[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish needs new attitude on rentals: An editorial

[Westley Annis]

Ah...the oh-so-subtle pen of Jarvis deBerry at work.

JY





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	St. Bernard Parish needs new attitude on rentals: An editorial
	By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune
	January 14, 2010, 6:11AM
	The Department of Housing and Urban Development is investigating
complaints
	about St. Bernard Parish's post-Katrina rental permitting program,
and that
	scrutiny and the change it might bring are welcome.
	
	Parish officials have stubbornly defended the hurdles they erected
to
	renting property, saying their intent was to preserve St. Bernard's
high
	level of home ownership. But critics believe the real aim was to
prevent
	African-Americans from moving into the parish.
	
	The ordinance that the Parish Council adopted in 2006 initially
required
	council approval for leases to tenants who were not related by blood
to
	their landlords, lending credence to the criticism.
	
	The Parish Council dropped the blood- relative provision after the
Greater
	New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center sued in federal court. Now
that same
	group has filed formal complaints on behalf of several landlords who
say
	that they've encountered delays and subjective decision-making on
rental
	permits.
	
	Some homeowners also have been exploiting a provision of the law
that
	prevents more than two rental properties within 500 feet. Some
people have
	taken out permits not because they want to rent out their homes but
to
	prevent neighbors from doing so. The parish hasn't enforced a
provision of
	the law that requires proof that a property is being leased, an
omission
	that makes the strategy possible.
	
	But now, some council members say that they want significant
revisions or
	even a total overhaul of the law because they fear repercussions
from HUD,
	which oversees Community Development Block Grant money. The new law
would
	concentrate on landlord accountability instead of on density.
	
	"No one wants to be the champion of removing that ordinance,''
Councilman
	Wayne Landry said. "But at the end of the day it may be something
necessary
	for the larger good, which is not putting our recovery dollars at
risk.''
	
	Fair laws that are equitably enforced are also part of the larger
good, and
	it's too bad St. Bernard officials didn't see that sooner.