[StBernard] La Housing Finance Multi-Family Housing Committee to tour St. Bernard July 13: Public input at 5:15 p.m.

[Westley Annis]

LA Housing Finance Multi-Family Housing Committee To Tour St. Bernard July
13

Public invited to address panel Monday during meeting from 5:15-6 p.m.

 

As a result of a plea made by parish officials to the Louisiana Housing
Finance Committee's subcommittee on multi-family housing, a special visit to
and tour of St. Bernard Parish will take place on Monday, July 13, 2009.

 

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr., on behalf of the St.
Bernard Parish Government and Parish Council, requested the tour and has
established a tentative itinerary for July 13.  The group will tour the
parish to see first-hand some of the housing challenges facing the
recovering community that was the hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in August
of 2005.  The group will also have the opportunity to visit with community
and civic leaders and landlords before attending a public gathering at the
St. Bernard Parish Council Chambers scheduled for 5:15 p.m. and ending at 6
p.m.

 

Council members Wayne Landry, George Cavignac, and Fred Everhardt attended
the LHFA multi-family subcommittee meeting last month in Baton Rouge along
with President Taffaro after meeting with representatives of the group's tax
credit department.  The St. Bernard contingency requested that the
subcommittee make the trip to St. Bernard Parish in hopes of providing a
greater depth of understanding of the housing market challenges and
conditions that are specific to the recovering community.

 

The public is encouraged to attend the public portion of the tour and visit.
Any resident who would like to address the panel during the public meeting
should call 278-4227 to register to address the committee members.

 

The visit by the multi-family committee members comes as a result of ongoing
and growing opposition to four 72 unit low income housing units scheduled to
be placed in St. Bernard Parish, three in District A and one in District B.
A critical aspect of the developments includes the link between the
developments and the tax credits awarded to the Provident group which makes
the developments possible.  The developers of the apartment complexes have
challenged St. Bernard's stance in federal court and have been granted
support and some relief by Federal District Court Judge Ginger Berrigan.
Currently, the request for the re-subdivision of the land which will house
each of the four developments is under consideration by the St. Bernard
Parish Planning Commission.