[StBernard] New rules set for raised homes

[Westley Annis]

New rules set for raised homes

Council: Exposed piers ruin look of area Wednesday, June 07, 2006 By Karen
Turni Bazile St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau 

St. Bernard Parish property owners who want to elevate their homes more than
5 feet higher in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's widespread flooding must
comply with new guidelines passed at Tuesday's Parish Council meeting. 

Under those guidelines, homeowners choosing to elevate must enclose their
ground-level floors rather than leaving exposed wooden piers that would
create a camp-style look in traditional neighborhoods of slab houses. 

More than a dozen speakers at the meeting spoke in favor of the enclosed
ground-floor requirement. 

Parish Councilman Craig Taffaro, who sponsored the measure, also proposed
allowing brick or similarly covered pilings to have latticework on the
ground floor, but most of the speakers and several council members wanted to
require a solid surface. 

Councilman Mark Madary told the council it was important to require
homeowners to enclose all four sides with a solid material because local
insurance officials told him some homeowners insurance policies would not
cover property built on exposed piers taller than 4 feet. 

"If we don't make them have some enclosure, they may not be able to get
insurance," Madary said. "Personally, just latticework is insufficient. I
don't think it adds the closure part I was hoping to accomplish." 

Only developer Terry Tedesco cautioned the council against implementing
costly requirements. The council in November passed a general measure saying
homes being rebuilt after Katrina should be built to previous standards. 

This week's effort to add specific requirements to the building code comes
after Chalmette lawyer V.J. Dauterive filed a lawsuit in state court last
month contending that the issuance of about six parish permits for elevated
homes on exposed piers had lowered the value of adjacent property by not
retaining the neighborhood's integrity. 

At Dauterive's request, District Judge Manny Fernandez issued a restraining
order May 12, prohibiting parish officials from issuing more permits for
elevated homes until the council could craft specific requirements. 

Dauterive has said he only wanted the parish to come up with specific
requirements and likely would drop the suit after those requirements were
crafted by the council. 

The measure the council ultimately approved Tuesday after lengthy public
debate applies to property owners inside the levee system who choose to
raise their homes by more than 5 feet. 

Such homes must be enclosed on all sides with various types of materials
spelled out in the new law, including brick or stucco. 

Although several residents showed up at last month's public hearing saying
they feared costly new requirements, only Tedesco voiced any concerns
Tuesday. 

Instead, about a dozen people said the parish should enact standards to
protect current property owners, and if people trying to rebuild are
concerned about the costs of elevating with the new standards, they should
downsize their square footage to ensure a good presentation to the street. 

The law also requires vented skirting on homes raised less than 5 feet.
Councilman Lynn Dean was the only council member to oppose additional
requirements for elevated homes because he said dictating such specifics to
property owners is wrong. 

"What right do you have to say how a house should look?" Dean said. "If I
was a smart politician, I would go and shut my mouth." 

But Charlie Ponstein, a former two-term parish president who lives in
Chalmette, spoke in favor of the restrictions and told council members it
was their job to write specific laws to back up their intent to protect
current property values for slab homes.