Request to demolish St. Charles Avenue mansion splits city committee

 Posted by at 2:30 am  blight and demolition, city government, neighborhood groups, politics
Oct 042011
 

5428 St. Charles Avenue (photo by Preservation Resource Center)

A plan to tear down a mansion on St. Charles Avenue designed by one of New Orleans’ most celebrated architects to make room for a new single-family home in its place must be decided by the City Council, after the committee that oversees demolition requests cast a split vote over the issue Monday.

Homeowner Jeff Goldring and his supporters touted the agreements they had reached with two neighborhood associations, the St. Charles Avenue Association and Hurstville, as well as the national reputation of their Covington-based architect, Ken Tate. Opponents countered that the architecture of the existing building is already significant, and that the family should not be able to tear the home down simply because they want something different there.

The Neighborhood Conservation District Committee’s vote was 6 to 5 in favor of allowing the demolition, falling one vote short of the seven needed for approval and sending the project to the City Council. Continue reading »

Newman strives toward accord with neighbors concerned about expansion

 Posted by at 8:13 am  city government, neighborhood groups, schools
Aug 312011
 

The site plan for the additions to the Isidore Newman School.

The Isidore Newman School is working on additional restrictions to its expansion plans in order to address the concerns of its neighbors, the school attorney told members of the surrounding neighborhoods Tuesday night.

The school is asking for land-use changes on three sides of its campus. An early-childhood center is planned across Loyola Avenue, a home on the corner of Jefferson and Danneel is being renovated for a headmaster’s house, and the old AutoPaint building at Danneel and Robert, currently used for storage, could one day become a classroom facility of some kind, said attorney Justin Schmidt. Continue reading »

Water pressure to drop Saturday along Camp and Magazine around Jefferson

 Posted by at 11:52 am  city government, neighborhood groups
Aug 122011
 

Areas highlighted in red will experience low water pressure Saturday.

Repairs to a fire hydrant and valves on a water main will cause low water pressure from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the area along Camp and Magazine streets around Jefferson Avenue, according to the Sewerage and Water Board. Continue reading »

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Newman School’s expansion plans draw mixed reaction from neighbors

 Posted by at 10:33 pm  city government, neighborhood groups, schools
Jul 192011
 

The site plan for the additions to the Isidore Newman School's zoning. The orange buildings at the top represent the new early childhood center; the headmaster's house is at the bottom left and the Auto Paint building is at the bottom right.

The Isidore Newman School’s plan to incorporate two historic homes on Loyola Street into its new early childhood education center won praise from neighbors Tuesday night, but the broader zoning changes to property around the campus caused some concern.

Newman has applied for a number of land-use changes around its campus, but its only immediate plans are to build the early-childhood center and to use a house on the corner of Danneel and Jefferson for the headmaster’s home, school officials said Tuesday at a meeting with about two dozen neighbors. Several other buildings the school owns — including, most notably, the former Auto-Painting building at Dufossat and Danneel will be rezoned for “school use” to unify the land use across the campus, said school attorney Justin Schmidt. Continue reading »

Design for new Walgreens on Magazine moving in a more historical direction

 Posted by at 5:21 pm  business, events, neighborhood groups
Jul 122011
 

This design, labeled "Option 3," represents the direction that developers said they are heading for the new Walgreens on Magazine.

Developers of a new Walgreens proposed for the old American Legion Hall on Magazine Street presented three renovation designs concepts to a crowd of Uptown residents Tuesday evening, saying that they are moving away from the more modern storefront design that initially bothered some neighbors. Continue reading »

Little or no changes proposed for Uptown under City Council redistricting maps

 Posted by at 11:35 am  city government, elections, neighborhood groups, politics
Jun 202011
 

Current City Council district lines in Uptown New Orleans.

Most of Uptown New Orleans appears likely to avoid a political tug-of-war over redrawing City Council boundaries, though one proposal would change the representation for a handful of neighborhoods along Jefferson Avenue.

Of the five proposed redistricting plans unveiled this weekend, four show no changes to representation Uptown whatsoever, and one slides six voting precincts along Jefferson Avenue from Councilwoman Susan Guidry’s District A into Councilwoman Stacy Head’s District B. Continue reading »

Uptown neighborhoods seek meeting with Serpas over changes proposed to NOPD off-duty work

 Posted by at 9:00 pm  city government, crime, neighborhood groups, public safety
Jun 012011
 

NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas responds to concerns raised by Uptown neighborhood associations over coming changes to the city's paid detail system. (via WWL-TV)

Leaders of three neighborhoods representing thousands of Uptown New Orleans homes worry that upcoming changes intended to reduce corruption in police overtime work will weaken the protection they receive from off-duty officers, and are requesting a meeting with NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas to discuss the reforms. Continue reading »

Coyote eludes capture in Hurstville neighborhood

 Posted by at 11:59 pm  neighborhood groups, public safety
Apr 042011
 

Capt. James Baldassaro of New Orleans Private Patrol checks a house during rounds in the Upper Hurstville neighborhood in this Sept. 12, 2010, file photo. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)

An officer with New Orleans Private Patrol chased a coyote through the stately streets surrounding Audubon Park last weekend, prompting a warning to area residents to watch their pets. Continue reading »

Design questions dominate town hall with developers of possible Walgreens on Magazine

 Posted by at 6:42 pm  business, city government, events, neighborhood groups, politics, recovery
Mar 162011
 

With developers insisting that Walgreens is the most likely tenant of an multi-million dollar proposed renovation of the old American Legion buildling on Magazine Street, many of the nearly 200 people at a Wednesday-night town hall on the project focused their questions on the planned design of its modern, glass-wall facade and large rear parking lot and drive-through. Continue reading »

Neighborhood eyes possible problems with zoning for proposed Walgreens

 Posted by at 6:51 pm  business, city government, neighborhood groups, politics
Mar 012011
 

The American Legion building on Magazine Street. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)

Zoning on Magazine Street may not be as accommodating to a Walgreens pharmacy as was originally assumed, members of the adjacent neighborhood association said Tuesday evening as they began preliminary discussions of the proposed development.

