[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish residents vote Saturday on alternative futures for their parish

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish residents vote Saturday on alternative futures for their
parish

St. Bernard Parish residents attend planning meeting on Saturday at Ninth
Grade Academy in Chalmette. (Photo by Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com |
Times-Picayune)
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on March 09, 2013 at 1:40 PM, updated March 09, 2013 at 11:05 PM Print

Clickers in hand, St. Bernard Parish residents voted Saturday (March 9) on
improvements they'd like to see in their parish. The public meeting during
which the votes were recorded was the second, and possibly last, before
consultants prepare a draft comprehensive master plan that essentially is a
vision, a blueprint for the parish's future more than seven years after the
devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

While about 200 people came to the first public meeting December, only about
40 residents attended Saturday's session in Chalmette. That meant each
participant represented about 1,000 residents of the roughly 40,000-person
parish.

The group on Saturday voted that it would like to see the parish move from
one that is filled more with working and lower-income families to one made
up of more working and middle-class families. Residents on hand stated
they'd like more shopping and dining choices, fewer chain stores, and would
like to beautify neighborhoods.

Charles Buki, founder of Alexandria, Va.-based czb LLC, a consulting group
for the parish, described St. Bernard as "a very, very proud parish with
real history, a phenomenal place to raise a family."

But Buki, who is handling strategy and analysis for the planning process,
said, "on the other side of the coin, there was a lot of anxiety expressed
to us that change is afoot, has been afoot, and that things don't quite feel
right."

"'I'm not sure who is living next door to me anymore,'" Buki described as a
typical sentiment. "'My folks didn't worry about my brothers and me playing
ball until all hours of the night on a summer evening, but I'm not sure that
I'd allow my kids to do the same because I don't know anymore who lives down
the block from me.'"

In terms of retail, he said the general sentiment has been, '"We don't have
the stores we want and the stores we have aren't what we want.'"

Jeff Winston of Boulder, Co.-based MIG/Winston Associates, who is
spearheading the study with the various subcontractors, said parish
residents also gave housing, property value, and property appearance
negative assessments.

Typically, the 40 attendees  said they were willing to work hard to
accomplish the goals, but, still, how representative the Saturday crowd was
and whether residents really are willing to pay more in taxes to help make
that happen, remains to be seen. Buki made clear, though, that it's not just
taxes, its also attitude - how the community works together to prevent
blight, crime and keep the schools strong.

Winston said in 8 to 10 weeks that the consultants will have a draft plan
that they will present to the parish Planning Commission. The Planning
Commission will hold additional public hearings on that draft plan before
formally adopting it.

The planning process is expected to wrap up in September.

For more information on the comprehensive planning process, click here, or
visit www.StBernardParishCompPlan.com. People also can direct questions to
Candace Watkins, the parish's community development director, at
504.278.4310 or 504.355.4427.