[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Council backs off on vote on apartments

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Council backs off on vote on apartments
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
November 03, 2009, 10:05PM
After pressure from federal housing officials and a pending lawsuit in
federal court, the St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday officially
rescinded an item on this month's special election ballot that would have
given voters the chance to permanently ban large apartment complexes in the
parish.


The move came on advice from the parish's lawyers, who last month told the
council that they believed the potential apartment ban would jeopardize
federal financing for recovery projects and hurt the parish's appeals of its
ongoing fair housing lawsuit.

The council proposed the voter referendum on future apartment complexes
after three defeats in federal court this year over its attempt to block
construction of four 72-unit mixed-income apartment buildings in Chalmette.
U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan sided with a local fair housing group
and a Dallas real estate company on the four apartment complexes, and the
parish eventually granted the building permits necessary for the developers,
Provident Realty Advisors, to begin construction.

The council's plan for the apartment referendum would not have applied to
the Provident developments, but was crafted to allow voters to ban any
future apartment complexes of more than six units. After the council called
for the election, the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center filed a
motion last month arguing that parish officials were again in contempt of
court.

The Parish Council unanimously voted to rescind the apartment ban from the
ballot Tuesday, except for Councilman George Cavignac, who was absent at the
time of the vote. There was no discussion during the meeting.

Afterward, there were some strong words from Parish Councilman Wayne Landry,
who said the only reason he voted to rescind the apartment ban was because
officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development had made it
clear to Parish President Craig Taffaro that the parish could risk losing
federal money for recovery projects if it continued to thwart multifamily
housing.

HUD controls both the low-income housing tax credits that are financing the
mixed-income apartment developments and the Community Development Block
Grant money that is being used to pay for projects such as a new hospital.

"I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize the CDBG money for that
hospital. Other than that, I would have been against this, because I think
the judge was wrong," Landry said after the meeting. "I think we should have
had the right to let the people decide what they want. We're losing our
rights as a government to govern. That's what's happening." 


Taffaro added after the meeting that, "We're not giving up our position.
We're trying to put ourselves in the best position for our appeal to be
successful."

Berrigan has put the housing group's request for a contempt order on hold,
anticipating the council's decision to remove the apartment proposal from
the ballot. Lawyers for the parish must notify her today of the council's
decision.

"The most important thing I think is that we need to get all this behind us
to move St. Bernard forward," Councilman Kenny Henderson said after the
meeting. "And I think that's what we're showing in repealing this.