The former Nam’s Grocery at 3039 General Taylor (photo via City of New Orleans)
After a lengthy day of public hearings on topics ranging from Taco Bell to strippers to fire stations, the proposed Four Generations Grocery and Eatery in Broadmoor received initial approval from the City Planning Commission — though its owners were urged to continue working with their neighbors.
The owner, Lucinda T. Williams, has renovated the vacant former Nam’s grocery at General Taylor and South Derbigny and will serve breakfast, po-boys and soul food, she told neighbors in a letter in October. Williams was ill on Tuesday and did not attend the meeting, but H.P. Mogilles represented her and said neighbors support the idea.
“They feel like it would be a heck of an asset to have a store in that immediate area,” Mogilles said.
The meeting was dominated by some confusion between neighbors and the owners over the intent of the new business. The City Planning Commission considers it a “retail good establishment,” which is primarily a retail grocery with on-site dining a secondary function.
Neighbors, however, said they had been led to believe it was a “90 percent” a dine-in restaurant, with a few items for sale on the side. They pointed to drawings of the interior with more tables for eating than shelves for retail, for example.
“It was discussed as mostly restaurant, some grocery component,” said Maggie Carroll of the Broadmoor Improvement Association.
Kim Davis, who lives across the street, said she was initially excited about the restaurant concept, but feels like the presentation now more resembles the other convenience stores around the neighborhood that generate trash and loitering.
“There is no need for another convenience store,” Davis said.
Mogilles said he left his meetings with the Broadmoor Improvement Association with the understanding that he had their support, and was surprised by their concerns on Tuesday since the proposal has not changed. Carroll replied that the association had supported working on a good-neighbor agreement with Four Generations, and that it was not yet complete.
City Planning Commissioners, however, noted that the “grocery” aspect of the store was clear in the business’s name. No plans for the store have included alcohol or tobacco sales, they noted, mitigating its impact on the neighborhood either way.
The commissioners briefly considered deferring the project so the good-neighbor agreement could be completed, but decided instead to leave that issue to the City Council to decide. The commission voted 7-1 in favor of the project, and Commission chair Kyle Wedberg urged Four Generations to continue working with its neighbors.
“They will be either your best customers or your worst opponents,” Wedberg said.
Meanwhile, the City Planning Commission heard three other Uptown land-use requests:
- The expansion of the Creole Gardens hotel into two adjacent buildings at 1407-1409 Prytania Street was approved.
- A request for alcohol sales at Rosa Mezcal restaurant at 1814 Magazine Street was approved.
- A multi-family residential project at 921 Race was postpone to give the city more time to consider the conditions preceding its demolition,
To read our live coverage of the meeting, see below.
