[StBernard] Lawsuit delays Lot Next Door plans in St. Bernard Parish

[Westley Annis]

Lawsuit delays Lot Next Door plans in St. Bernard Parish
Published: Monday, October 11, 2010, 6:00 AM     
Updated: Monday, October 11, 2010, 7:01 AM
 Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
 
The Lot Next Door program in St. Bernard Parish has been one of the most
anticipated neighborhood renewal programs since Hurricane Katrina, a plan to
shift more than 4,000 vacant lots sold to the state's Road Home program back
to nearby private owners.

But as anxious homeowners await word on purchase agreements and acts of
sale, a pilot program in which Parish Council members nominated certain
residents to move to the front of the line to test out the real estate
transfers has sparked a lawsuit challenging the way the program is being
run. 

David Jarrell, a Chalmette attorney who owns a lot on Birch Street in
Meraux, has sued the parish over its choice of a nearby neighbor to get
first crack at the lot next door to his. The lot went to Judith Buffone, the
ex-wife of Parish Council Chairman Wayne Landry, even though it is not next
door to Buffone's house. The lot in question is behind her home and on a
different block.

According to parish rules governing the program, property owners behind a
Road Home lot have the chance to purchase it only if owners of adjacent
homes aren't interested. The goal is to preserve the appearance of
neighborhoods and prevent oddly configured streetscapes, where front yards
are right next to backyard fences.

"It's hard to understand how it's the Lot Next Door program when she's down
the street and around the corner," Jarrell said. "It's a complete deviation
from the rules."

Jarrell, who works for prominent St. Bernard attorney Sidney Torres III,
said he was never notified by letter that the property next door to him was
available for purchase. He owns several  other properties throughout St.
Bernard, and said he received notice that adjacent Road Home lots were
available in every other case.

An essential component of St. Bernard Parish's post-Katrina redevelopment,
the Lot Next Door program is the first step in absorbing more than 4,000
vacant Road Home buyout lots scattered throughout the parish.

Adjacent property owners get first crack at buying the lots. If there is a
house on the current lot, a property owner isn't allowed to build a new
house on the lot next door purchased from the state, only expand the yard or
add a room or garage. The program is administered by the Housing,
Redevelopment and Quality of Life Commission, which is made up of the seven
Parish Council members, Parish President Craig Taffaro and St. Bernard
Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy James Pohlmann.

The commission held two meetings on the dispute between Jarrell and Buffone
in July and August, when members eventually voted to sell the lot to
Buffone, prompting Jarrell to question whether Landry had steered it to his
ex-wife. 

Landry said he doesn't understand why Jarrell is raising questions about his
influence in the process. He said he rarely speaks to his ex-wife and
doesn't remember whether he selected her to be in the pilot program.

"Obviously the guy is bitter, but don't throw personal attacks at somebody
because they may have been related to someone 15 years ago or something,"
Landry said. "I couldn't care less what he gets or doesn't get, what she
gets or doesn't get. I don't have a dog in the hunt."

Buffone could not be reached for comment.

Name was on the list

Taffaro said Buffone's name had already been on the parish's list because
she had called Clay Cosse, the parish's housing and redevelopment director,
expressing interest in buying the lot. Taffaro said Landry did not object to
Buffone's property being included in the pilot.

Jarrell said he too had been repeatedly asking Cosse about the Road Home
property since 2008. Cosse declined to comment, saying that all public
information about St. Bernard Parish government has to go through Taffaro.
Another notable St. Bernard Parish resident on the pilot program list is
state District Judge Jacques Sanborn.

Sanborn's name appears on the list as being selected by Cosse and Parish
Councilman Frank Auderer. Auderer said he is a friend of Sanborn but did not
pick him for the pilot list, and instead deferred the choice to Taffaro's
administration. 

"I believe that is a role of the administration," Auderer said. "I wouldn't
want to hand-pick anybody."

Taffaro, in an e-mail message, said Sanborn was included because he had
shown "persistent interest'' in the property.

Sanborn said he wasn't aware of the pilot program, and noted that he is
still waiting to buy the lot. There are no other adjacent property owners in
his neighborhood laying claim to the vacant lot next door. Sanborn said he
probably was on the list because he had repeatedly inquired about the lot
with Cosse.

"It's certainly not because of favoritism," Sanborn said. "It might be
persistence."

Because of various bureaucratic delays getting the program off the ground,
only 21 Lot Next Door properties have closed. Aside from the Buffone
property, which is in limbo because of Jarrell's lawsuit, only two other
properties on the pilot list have gone through so far.

Change in computer log

According to documents subpoenaed by Jarrell from the parish's Lot Next Door
contractor, Global Risk Solutions, the log for Buffone's property shows that
someone went into the computer system in June 2009 to change the property
designation from "not next door" to "next door," meaning it would be
considered in the top tier of property transfers.

The computer log for Jarrell's property shows very few updates until June,
when he began raising questions with the parish.

Landry said Buffone's property was a good pick for the pilot program because
it is a rear lot on an oddly configured block, which could be a good test
for more unusual cases that might come up over time. He also pointed out
that he was not present for the final vote on the matter at the commission's
August meeting to avoid any conflict of interest.

"I purposely did not participate in that meeting because I didn't even want
the perception of impropriety," Landry said. "That's what I did. I took the
high road."

Regardless of who was involved, Landry said he would be philosophically
opposed to giving the lot next door to someone like Jarrell -- an investor
who doesn't live on Birch Street -- over someone like Buffone, who is a
homestead-exempt resident. "I don't believe we should go into a long-term
neighborhood with a long-term resident who committed to come back after the
storm and instead sell that property, when there's a choice to be made, to
an investor who can put a rental property in its place," Landry said.

However, the parish's Lot Next Door rules do not differentiate between
investors and homeowners, and do not deal with the intentions of property
owners. The rules state that adjacent property owners, regardless of whether
they have a homestead exemption, have primacy over rear homeowners.

The state had to agree in principle to St. Bernard's Lot Next Door program,
but the parish created a tier system afterward that laid out which owners
would get the first shot at buying the lots.

Another councilman on the Housing and Redevelopment Commission agreed with
Landry's assessment. 

"We wanted to be able to reward those people for basically being pioneers
and coming back," said Parish Councilman Mike Ginart. "When I looked at it,
I said, '(Jarrell's) not a tax-exempt homeowner there. He didn't come back
and rebuild on that property. He bought the property considerably after the
storm.' ... I felt that she was the tax-exempt homeowner, and to me that
made the difference."

But Parish Councilman Ray Lauga, the only member of the commission to vote
against the transfer to Buffone, agreed with Jarrell that his property was
next door to the open Road Home lot and rightfully should get first crack at
it.

"It's the lot next door, and there's one lot next to it. It's a no-brainer,"
Lauga said. "It's totally against the way we're trying to lay out things and
do a better planned community. You're going to all of a sudden give
preference to rear lots?"

Who gets the first crack at Lot Next Door properties?
First tier: Owners of domiciled and homestead-exempt homes that are directly
adjacent to the Road Home lot get the first shot. If both homestead-exempt
owners want the lot between them, it will be split. 

Second tier: Non-homestead-exempt property owners can buy the lot next door
if a homestead-exempt owner doesn't want it, or agrees to split it. 

Third tier: Non-homestead-exempt property owners next door to a Road Home
lot have the chance to buy it. If both want the lot between them, it will be
split. 

Fourth tier: Homestead-exempt property owners to the rear of the Road Home
lot have the chance to buy it.