blight and demolition
Coliseum Square Association rethinks support for bed-and-breakfast on Constance
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Amid concerns that a bed-and-breakfast proposed for a historic Constance Street mansion would have too great an impact on its neighbors, the Coliseum Square Association decided Monday night to back off its previous support for the project and remain neutral on the issue while surveying members to get a broader opinion. Citing the need for additional income to help with ongoing renovations of the 1852 house built by noted New Orleans architect Henry Howard, homeowner Matt Ryan has proposed operating a bed-and-breakfast in several rooms inside the house. He originally conceived of four rooms — two in the house itself, and two in a side cottage that faces Euterpe — but has recently decided to make the side cottage a standard long-term rental after discovering city ordinances that place additional regulatory burdens on bed-and-breakfasts with more than two rooms, he said Monday. The Coliseum Square Association enthusiastically endorsed Ryan’s idea in an April meeting but decided to revisit the issue Monday night after a handful of neighbors voiced strong opinions against the project. Ryan gave the association board a petition of most of his immediate neighbors supporting the project, and several attended the meeting to speak on its behalf.