[StBernard] rentals

[Westley Annis]

I'm curious about how - on what grounds - St. Bernard Parish plans to
prohibit individual property owners from renting out homes.  I don't
understand how any legislation or ordinance could be passed that would
require a property owner to live in a privately owned dwelling and/or
prohibit a property owner from renting a privately owned residence to
whomever he chooses.  I certainly am unfamiliar with the applicable property
laws, but it seems that such a plan would seriously infringe on individual
and personal property rights.

As for what I plan to do with my home - that depends on many things over
which I have little or no control.  Will the MRGO be closed?  If so, when?
Will proactive measures be taken to restore the 'disappeared' land mass that
offered protection from storm surge prior to 1965?  If so, what and when?
Will something more significant be done with the Industrial Canal levee
other than patching the sections that failed?  If so, what and when?  What
category of hurricane will the levees be built to withstand?

Although I plan to make repairs, I don't plan to invest any significant
money in my home until I have the answers to those questions.  As long as my
property taxes are paid, my grass is cut, and my home is maintained, I don't
understand how - legally - the parish government can 'make' me do anything.

Like many residents of St. Bernard Parish, I have very little left and,
frankly, I am reluctant to take any additional financial risks.  It seems
that, if St. Bernard Parish still is a part of the United States and our
constitutional rights still apply, property owners cannot be 'forced' to
invest money in repairs to a home that likely will be flooded with the next
'near miss' hurricane.

I know other people may make a different decision.  That's one of the great
things about a democracy - freedom of choice.  I certainly don't want to -
and have no plans to - hurt the parish or anyone who opts to rebuild
immediately.  St. Bernard Parish was home and probably always will be the
place where my heart is.  But that won't pay the bills and it won't offer
any more protection from the next storm than it did for Katrina.

Instead of parish government - or any government - telling me what I must do
with my privately owned property, I'd like to see that time and energy
invested in getting local, state, and federal politicians to develop and
IMPLEMENT plans/strategies that provide real, meaningful protection from
hurricanes and the associated storm surge.  

We all know that life offers no guarantees, so I'm not asking for one.  But
I sure would like odds that give me something less than a 100% chance of
having my house flooded again.

Pattie Doody 

-----Original Message----- 

I maybe off bases here but I think I would rather have a family renting 
on 
the side of me, then a slab with no hope for years. To me this would 
help 
with rebuilding St. Bernard. People are not ready to put their whole 
heart 
and soul back into the parish but on the other hand do not want to see 
the 
places they loved being demolished. 
Sue