Mid-City Neighborhood Organization

MCNO recently became aware that there is a Temporary Alcohol Beverage Outlet (ABO) Moratorium and Special Event permit moratorium proposed for the portion of Mid-City bounded by Cleveland Avenue, Bienville Avenue, Saint Patrick Street and City Park Avenue. Apparently, the ordinance was read in at the December 18th council meeting and was planned to go for Final Passage (which includes public discussion) at Thursday’s meeting.

The text of the ordinance in its entirety is below.

Once MCNO became aware of the Ordinance, we requested that Councilmember Midura defer it to the next Council meeting (January 22) and she agreed. The purpose of the deferral is so that the MCNO Board can understand the scope and impact of the proposed ordinance and take a position on the issue. With less than 48 hours notice, it would be impossible for the Board to make an educated decision that includes the input of affected residents, businesses and property owners.

MCNO will host a public meeting for Mid-City residents, business owners and property owners affected by this proposal. The meeting will be Wednesday January 14th at 6:30pm at Grace Episcopal Church (3700 Canal Street).

Between now and then, MCNO will try to compile some more information about the current zoning & use of the parcels in question and post it here. We are also working to communicate with Neighborhood organizations in other areas of the city where such moratorium’s are already in place to determine pros & cons from their viewpoint.

The key question that the MCNO board must consider is whether the benefits of the proposed ABO/Special Event permit moratorium outweigh costs/risks, and if justified, what is the appropriate boundaries for such a moratorium.

I regret that we didn’t have this information sooner, as we could have readily discussed it immediately following the main topic at Monday night’s Mid-City meeting, and avoided the time and effort required to set up a special meeting.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Weishaupt
President, MCNO

ORDINANCE
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS

CITY HALL:
December 18, 2008

CALENDAR NO:
27, 282

NO. __________MAYOR COUNCIL SERIES
BY: COUNCILMEMBER MIDURA
AN ORDINANCE to establish a temporary moratorium on the
issuance of permits relative to the establishment of bars, cocktail
lounges, package liquor stores, grocery stores, or restaurants and
the issuance or renewal special events permits and alcoholic
beverages permits to persons who do not hold a current valid
alcoholic beverage permit and are engaged in the commercial sale of
alcoholic beverage at the permitted premises on the effective date of
this ordinance; to provide that the moratorium shall apply to persons
seeking the issuances or renewal of alcoholic beverage permits for
premises located in the area bounded by City Park Avenue, Bienville
Avenue, St. Patrick Street, Cleveland Avenue and Cleveland Avenue’s
logical extension through the southern edge of the existing
cemeteries to City Park Avenue within City Council District A; and
otherwise to provide with respect thereto.
SECTION 1. THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS HEREBY
ORDAINS, that no person shall be permitted to any permit relative
special events and to the establishment of bars, cocktail lounges,
package liquor stores, grocery stores, or restaurants and that no
person shall be entitled to the issuance or renewal of any municipal
alcoholic beverage permit if such person does not both hold a current
valid alcoholic beverage permit and is also engaged in the commercial
sale of alcoholic beverage at the permitted premises on the effective
date of this ordinance. The provisions of this Section shall apply to
persons seeking the issuance of renewal special events and alcoholic
beverage permits for premises located in the area bounded by City
Park Avenue, Bienville Avenue, St. Patrick Avenue, Cleveland Avenue,
and Cleveland Avenue’s logical extension through the southern edge of
the existing cemeteries to City Park Avenue within City Council
District A.
SECTION 2. That the provisions of Section 1 shall remain in
effect for one (1) year or until the implementation of land use
measures by the City Planning Commission to effectuate the intent of
the temporary moratorium.
SECTION 3. Any party aggrieved by the provisions of this
ordinance may appeal to the City Council for a waiver of the
provisions hereof by submitting a written notice of intent to appeal
to the City Planning Commission accompanied by any site plans;
drawings or data, either written or graphic as deemed necessary by
the CPC staff, for review and recommendation. The City Planning
Commission must make a report of its recommendations to the City
Council within thirty (30) days of the receipt of request. This
appeal must be accompanied by appeal fees in accord with Section 118-
43 of the City Code. Upon receipt by the Council of the report of the
Director of the City Planning Commission, a public hearing shall be
held upon proper notice within thirty (30) days at a regular or
special meeting of the Council. After consideration of the report and
the information presented at the bearing, the Council may, by
ordinance; waive, the provisions of this ordinance with respect to
the party making the appeal following a determination by the Council
that the issuance of the requested permit would not either thwart the
purpose of ongoing review of zoning and land use controls in the said
area, or that the hours of operations and volume of operation arising
from the granting of the permit would not adversely impact the public
health, safety and welfare or persons in the neighborhoods in which
it is located. In connection with the consideration of any appeal,
the Council may grant a waiver conditioned upon provisos with respect
to hours of operation, parking, or include any other special
requirement designated to insure safety to persons and property,
minimize the impact of trash or refuse, or insure general
compatibility with other characteristic of the neighborhood by the
premise for which the permit is being sought. The provisos or special
requirements included in any such waiver shall be permanent provisos
attached to the subject permits or renewals thereof for the specific
premises and shall not expire with the transfer of ownership of the
business or property or with the subsequent enactment of land use
measures affecting the property, unless such provisos or requirements
are specifically repealed or modified through a subsequent ordinance
amending the ordinance granting and waiver.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Education, Meetings, Mid-City in the Media, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.