[StBernard] Public hearing set Wednesday on St. Bernard Parish comprehensive plan

[Westley Annis]

Public hearing set Wednesday on St. Bernard Parish comprehensive plan
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on July 08, 2014 at 1:38 PM, updated July 08, 2014 at 3:17 PM


A public hearing on St. Bernard Parish's first ever master plan for
development is set for Wednesday evening, with planners expected to
incorporate some of the public comments into the draft plan before it
becomes final.

Released on June 6, the draft plan presents a guide for the parish's future
development. It often focuses on attracting more middle- to upper-income
residents, as well as bringing in businesses and jobs.

The public hearing is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday during a special Planning
Commission meeting in the Parish Council Chambers, 8201 W. Judge Perez Dr.,
in Chalmette.

At the June 17 council meeting, Councilman Ray Lauga said that while he
agreed with "a lot of the policies and decisions" in the recently-released
draft plan, he was "worried about implementing all this and turning them
into policies."

Michael Albert, the parish's director of community development, invited the
councilmen to come to his office to discuss the matter further and said of
Lauga's inquiry, "that is exactly the types of comments that we are looking
for right now."

Albert reiterated that the plan presently is just a draft and therefore
still can be altered based on council suggestions and any suggestions by
residents.

In terms of how practical and applicable the plan is, and how it would be
used moving forward, Albert has pointed to several sets of "actionable
items" in the plan.

"Within the plan there are a series goals, policies, and actions, usually
towards the end of each chapter," Albert wrote in response to NOLA.com | The
Times-Picayune questions after its release last month. "These are the things
that the plan takes up as measures of progress or growth.

(See topic-by-topic links to the draft plan at the bottom of this story.)

"The other side to the actionable items in the plan are a series of maps
comparing current growth patterns and future desired growth patterns,"
Albert said. "The Future Land Use Map guides growth and redevelopment by
managing the rezoning process in a predictable way."

Albert wrote that the plan "sets forth a responsible set of policy
objectives that aim to improve quality of life for Parish residents."

"These objectives are well within the capacity of Parish government and
going forward the plan will be used as a growth management tool," Albert
continued. "From zoning decisions, to parks and trails, housing, and
economic development; the plan offers options to Parish residents in guiding
their future." 

In the comment stream below, ask any further questions and NOLA.com | The
Times-Picayune will follow up with Albert to get some additional answers.

Paid for with about $400,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant
funds, the plan is a vision of a possible future based in part on comments
gathered during previous public hearings, discussions with community
leaders, and by reviewing U.S. Census and other data.

It is being spearheaded by Winston Associates of Boulder, Colo., and czb LLC
of Alexandria, Va., with Donald Poland Consulting of Hartford, Conn.,
providing additional planning services, and James Richardson, the director
of Louisiana State University's Public Administration Institute, advising
the team on economic development issues.

"As national planning firms descended on the parish, residents quickly
rejected the seemingly foreign and unfeeling suggestions about how to
rebuild their homes and lives," the plan states. "Now, looking back, this
extremely resilient group can see that, although some of the proposed
approaches to restore life in the parish may have led to an increased level
and speed of ultimate recovery, some valuable opportunities were missed."

Now to create a stronger housing market, St. Bernard "has to want to compete
for two key groups in the region: middle and professional class families,
and upwardly mobile low to moderate income families, both of whom will make
important cultural and economic contributions to a newly rebranded St.
Bernard Parish."

In order to accomplish that, the plan mainly focuses on improving parish's
"quality-of-life amenities" and getting away from the "scattered
resettlement patterns, with many blocks only partially filled with homes."
The plan instead urges focusing on redevelopment specific, centralized
areas.

To read more of our coverage on the master plan, click here.

Copies of the draft plan are available for review in the Parish Government
Building and at the parish public library. Or, below are links to view and
download the various sections of the plan:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/07/public_hearing_set_on_st_bern
a.html

Cover and Table of Contents
Introduction
Baseline and the Plan on a Page
Natural Environment
Storm Water
Fair Housing
Land Use
Transportation
Cultural and Historic Resources and Tourism
Community Appearance
Parks and Recreation
Community Infrastructure
Economic Development
Appendices