[StBernard] Citizens Rally at Civic Center Today 4:30pm

[Westley Annis]

It's difficult to address the issues of zoning and permits without being
associated with such comments.  These multi-unit developments highlight the
need for a change to the local permitting process, the zoning codes, and of
course public information and public input.
 
The hospital HSD spent thousands and thousands of public dollars for 1)
environmental assessment studies, including historical, 2) wetlands
assessment studies, wetlands permit, and wetlands mitigation, 3) FEMA
elevation survey or information, drainage studies and improvements, 4)
roadway infrastructure , etc etc
 
The rally was to draw attention to the seemingly preferential treatment
these Dallas developers have received.  
 
They were either allowed to simply skip these permitting steps, knew they
were skipping them and thought it would be better to quickly clear and fill
the sites during the night, or, perhaps more upsetting, they have been
allowed use of the HSD studies, and perhaps the HSD road work??  Maybe some
one can clarify how much of the hospital site work included work for these
adjacent developments? ------- SJK
 
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/02/new_st_bernard_hospital_site_
c.html