Neighborhood-wide meetings: first Monday of every month, 6:30 PM at Grace Church, 3700 Canal. More events.
URGENT – REMINDER – MID-CITY MASTER PLANNING SESSION TONIGHT!!!!
This is your chance to express your opinion regarding the proposed land uses in the District 4 portion of the Master Plan.
Jesuit High School, 4133 Banks St.
April 22, 2009
6pm to 9pm
Please pass this on to your neighbors, especially those who live in close proximity to Comiskey Park. It is important that residents & business owners provide input to the process.
WHAT: Community meeting to discuss upcoming streetscape enhancements.
WHERE: Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal St.
WHEN: January 28, 2009 6:30 p.m.
Boundaries:
Baudin Street (S. Clark Street to N. Jefferson Davis Parkway)
D’hemecourt Street (S. Clark Street to N. Jefferson Davis Parkway)
S. Clark Street (Tulane Avenue to Banks Street)
A streetscape is a public improvement project that will enhance the public area and trigger subsequent recovery and investment in surrounding neighborhoods. This development is designed to help create additional and continued private investment in the City’s key recovery areas. Streetscape projects enhance the area surrounding the actual roadway, but do not include roadway repair or reconstruction. Project options include improvements to sidewalks, walkways, bike paths, vehicular and pedestrian signalization and signage, landscaping and public art.
Below is the letter from Mayor Nagin extending an invitation:
Dear Resident,
I am inviting you and your neighbors to participate in the final steps of the streetscape process before construction begins in your neighborhood. Before I go on, I want to thank you for your input and patience in this historic recovery planning process. As you know, since Hurricane Katrina, I committed to the full recovery of our city and with your participation in the many planning meetings; it is because of you that we are making progress everyday. In May of 2008, we received the funding from the State to move forward with construction of neighborhood streetscapes. Therefore, on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, at 6:30 PM, at 3700 Canal St., we need you to finish this process so that we can break ground!
At this meeting, we will discuss the Tulane/Jeff Davis Streetscape project Baudin Street from S. Clark Street to N. Jefferson Davis Parkway, D’hemecourt Street from S. Clark Street to N. Jefferson Davis Parkway and S. Clark Street from Tulane Avenue to Banks Street. The project, which has a construction budget of approximately $300,000, is funded by Community Development Block Grants. The current scope of work for the facility is:
· Sidewalk, bikeway, driveway and other pedestrian surface walkway improvements
· Traffic and pedestrian signalization and signage
· Landscaping
· Lighting
· Public Art
· Pocket park improvements
· Minor utility modifications and improvementsFor this community meeting, we ask that you come prepared to give your ideas on the design of this project. We are allowing groups with specific plans to give a 10 minute presentation. If your group is interested in presenting, please call Lavon Wright at 504.658.8411 to have your group placed on the agenda. Any group not on the agenda will not be able to give a formal presentation. Please provide copies of all materials to give to the project team. Those community groups and residents that would like to provide input on the project, but do not have specific plans are also welcomed to participate. Each person or group will be given three minutes to voice their opinions following the formal presentations.
A streetscape is a public improvement that will enhance the public area and trigger subsequent recovery and investment in surrounding neighborhoods. This development is designed to help create additional and continued private investment in the City’s key recovery areas. The streetscape is designed to benefit the surrounding neighborhood residents, business owners and visitors by providing amenities that contribute to economic vitality. Streetscape projects enhance the area surrounding the actual roadway, but do not include roadway repair or reconstruction.
Representatives from Buchart Horn, Inc., the design firm hired by the City of New Orleans to work on this project, will be present to note all input on the design of this facility.
Please call Lavon Wright with any questions regarding this meeting. Thank you for your continued commitment to the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans.
Sincerely,
C. Ray Nagin
Mayor
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
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MCNO has been informed that the City of New Orleans is taking steps to prevent the New Year’s Eve Bonfire (typically in the 4200 Block of Orleans Avenue), due to the risk to public safety and violation of a number of City codes. An informational session will be jointly hosted by NOPD, NOFD, and Parks & Parkways on Monday December 22, 2008 at 6:30pm, at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street. The purpose of the session is to proactively inform residents and business owners about the City’s enforcement plans for the night of the event.
