City Planning Commission Meeting - October 22, 2024
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City Planning Commission Meeting - October 22, 2024
The City Planning Commission met on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at 1:30 PM in Council Chambers to consider three agenda items: a conditional use request for Blue Oak restaurant, a conditional use request for a reception facility in Eastern New Orleans, and ratification of subdivision applications. The meeting included public testimony and votes on each item.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Zoning Docket 088/24 (Blue Oak Restaurant): Multiple neighbors spoke in opposition. Elizabeth Boudreaux (902 North Hennessy Street, secretary of City Park Neighborhood Association) expressed frustration about outdoor speakers and a missing driveway, stating she was told speakers were removed but learned two remain. Susan Johnson (Historic New Orleans Neighborhoods, 2822 LePage Street) urged the commission to respect residents' rights. Clark Thompson (3201 DeSoto) argued that diagonal parking spaces shown on the staff report are illegal and will create conflicts with a planned bike lane. Kathleen Fisher (3134 DeSoto) contended the application was incomplete, lacked an NPP meeting, and that 24 letters of opposition had been submitted. Eddie Gonzalez (935 Pichelou Place, immediate neighbor) detailed ongoing issues with parking, noise, and illegal seating, stating the COVID-era expansion removal was due to neighbor pressure, not city action. Joel Wheedleman (4001 Dumaine Street, three doors from Blue Oak) presented a petition signed by 49 neighbors opposing the expansion, stating the area is congested and parking is inadequate. Patricia Etheridge (4518 St. Peter Street) spoke about the purchase of Parkview Tavern next door, expressing concern that Blue Oak plans to take over the bar after the current owner's lease expires.
- Zoning Docket 092/24 (Reception Facility): Applicant Javon Crockman (7920 Lambroad) stated the space is fully built out and neighbors support the use. No public opposition was voiced.
Discussion Items
- Zoning Docket 088/24 – Blue Oak Restaurant Conditional Use: Staff presented the request for a conditional use to permit a restaurant over 5,000 square feet in a HU-B1 district at 900 North Carrollton Avenue. The restaurant had organically expanded outdoor seating since 2019, exceeding the by-right floor area. Staff recommended approval subject to four provisos, including restoring on-site parking to meet the waiver criteria. Applicant representatives Zach Smith and Mandy Lloyd detailed efforts to address neighbor concerns: a complaint app, trash pickup, removal of five of seven speakers, a plan to relocate Uber Eats operations off-site, and voluntary compliance with provisos. They argued the request is to maintain the current footprint, not to expand. During commission discussion, staff clarified that denial would require removal of the illegal outdoor seating to bring floor area below 5,000 square feet. Commissioners questioned the parking situation, diagonal parking legality, and the history of city enforcement. Commissioner Lund made a motion for denial, citing the intensity of use and failure to meet hardship requirements. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Steag. After discussion, the motion to deny carried (vote count: 4 in favor, 2 against).
- Zoning Docket 092/24 – Reception Facility Conditional Use: Staff explained that the property at 6324 Chef Menteur Highway, in a C-3 district and ENORC overlay, seeks a conditional use for a reception facility. A 500-foot buffer from residential districts is required, but the nearest residential zoning is only 50 feet away across Chef Menteur Highway. However, the nearest actual dwelling is 506 feet away, and the site is buffered by transportation infrastructure. Staff recommended approval with one waiver and seven provisos. The applicant confirmed the space is already built out. Commissioner Johnson moved for approval in accordance with staff recommendation, seconded by Commissioner Josie Gustave. The motion passed unanimously.
- Subdivision Ratification: Staff presented four subdivision applications for ratification. Commissioner Flick moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Johnson. The motion passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Zoning Docket 088/24 – Blue Oak Restaurant: Motion to deny the conditional use and parking waiver carried (4-2). The commission rejected the staff recommendation for approval. The restaurant must remove the unpermitted outdoor seating to comply with the 5,000-square-foot floor area limit.
