[StBernard] Council to Act on Planners' Suggestions

[Westley Annis]

Council to Act on Planners' Suggestions 

March 18 , 2006

By: Steve Cannizaro


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St. Bernard Council will act on suggested resolutions by town planners 
 
 
St. Bernard Parish Council members will move to quickly consider passing 17
resolutions suggested by town planner Andres Duany, including improving
community building codes, elevation of canal levees, requesting FEMA money
for several uses, developing plans through the new parish Housing Commission
for the purchase of open spaces for parks, playgrounds and other open
spaces, and establishment of an agency to redevelop and maintenance vacant
lots. 
 
Council member Mark Madary, chairman of the Executive-Finance Committee of
the Council that reviewed the proposals Friday night. Said all 17 would
likely be adopted at the Tuesday regular meeting of the Council. 
 
"The council is dedicated to doing whatever it takes to get the parish off
the ground,'' said Madary. He said the full council should adopt the
measures as resolutions so they can be passed Tuesday. The Parish Charter
requires two meetings to adopt ordinances, which carry the force of law. 
 
Duany of Duany Plater-Zyberk Architects and Town Planners and a team of
designers held planning sessions in St. Bernard over the last two weeks
which ended with a presentation Wednesday night attended by more than 1,000
residents. His recommendations address redeveloping the parish in a way that
allows for a reduced footprint for development and more modernized zoning
codes. 
 
The presentation at the Courthouse included drawings of what St. Bernard
could look like with raised homes and lavish landscaping around town centers
and lagoons. 
 
Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez said Saturday he is meeting with
Duany to review the planner's proposals for the parish which will be further
discussed at the Tuesday Council meeting. 
 
At Friday's council meeting, several council members urged the full council
to approve a list of 17 resolutions that enact Duany's proposal, which were
based on input from residents and officials. 
Council Vice Chairman Joseph DiFatta Jr. said Duany's presentations had been
"far greater than expected,'' and thanked him for the effort. He said the
plans give St. Bernard "a glimmer of hope'' of what can be in the future. 
 
Council member Craig Taffaro Jr. said the 17 proposals "give us a general
framework' to move ahead.'' He said the council "may need to tweak some
things specifically to fit them for St. Bernard.'' 
 
Learning from his experience in other communities, Duany also presented the
council a series of steps on how to systematically implement the plan. 
 
He it was good for the council to approve it and then tweak it as needed. 
 
"It activates it," Duany said. "You launch it, and if it gets funding, then
you worry about it." 
 
He said it starts with implementing the Smart Code, his name for a code
written by his team that will ultimately replace the parish's zoning,
subdivisions, public works, signage, noise, trees, landscaping and lighting
rules. 
 
Duany said he would get a copy of the code to the parish's director of
community development, Michael Hunnicutt, by Monday. Duany said his firm is
being paid more than $1 million to devise and implement a similar plan for
Miami that his team has retrofitted for St. Bernard in a week's time. 
 
"It is the first fully integrated ordinance for new communities," Duany
said. "It's a heavy-duty document but it takes the place of five or six
ordinances." 
 
For information about Duany's plan, visit www.louisianaspeaks.org 
 
Among the 17 items, the plan proposes a resolution to the state to make
Community Development Blocks Grants available for the purchase of lots
following a Hazard Mitigation program and a resolution to FEMA requesting
that mitigation funds be made available for the purchase of lots following
the mitgation plan. 
 
It also proposes a One-stop Housing Information Center to make information
about programs and assistance available to residents from parish, state and
federal agencies. 
 
Duany's plan also asks for a resolution strongly opposing a Corps of
Engineers proposal to install floodgates on the Mississippi River - Gulf
Outlet at Paris Road because of the potential to back water up into St.
Bernard. 
 
It also includes improving community building codes, elevation of canal
levees, requesting FEMA money for several uses, developing plans through the
new parish Housing Commission for the purchase of open spaces for parks,
playgrounds and other open spaces, and establishment of an agency to
redevelop and maintenance vacant lots. 
 
In other business Friday night, the council said it is requesting accounting
assistance from the legislative auditor's office, saying the parish
administrative staff can use help in dealing with disaster-related money.