MCNO has questioned whether an engineered bonfire could receive a permit, and was told that City Code prevents any permit from being issued for an open burn on this neutral ground because of the proximity to homes. MCNO also questioned whether any permits for a block party, without a fire, might be issued. This is a possibility, should the organizers of the NYE event wish to pursue it through the normal permitting channels.
Attached is a flyer for the Informational Session. Please distribute this information to your Mid-City friends and neighbors. Also note that NOFD representatives will be distributing these flyers door-to-door for a 2-3 block radius around the event site starting tomorrow.
There will be a City of New Orleans Office of Recovery and Development public meeting with Mid-City community residents regarding the Tulane Ave. @ Jeff. Davis streetscape project. On Thursday December 11, 2008 at 6:30pm – 8:00pm at the First United Methodist Church, 3401 Canal Street (Canal at Jeff. Davis) Minister Shaun Davis, Pastor.
Lavon Wright klwright@cityofno.com is the scheduler of this meeting.
Please attend and advise your near neighbors of the public meeting.
The next Mid-City Security District meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, 11/17/2008 at 7:30 PM. The meeting will be at the new Old City Building Center at 341 N. Hennessey St. This meeting is open to the public and we encourage participation!
The agenda includes, but not limited to:
Best regards,
Angela E. Brenneke
Commissioner, Mid-City Security District
The Planning District 4 (Mid City) Round 1 Meeting for the new Master Plan will take place as scheduled. All residents should attend and speak their minds about their vision for New Orleans’ next 20 years. This is plan will be a working document, not a visionary but currently unrealistic description like so many previous plans have been since Katrina. It is incumbent upon every Mid City resident to plan NOW to attend!!!
When: Thursday, November 13, 2008 6:30 PM-8:30 PM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada).
Where: Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal St.
Those who do not speak their mind are denying themselves a voice.
We will hold the September neighborhood meeting on Monday Sept 8 at 6:30 pm as planned.
Please join us at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal street.
There is a change to tonight’s agenda!
The Veterans Administration has announced its consideration of the Lindy Boggs hospital site as an alternative site for the proposed VA Medical Center. The VA is hosting a public meeting next Monday August 11th at 7pm for this purpose.
MCNO will therefore postpone our main agenda item, Energy Costs, to allow sufficient time to educate our members and neighbors about the VA proposal and how it fits into the Mid-City Plan.
The agenda is now:
Agenda
1. Welcome
2. VA Consideration of Lindy Boggs Hospital as Alternative Site
3. Crime Update
4. Neighborhood Information Sharing
Update from MCNO Board Members on Progress of projects
Announcements of Night Out Against Crime events to be held Tuesday August 5th throughout Mid-City
Guy Fournier – Update on the New Orleans Faith Health Alliance Project
Linda Stone & Raymond Breaux of Global Green – Brief on Green Schools & the Build it Back Green program
The Zoning Committee of Mid-City Neighborhood Organization (MCNO) is holding a meeting on Monday, July 28th to consider a requested variance for the Office Building at 3400 Bienville (Bienville and N.
Jefferson Davis Pkwy) to:
1) Reduce the required off street parking from 17 to 14.
2) Reduce the required set back from 20 feet to 0 feet on the front
3) Reduce the required set back from 10 feet to 0 feet on the sides
4) Reduce the required set back from 10 feet to 5 feet in the rear
There is a sketch of the proposed building.
[click to enlarge]
More detailed plans will be available at the meeting.
The architects will present the plans for the building at the meeting. Neighbors are encouraged to attend and express their opinion.
The meeting is Monday, July 28th at 6:30 pm. Location is the Bayou Coffee House at 326 N Jeff Davis.
If you are unable to attend or if you want more information, you can leave a comment on this post.
For more information about what’s happening in your neighborhood, contact the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization at www.mcno.org or come to the monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month from 6:30-8:30 at Grace Episcopal Church at 3700 Canal St.
On July 7th at the neighborhood meeting, we will be debuting our housing recovery program, which targets property owners that have not returned with the aim of getting the house back into commerce through a variety of means.
We will be offering information (and asking help) on how you can improve the quality of life in your blocks.
A representative from Stacy Head’s office will be on hand to discuss the new code enforcement fining system, whereby people who do not remediate their properties can be fined and potentially lose their properties. We will also have some building and renovation-oriented companies on hand to provide information if you need it.
