[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish floats property swap idea for demolished homes

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish floats property swap idea for demolished homes
by Chris Kirkham, St. Bernard bureau, The Times-Picayune 
Sunday May 17, 2009, 8:26 PM
After a slew of residents filed lawsuits against St. Bernard Parish
government claiming their homes were wrongfully demolished, Parish President
Craig Taffaro sent out more than a dozen letters earlier this month asking
if residents would be interested in another home or vacant lot if the parish
is found liable. 

Parish attorney Michael Gorbaty said the letters and attached questionnaires
went out to about 15 residents who had called to complain that the parish
erroneously demolished their home, but who had not yet hired an attorney or
filed suit. The letters were dated May 6, and contained a two-page survey
asking if the homeowner received an insurance settlement and had made
repairs to the home since Hurricane Katrina. 

It also asks residents to circle "yes" or "no" to some questions: "If it is
determined that St. Bernard Parish government has liability: Would you
consider another residence in exchange for the residence demolished? . . .
Would you consider other lot(s) in exchange for the residence demolished? .
. . What monetary amount do you believe will fairly compensate you? . . .
Are you only interested in a monetary settlement?" 

Although Gorbaty said the letters were not intended for homeowners who
already were named in the two federal lawsuits and 10-plus lawsuits in 34th
Judicial District court, at least one letter reviewed by The Times-Picayune
was sent to a plaintiff in a suit. Gorbaty said that was an oversight. 

"The letters were not sent to anyone who already has an attorney and has
filed a lawsuit, because it would be improper for us to send letters
directly to those people," Gorbaty said. "If they had retained an attorney,
that's who I want to speak to. I don't want to speak to them." 

St. Bernard Parish government is in control of more than 4,000 properties,
most of them empty lots, that were sold to the state's Road Home program
since Katrina. The vast majority of those are expected to be dispensed to
nearby homeowners interested in expanding their lots. 

The letter notes, "While not admitting any liability at this time, we
believe this information will assist us in determining our position and
possibly resolve your claim without litigation." 

St. Bernard's demolition contractor, Unified Recovery Group, has demolished
nearly 7,500 homes since Katrina. After numerous lawsuits and temporary
restraining orders filed against the parish, Taffaro has allowed homeowners
to sign construction agreements outlining repair schedules in exchange for
being taken off the demolition list. 

Since early March, more than 700 properties have been removed from the
parish's demolition list. 

Gorbaty said the letters were intended to gauge homeowners' interest in a
property swap if the parish is found liable. 

"Obviously if we're at fault it certainly would be advantageous to St.
Bernard Parish government if we were able to resolve it without having to
come up with money to pay these people," Gorbaty said. "We're throwing that
out there to see if there's any interest, and if there is we'll pursue it
further." 

The parish has not received any responses yet from the questionnaires.
Gorbaty said he may send out more letters if he, Taffaro or others in the
administration receive more calls from homeowners accusing the parish of
wrongly demolishing their homes. 

Although these letters targeted homeowners not in the lawsuits, Gorbaty said
he had spoken to at least one plaintiffs' attorney whose client would be
interested in a settlement that involved a new lot or home in the parish. He
would not name the attorney, but did say the parish might consider the Road
Home lot option as a settlement in the other cases. 

"If there's interest there, we'll evaluate that, too," he said.