[StBernard] St. Bernard, St. Charles parishes ending some FEMA trailers

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Thu Jul 26 21:26:19 EDT 2007


St. Bernard, St. Charles parishes ending some FEMA trailers

HARAHAN, La. -- FEMA trailers which have housed people since Hurricane
Katrina are on their way out of two suburban New Orleans parishes.


St. Charles Parish officials have sent 333 property owners letters saying
that travel trailers on property not zoned for them must go by Sept. 1.

And the St. Bernard Parish Council has voted to shut five government-run
FEMA trailer parks on Aug. 31, with five larger parks to be phased out by
Jan. 31.

However, Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers on residential or
commercial property _ about 90 percent of the estimated 6,000 in the parish
_ will not be affected.

The 4-3 vote in St. Bernard parish came after the council failed to
reinstate a vetoed ordinance that would have begun closing parks Aug. 15 and
kept a park of last resort open until March 30.

One major change is that a trailer park on land owned by Councilman Lynn
Dean, who is letting FEMA use it free, will now be the last to close, rather
than one of the first.

FEMA is reportedly paying some landowners $200 to $300 a month for each
trailer, so it didn't make sense to close the park on Dean's property first,
said Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez, who vetoed the ordinance
passed June 19.

The three council members who voted to overturn the veto said the Dean park
near Poydras generates the most police calls and is more vulnerable to
tropical storms and hurricanes because of its location in eastern St.
Bernard.

The new plan also exempts 28 trailers at Nunez Community College in
Chalmette, occupied by people with connections to the college.

St. Charles Parish officials say they are getting complaints about the
trailers, including allegations that people are renting them to people who
don't qualify for hurricane assistance or living in the trailers while
renting out their habitable home to others.

"It's been two years since the storm. It's time," said Earl Matherne, the
parish's assistant planning director.

St. Charles Parish will grant extensions to people who can prove genuine
hardship, parish spokesman Steve Sirmon Jr. said.

In May, St. John the Baptist Parish officials announced they would be
phasing out special permits for trailers housed on property not zoned for
them.

___

Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.timespicayune.com

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




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