Not only are abandoned houses a problem for many of you, but so are owners who are rebuilding illegally and landlords who are renting to unsavory tenants. We will also have information on what you can do about that it was discussed at the last meeting, but we will also discuss it here.
On a separate note, we are surveying the entire of MCNO and identifying houses that have been abandoned as well as those that appear to have been renovated illegally or be in violation of zoning ordinances.
We need YOUR help to identify some of these properties early enough in the process that we can stop it. For example, were you aware that any property not renovated yet has now reverted to its original zoning? That means that if an historic double had been cut up into apartments without obtaining a zoning variance, the landlord cannot now legally come back and make it into a multi-plex again.
If you see this sort of activity going on, we need to know.
PLEASE ATTEND THE JULY 7TH NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING TO LEARN WHAT WE ARE DOING AND HOW YOU CAN HELP!
Spread the word to your neighbors, and bring written lists of the worst offenders in your block, whether it is blight, crime, or suspected illegal building or zoning activity, with brief explanations of the problem. Optionally, email them to housing@mcno.org.
Working together, we can rebuild ALL of Mid City to be the prime neighborhood it deserves to be.
Jennifer Farwell
Housing Chairman
Mid City Neighborhood Organization
Meeting Time and Place:
July 7, 6:30 pm, Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street
In advance of the Mid-City Neighborhood meeting November 5th which focused on education, we asked State Superintendent of Education Paul Vallas and Superintendent of the Recovery School District Paul Vallas and their staff to answer the following 10 questions. The following answers were put together by the “Two Pauls” and their staff. Overall I would say that the answers they provided show us that we have a long way to go for our community to have a strong voice in decision making regarding our neighborhood’s schools. But I do thank Paul Vallas for attending the meeting (Paul Pastorek couldn’t make it due to an earlier surgery), and I do thank them for their answers even if they aren’t all satisfactory.
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At our next community meeting we will focus on public education in Mid-City. Joining us will be State Superintendent of Education, Paul Pastorek, and Superintendent of the Recovery School District, Paul Vallas. We will also be joined by representatives of the various public schools in Mid-City: Dibert, Warren Easton, Esperanza (formerly Crossman), Langston Hughes Academy, and Pierre A. Capdau-UNO Early College High School (both at Thurgood Marshall).
Monday, November 5, 2007, 6:30 PM at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street
A neighborhood meeting will be held Saturday, Oct 27 at 12 noon at Bayou Coffeehouse (326 N Jeff Davis) to discuss a request for zoning variances at 118 S Jeff Davis.
Discovery Kids, Inc operates a daycare center at 128 S Jeff Davis. They are seeking to expand the facility to 118 S Jeff Davis. Four variances are being requested:
1. Allow a daycare center within 300 ft of an existing daycare center
2. Waive two of the three off-street parking spaces
3. Waive the requirement to enclose a front yard parking space
4. Waive the requirement for an on-site drop off zone
Because of the variances, this is also a conditional use. The City Planning Commission voted to disapprove the variances. One nearby neighbor opposed the variances at the CPC meeting. The matter is to be heard by the City Council on November 1st.
The MCNO Board voted to support the variances provided 13 conditions were met. Seven conditions were proposed by the City Planning Commission staff (#1-7); six additional conditions were proposed by MCNO
(#8-13).
1. Rear yard shade device to code
2. Play equipment located above a soft surface to code
3. Minimum 6 ft opaque fence around play area
4. Trash storage area enclosed with minimum 6 ft fence
5. Participation in a litter abatement program
6. Remove and landscape an 8×18 ft section of paving in front yard
7. Curbside drop off zone, subject to approval by DPW
8. The owner to lease two additional off-street parking spaces
9. The owner to provide an off-street drop off zone or provide van service
10. Hours of operation at one daycare center be limited
11. The owner cannot further expand daycare in the block
12. The owner cannot apply for any other conditional use in the block
13. The conditional use cannot transfer to a new owner/tenant
Discovery Kids agreed to all of the conditions. Since then, additional nearby neighbors have expressed opposition and asked MCNO to reconsider its support. MCNO and Councilmember Head are seeking neighborhood input on this matter.
MCNO Board Members Doug Pease and Brenda Napolitano will be facilitating the meeting.
If you are unable to attend, and have specific issues you would like to raise, please leave a comment.
The Mid-City Housing Committee is moving its monthly meeting to this Saturday, October 20, at Bayou Coffee House, located at 326 N. Jeff Davis Pkwy.