- Zoning Docket 092/24 – Reception Facility: Motion to approve the conditional use with one waiver and seven provisos passed unanimously. The applicant may proceed with the already-built reception facility.
- Subdivision Ratification: The four subdivision applications were ratified unanimously.
- The meeting adjourned without further business.
Meeting Transcript
And with that, we'll start with zoning docket eighty-eight twenty-four. Oh should the assistant? Oh something's working. There we go. Okay, all right. Um zoning docket eighty-eight twenty-four is an application made by council motion affecting Blue Oak restaurant on Carrollton Avenue and Domain Street. Over the years and certainly since COVID, it has gradually expanded in area. There's been some back of house structures added in the rear portion of the site. There's been outdoor seating area added along the front of the site. And so the gradual expansion has necessitated the conditional use approval. The council uh requested the applicant withdraw and essentially voluntarily start implementing some of the provisos that had been contemplated at council level, um, and in so many words to basically show a good track record and kind of develop um perhaps some you know some goodwill among the neighbors. Um and so you know, that happened for several months. There were uh meetings between the the council and the applicant and neighbors during that time, and the council has reinitiated the application by motion. Uh and so it is back before US and new application. The the staff's position is that given the intent of the district and the size of the site in general, a restaurant of this site can be appropriate. Um there are some technical zoning things that have to be worked out, um, especially in regard to parking. Uh the reduction of on-site parking and its replacement with some outdoor area uh has the effect of increasing the parking requirement such that the restaurant would need a waiver. The staff finds that the criteria for approving a waiver are not met. And so one of the provisos that is attached to the staff's approval recommendation is that some more on-site parking be restored. And so given that, and and with the condition that the parking be uh replaced on site, the staff is recommending approval with four provisos. Thank you. Laura Barth, and Ronald Evans. You're all here. So we just brought his whole staff to wave time. 10 minutes. Thank you. Go ahead, Zach. Good afternoon, Commission Zach Smith, 1000 South Norman Sea Francis. Uh it's a pleasure to see you guys again. Uh, for I I know this the staff just gave a kind of refresher there, and a lot's gone on since the last time we saw you guys. We saw you guys last on December 12th of 2023. Um the last time we were here, there was also a recommendation of approval from the staff. So there's a couple things that have been consistent. There's also a couple things that have been consistently proven over that time. As the staff just mentioned, you know, this was a request essentially to to kind of withdraw this. Uh, and there's there's a letter probably in the file from from Jojo Russo in his office about look, we want to see this get withdrawn. We want to see you guys help prove this, because at the time a year ago, there were some doubts as to whether or not the management team of Blue Oak was serious about some of these things. Some of these things that of course many of you know are not the responsibility of an individual restaurant, uh, but in some cases they just happen to become the responsibility, especially when you are um the the most uh successful part of a neighborhood or a corner in some respects. So we are here to kind of talk about that. We're here to talk about what we've done, we're here to talk about what this proposal looks like, and essentially kind of set the table for what we hope is today in approval of this this body. Uh the only thing in question, just putting it kind of straight out on there, is the parking, and I'll get to that. Because we think that there is a very, you know, when we talk about seven, we talk about none, we talk about this, that, and the other. There are things to create parking that we have determined that I will say there are some neighbors that when they realize this in some meetings back when we were having the freezes last year. This is how long we've been going back and forth and having very good faith conversations with neighbors. And at that point, I want to say also we've had some really amazing conversations with neighbors uh to the point of several in-person, several at our office we've hosted. We've obviously had our original MPP in May of 23. That was early May, I think right after Jazz Fest. And then we've had uh the a series of Zoom conversations that were facilitated by Joe's office, and um and continuing follow-up. And so we're here to essentially, you know, I know it's not always good to poll the group, but uh, you know, I know that you guys live in the city, you work in the city, you roam the city. If you've driven by Blue Oak in the last day, the last week, the last month, how the last year, what we're asking for is to keep it exactly as you've seen it for the last year.
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