[StBernard] FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS ST. BERNARD PRESIDENT CRAIG TAFFARO TO RESCIND CEASE AND DESIST ORDER THAT STOPPED CONSTRUCTION OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES FRIDAY OR FACE DAILY FINES OF UP TO $50, 000

[Westley Annis]

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS  ST. BERNARD PRESIDENT CRAIG TAFFARO TO RESCIND CEASE AND DESIST ORDER THAT STOPPED CONSTRUCTION OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES FRIDAY OR  FACE DAILY FINES OF UP TO $50,000

 

Federal Judge Ginger Berrigan – within four hours of St. Bernard President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. issuing a Cease and Desist order on Friday notifying all contractors that they were working without permits on the four apartment complexes – has ordered the parish to “purge itself” of contempt by Saturday at 5 p.m. or begin facing fines of $25,000 a day until April 12, at which time the fines will be increased to $50,000 a day. St. Bernard Parish Government asked Judge Berrigan a week ago for an emergency injunction for her to set aside her order prohibiting the parish from stopping the work, but no hearing has been held on that question.

 

Shortly after 1 p.m. on Friday, Taffaro issued Cease and Desist orders to the contractors and subcontractors working on the four apartment complexes being built by Provident Realty in Chalmette. The orders said they had to stop working because they don’t have proper parish permits.

 

“I have attempted to work within the judicial parameters, but St. Bernard Parish has continued to find itself without protective due process,” President Taffaro said when he issued the order mid-day. “The permitting process by local and state law is clear, and my decision to issue a Cease and Desist is in line with the enforcement of that process. A week ago, we filed for an emergency injunction which was denied pending a hearing set for today, April 8, in state court. That hearing was cancelled due to a legal maneuver filed by Provident in furtherance of what I believe to be a strategic approach to delaying St. Bernard Parish’s right to be heard long enough that the construction of these developments reaches a point of no return.”

 

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