It’s a bit of a strategy meeting to prioritize and plan how Mid-City Neighborhood Organization should work, moving forward, to encourage the city to tear down more blighted homes and preserve more historic homes.
Also, what efforts we should consider regarding directing the rebuilding process, given that we are outside a Historic Districts Landmarks Commission, and what strategies might help get some of these homes out of the hands of uncaring owners and back into commerce.
At the meeting, we will also preview the Mid-City-specific housing database that gives us a snapshot of what historic homes are threatened — and what blighted ones are being addressed or ignored — for anyone’s perusal.
We welcome any and all input from all Mid-City neighbors on what they would like to see for the future of housing their neighborhood.
If you have ideas, we invite you to join us from 9:30am – 10:00am for the public comment period of the meeting. If nothing else, stop by, say hello, and give Bayou Coffee some business!
The next Mid-City neighborhood meeting is Monday August 6th, 6:30 – 8pm @ Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal St. The agenda is:
1. 1st & 3rd District Police Captains update on Crime
2. Update on 2007 Legislative Session from Dist 94 Rep Nick LoRusso
3. Presentation by 1st & 2nd District Tax Assessors on 2008 Tax Assessment process (we are awaiting confirmation from the Assessors)
4. Breakout Session – Small Groups work on Committee Issues.
The doors open at 6:15pm for informal networking.
Please join us!
The meeting with RTA to discuss the proposed Bus Transfer Facility on Canal Blvd HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED.
New Date and Time:
Thursday, August 2, 6:00 pm
City Park Garden Study Center
Victory Drive (near the Pavilion)
Directions: Enter from Wisner heading toward the museum. Circle the museum and take the street directly behind the museum – go straight. Take the first left (Victory Drive). First set of gates leads to the Pavilion, second set (across from the Tennis Court Parking lot) leads to the Garden Study Center.
Over 300 hamburgers and 100 hot dogs after things started, most neighbors who attended the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization BBQ on July 2 enjoyed a great evening of food, fun, and music.
The event, sponsored by MCNO, was free and open to Mid-City residents, attracting police and fireman, politicos, neighbors, and the occasional drop-in. A huge thanks go to those involved in the planning and coordination of the event, especially Dawn Loebig.
The BBQ took the place of the regular monthly meeting of MCNO. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 6 at Grace Episcopal Church.
Mid-City Neighborhood Organization will host a meeting with Dorsey Development on Thursday, July 5th at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street, 6:30p.
Everyone interested in hearing Dorsey’s plans for a self-storage in the Cemeteries is welcome to attend.
The lot in question is the vacant lot on the Lakeview side of City Park Avenue at Canal Boulevard, where a gas station was located about 10-15 years ago, next to Canal Blvd Automotive, on the same block of Canal Boulevard as McNulty’s, the Bulldog and Dolly’s Deli.
This is the second open meeting with Dorsey Development and Cemeteries’ residents, LCIA, MCNO and other residents of Mid-City and Lakeview. The concerns already voiced to Dorsey are: the need for a low-traffic business, keeping the area clean and trash-free, security and the building’s appearance and height.
The lot is zoned C-1 General Commercial. For an understanding of the zoning, here’s the link to the city’s web site.
On that web page, there’s a map of the intersection with the zoning overlay. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see a link “General Commercial”. Click that link.
(Yes it’s a lot to read and understand.)
Please share this meeting notice with your friends and neighbors who are not on these email lists.
This proposal has sparked a lot of emotion. We hope that the meeting will help answer everyone’s concerns.
The Mid-City Communications Committee is getting a boost in the form of an $11,000 grant from Mercy Corps. These funds will be dedicated to broadening the circle of inclusion within the Mid-City community. Remember, a healthy and safe community is one in which residents feel engaged. We will attempt to foster a sense of engagement through three projects:
The proposal is available as a PDF [68 KB].
We’d like to thank MCNO VP Jennifer Weishaupt for her assistance with the grant proposal, and of course a big thanks to Mercy Corps for investing in our neighborhood.
Now we need a few Mid-Citizens to step up and help implement. If you’re interested, please try to make the next meeting of the Communications Committee which is Monday May 21, 6:30 PM at Bayou Coffee House (326 N Jeff Davis Pkwy). If you can’t make the meeting but would like to help, please leave a comment.
