City Planning Commission Meeting - July 28, 2026
City Planning Commission Meeting - July 28, 2026
The New Orleans City Planning Commission met on July 28, 2026, at 1:30 PM in Council Chambers. The agenda included adoption of prior meeting minutes, a planned development for a monastery adaptive reuse, a text amendment for data center regulations, and subdivision ratifications. The meeting lasted approximately until the conclusion of all items, with votes on all actions.
Consent Calendar
- Adoption of Minutes: The minutes of the July 14, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously (5-0) by a hand vote.
- Subdivision Ratifications: The Commission ratified the staff's determination that a list of minor subdivisions could be reviewed and approved administratively. Approved unanimously (5-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Zoning Docket 073/26 (Monastery Adaptive Reuse): Ron Lazell, representative of the project team, spoke in support. He noted extensive collaboration with neighbors, CPC staff, and the council office, and asked the Commission to clarify the exceptions and proviso before voting.
- Zoning Docket 036/26 (Data Center Text Amendment): Jesse George, on behalf of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, expressed full support for the prohibition on hyperscale data centers, calling it an important step to protect ratepayers and citizens. He also thanked staff for incorporating the Alliance's recommendations.
Discussion Items
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Zoning Docket 073/26 – Franciscan Poor Clares Monastery (720 Henry Clay Avenue): Staff presented a planned development request to adaptively reuse the historic monastery into 24 residential units (8 per building) with a central publicly accessible courtyard. The proposal required three exceptions: (1) reduction in off-street parking from 65 to 61 spaces, (2) waiver of the required off-street loading space, and (3) height exception from 35 feet to 49 feet. A proviso required final development plan approval and recording within one year. No opposition was heard. The Commission voted 5-0 to approve the request with the exceptions and proviso.
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Zoning Docket 036/26 – Data Center Text Amendment: Staff recommended a text amendment to define and regulate data centers by four tiers (accessory, small, medium, large/hyperscale) based on square footage and power consumption. Large/hyperscale (over 100,000 sq ft or 20 MW) would be prohibited citywide. Small and medium data centers would be conditionally permitted in certain commercial, industrial, and CBD districts, with a 500-foot setback from residential zones and other use standards. However, staff discovered a noticing error: the public notice described an interim zoning district instead of the proposed text amendment. To avoid procedural challenge, staff recommended deferral. Commissioner discussion noted the complexity of the issue and the thoroughness of the report. The Commission voted unanimously (5-0) to defer the item to the August 25, 2026 meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Zoning Docket 073/26: Approved (5-0), subject to three exceptions and one proviso as read by staff.
- Zoning Docket 036/26: Deferred (5-0) to the August 25, 2026 CPC meeting due to a noticing error. The public hearing was opened, testimony received, and then closed. The item will be reheard in full at the deferred date.
- Consent Items: Both the minutes adoption and subdivision ratifications passed unanimously (5-0).
Meeting Transcript
Comments are to be addressed to the chair or specific member of the commission. These hearings are recorded and broadcast on public access television, audio tapes, and other relevant public records are available in the city planning office or on the city's website at www.nola.gov. The first order of business is adoption of the minutes of the July 14th, 2026 meeting. Move to approve. Second. Great. Can we vote our machines or are we voting by um hand? I don't have a screen. Let's go with hand. We have okay. Let's go. Short agenda, and uh we can we can all raise our hands. So a motion and a second for the minutes. All in favor? That's five. Any opposed? None. The minutes pass. The next docket item is docket item 07326. Um zoning Docket 07326 is a request for a plan development to permit the adaptive reuse of the former Franciscan Port Claire's monastery into multifamily residential dwellings within the HURD2 district and the CPC character preservation corridor design overlay district. This request was deferred at the July 14th meeting to allow additional time for review. The petition site is located at 720 Henry Clay Avenue and occupies an entire city block bounded by Magazine Street, Henry Clay Avenue, Constance Street, and Calhoun Street. The site is currently developed at the St. Clair Monastery campus, which contains the historic monastery building, an infirmary, accessory structures, surface parking areas, landscaped open space, and masonry walls on the perimeter surrounding the entire property. The proposal would preserve and rehabilitate the historic monastery building while constructing two new residential buildings, the demolition of select non-historic accessory structures, new internal circulation and parking areas, and landscaped open space to be accessible to the public and other associated site improvements. Together, the three buildings would provide 24 residential units, eight in each building organized around a central landscaped courtyard that is proposed to function as a publicly accessible park. The planned development process is intended to facilitate the adaptive reuse of historic institutional structures by allowing flexibility from certain zoning regulations where appropriate staff finds that the proposal preserves the monastery as the defining architectural feature of the site while returning a long vacant institutional campus to productive residential use. The proposal includes new residential buildings with a maximum height of approximately 49 feet, where the underlying underlying zoning district permits a maximum height of 35 feet. Staff finds that the additional height can be appropriate provided the new construction remains subordinate to the historic monastery. As discussed through the HDLC process, staff supports refinement of the building massing so that the taller portions of the new buildings and oriented are oriented toward the interior of the development and are further differentiated from the historic structure, reinforcing the monastery as the primary architectural feature of the campus. This proposal also provides 61 parking spaces where 65 are required under the University Area Off-Street Parking Overlay District. Staff supports these exceptions because requiring full compliance would reduce the site's planned green space in landscaping, which are central to the design concept and public benefits of the plan development. The proposal for 720 Henry Clay is consistent with the master plan and preserves a designated local landmark and is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. Were there any um provisos or um waivers included? Yes, with three exceptions and one proviso. Thank you. Um I have one card, Ron Lazell. Ron Lazel1000 South Norman C. Francis. Um thank you, Commissioners, for coming here today and for all the work that you do. I'd like to give a little background on this project, if possible. Uh first of all, uh acknowledgement to the sisters who have been guardians and and great keepers of this property for so many years. Um I am sure this is an emotional day. Uh but they have been working very hard to see that their legacy is kept in this pro uh property moving forward. I'd also like to acknowledge Tony Elderman, who is our developer of this property. You know, we're here today on a very big project, and you see what's behind us. You know, uh Tony met with the neighbors numerous times before the conditional or use or the text amendment process came into play. So he had worked hard with the neighbors. Uh everyone that's been involved in this is CPC staff, numerous meetings, zoning staff, housing staff, safety and permits, council office, HDLC. We aren't just showing here coming up in front of you.
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