staff recommendation.
- PD 9-02 (vacant area near I-10): Change to General Commercial was denied; staff recommended denial due to limited access and surrounding low-density residential.
- PD 9-03 (near Dwyer/Bullard): Modified approval – portion zoned SRS changed to Residential Single-Family Post-War; remainder kept as Business Center.
- PD 9-04 (Regional Business Park): Changed from Planned Development Area to Industrial. Approved.
- PD 9-05 (Lincoln Beach area): Changed to Neighborhood Commercial to support revitalization. Approved over opposition that a master plan for Lincoln Beach is still underway.
- PD 9-06 (across from St. Mary’s Academy): Changed to General Commercial to rectify inconsistency with prior zoning change. Approved.
- PD 9-07 (city-owned parcel near Livingston Collegiate): Staff recommended Mixed-Use Low Density; approved per that recommendation.
- PD 9-08 (Lincoln Beach and lakefront): Changed to Parkland & Open Space to facilitate reopening of Lincoln Beach. Approved.
- PD 9-09 (Lake Forest and Deer Park area): Staff recommended Mixed-Use Medium Density; Commissioner Steag motioned for Mixed-Use Low Density instead, citing compatibility with residential neighborhood. Motion passed.
- PD 9-10 (near Mayo/Dwyer): Commission debated between Mixed-Use Low Density and Residential Multi-Family Post-War. A motion to deny the change (retain Residential Single-Family Post-War) was made and seconded; the outcome was deferred as the meeting adjourned, but the motion effectively would keep the current FLUM. Unclear if vote occurred; item deferred.
Key Outcomes
- Subdivision Ratifications: Approved.
- Reconsideration of ZD 019/24 and ZD 020/24: Both denied; transmitted to City Council as denial recommendations.
- Property Acquisition 002/24: Approved with one proviso (details not specified).
- FLUM Amendments: Nine items (PD 9-01 through 9-09) were voted on; one (PD 9-10) was deferred. Remaining items in Planning District 9 (PD 9-11 through 9-25), Planning District 10, and Planning District 12 were deferred to the March 12, 2024 meeting. Planning District 13 was deferred to March 26, 2024. The Commission noted a light agenda on March 12, allowing time for additional items.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for coming to today's city planning commission meeting. Uh thank you for being present. Uh it is now one forty on March fifth, and we will first start by uh one calling we call them real so first we're gonna adopt them the role uh first we're gonna do roll call and then we're gonna adopt the meeting minutes and move forward with regular proceedings from there. So Commissioner Josh Gupta here. Commissioner Flick. Present. Commissioner Whitry. Present. Commissioner Jordan present, Commissioner Steve here. Commissioner Stewart present. This so now I'm gonna 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 first for a period of ten minutes total. Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of two minutes. Opponents or other interested parties will speak s second for a period of fifteen minutes. Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of two minutes. Proponents will be allowed a period of six minutes for rebuttal. Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of two minutes. Opponents will not be allowed to rebut no material, written matter, photographs, maps, etcetera, will be accepted by the commission staff at any time during this public hearing. Um handed out for each of you some notes about how the meeting is gonna proceed today. Um and so just for everyone in the audience as well, the order of the agenda because this originally was d scheduled as a special meeting to deal with master plan items. Um at our regular meeting last week, we lost a quorum and there were several items that didn't get heard, and so they've been continued on to this meeting, so they're gonna get heard first, and then we'll move into the master plan items. So the first thing that's gonna be up is the subdivision ratifications, and then uh the deer park reconsideration matters, then there's a property acquisition for the city, and then we'll get into the master plan uh proposals. Um for the master plan proposals, um at a you know, again, we have a hard stop at five o'clock because we have um there's another department that has a meeting coming in here for 5 30. Um we want to get everybody, but the likelihood is that we're not gonna get through all 60 some odd um items on the master plan agenda. So we're gonna start with planning district nine and we're gonna work our way through. Um thing that we're gonna do in order to help expedite, um, and I don't know if it'll make much difference, is we're only gonna take I'm gonna recommend to the commission that we only take items that people are here for, and then if nobody's here for it, we skip it and move it to another meeting. Um that way we can get as many people who are here to speak to speak as well. Um for those of you and the request has come to me from um some of the proponents in planning district 13, which is last. Um there are a number of people here. Um, and uh a request is if it's clear that they're not gonna be heard, can they be told so that they don't have to sit here till the end of the meeting to hear that? So um if the commission wants to go ahead and make that decision now, that's fine. Um but that's um that's gonna be a call for you all to make. Um and then again, any items not heard today will be moved to our next week's meeting. We have a regular meeting to uh next Tuesday, uh same place, same time, um, on the 12th, and we'll um after our regular docket is done, we'll continue with the master plan items that didn't get heard today. Um again, we have a hard stop at five o'clock. Um there was um there was some discussion um about um whether we wanted to have special rules about public speaking. I've laid out three options on the sheet that I gave you. Um that's another uh item for the for the first deer park item. We started that hearing, so we can't change the rules um mid-hearing, but uh if you all wanted to um do that to help expedite and hear more items today, um that's certainly reasonable. And then when we get to the deer park reconsideration, um I can walk through the steps um that are on this sheet um and for everyone in the audience as well, just to so that everyone's clear on what needs to happen um in this kind of unusual request. All right. Thank you. Is there uh a motion on the floor based upon what uh director rivers is offered? Uh Mr. Chair, um I'm move that we um deviate from the according agenda to take speakers that are present um for the dockets. Um and at that time after we finished all those dockets, we would then go to hearing if the time allows for us to go back um over um the current docket. If not, we'll move everything forward to our next uh scheduled meeting.
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