[StBernard] St. Bernard council holds meeting over proposed mixed-income development

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Wed Mar 2 08:09:14 EST 2011


St. Bernard council holds meeting over proposed mixed-income development

wwltv.com

Posted on March 1, 2011 at 10:33 PM

Scott Satchfield / Eyewitness News

ST. BERNARD, La. -- The St. Bernard Parish Council is focused once again on
a proposed development that may sit on protected wetlands.

Council members listened to opinions from people who live and work in the
area Tuesday night.

The debate over construction of these mixed-income homes is still very
heated, and Tuesday night a standing-room only crowd voiced concerns.

Those who are against the development wore red to show unity. Their
arguments are two fold -- that the development would hurt their property
values and what they believe are wetlands on the site.

Several days ago the Army Corps of Engineers agreed and identified a portion
of the site as wetlands. The corps then issued a cease and desist order,
stopping construction in that specific area.

Crops officials explained to the crowd Tuesday night where things stand,
while residents and parish leaders criticize the corps for not identifying
the area as wetlands when the issue first came up in 2008.

"Well here we are almost three years later, and there are identified
wetlands and there is a mitigation process that has to take place, and I
think the public as well as the local government has a right to understand
how that type of situation happened," said St. Bernard Parish President
Craig Taffaro.

"These red shirts represent the citizens of St. Bernard and their message
that they want to send to our officials tonight," said St. Bernard resident
Dana Arcement. "That message is 'stop.' That message is stop harming this
parish."

"Now at this time the developer has a choice. He can either choose to
restore the wetlands to the pre-construction status or apply for a permit,"
said corps spokesman Ricky Boyett. "If he chooses to apply for the permit,
we'll take it under a full, standard, army permit review, and if issued the
wetlands will have a mitigation plan that is commiserate with the wetlands
that were impacted."

The corps has to wait for the realtor, Provident Reality, to decide its next
move.







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