The old American Legion in the 5500 block of Magazine is zoned B-2, which allows for a variety of general retail uses, said Peggy Adams, an attorney on the board of the Audubon-Riverside Neighborhood Association. Although B-2 does not specifically prohibit drug stores, pharmacies with drive-through lanes are specifically mentioned in a separate section of the city zoning code, C-1A. And in some cases, Adams said, the fact that one type of development is specifically mentioned in a certain zoning has been used to preclude it in other zonings. Continue reading »

Walgreens purchase, renovation of American Legion to cost $5.8 million, developer tells neighborhoods

 Posted by at 11:12 pm  business, city government, neighborhood groups
Feb 202011
 

Interior of American Legion hall on Magazine Street (via Upper Hurstville Neighborhood Association)

The purchase and renovation of the old American Legion building on Magazine Street will cost nearly $6 million, requiring a tenant that can pay approximately $600,000 per year for the lease, the developer eying the property for a possible Walgreens told neighborhood leaders on Friday.

Stirling Properties plans to replace the brick facade with a glass wall, preserve some of the American Legion features inside the building and add a drive-through to the 40-space parking lot in the rear. Although the commercial zoning would allow the store to stay open 24 hours and sell alcohol, current plans are to do neither, closing instead at 10 p.m., the representatives of three neighborhoods surrounding the site wrote in a letter to members Sunday evening.

The neighborhood leaders recommended the developer call a meeting with the public to discuss the project, the letter says, but no date has been announced.

Read the full letter below: Continue reading »

Limited changes planned for controversial Pilates studio on Magazine (live coverage)

 Posted by at 6:28 pm  business, city government, events, neighborhood groups, politics
Jan 242011
 

A controversial Pilates studio will lower its Magazine Street facade and provide a handful of additional parking spaces in a nearby lot during peak hours, but those concessions were voluntary and all that upset neighbors can expect, city officials told a crowd of more than 100 people Monday evening. Continue reading »

Pilates studio construction resumes amid design, parking negotiations

 Posted by at 12:13 am  business, city government, neighborhood groups, state government
Jan 112011
 

An Uptown Pilates studio has been allowed to resume construction on its controversial new Magazine Street building even as it continues negotiating with the city over its final design and parking requirements.

A packed meeting of the Audubon-Riverside Neighborhood Association attended by city officials and representatives of Romney Pilates led residents upset about the studio’s impact on the neighborhood to conclude that there is little they can do other than strive for better notification about similar projects in the future. Continue reading »

Tonight’s community meeting about Romney Pilates construction postponed

 Posted by at 10:09 am  business, city government, neighborhood groups
Dec 222010
 

A new studio for Romney Pilates is under construction on Magazine Street. (Photo by Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)

A meeting of Magazine Street-area neighbors concerned about the construction of a new Pilates studio has been postponed temporarily, an organizer said Wednesday morning.

Continue reading »

Two new members elected to Hurstville Neighborhood Improvement District board

 Posted by at 10:38 pm  neighborhood groups
Dec 092010
 

The five-member board of the Hurstville Neighborhood Improvement District filled two vacancies at its annual meeting Thursday night.

Marshall Page and Dennis Brady will replace outgoing members Arthur Huguley and Emily Arata, based on the unanimous vote of the members present. Remaining on the board will be president Louis Gertler, Bridget Bories and Mary Margaret Gorman.

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Hurstville Security District boosts patrol spending

 Posted by at 12:37 am  city government, crime, neighborhood groups, public safety
Oct 282010
 

More off-duty police officers will be patrolling the streets of the Hurstville neighborhood after a vote Wednesday night by the security district to boost the amount of money going to patrols.

By a 6-0 vote, the board of the Hurstville Security District voted for a $20,000 increase in the patrol budget, raising it from $195,000 to $215,000 in the coming year. The additional money will not be allocated to any specific new type of patrol, but rather simply to deploy additional manpower as the off-duty officers see fit. Continue reading »

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Garden District: Neighborhood district councils would only be “more bureaucracy”

 Posted by at 8:31 am  city government
Sep 152010
 

A plan to create formal councils of neighborhood groups to increase citizen participation in city government would only “many more layers of bureaucracy” and should be scrapped, according to a letter from the Garden District Association published by The Lens.

The letter suggesting changes to the Citizen Participation Project was written by Shelley Landrieu, director of the Garden District group but also a leader of the Baronne Street Neighborhood Association and Audubon Area Zoning Association. Instead of new councils based on city planning districts, the Garden District would prefer more formalized opportunities for neighborhood association input within the city’s existing policy-making process.

The director of the group that drafted the plan told Karen Gadbois of The Lens that the Garden District had drawn “inaccurate conclusions.”

The letter was copied to numerous other neighborhood groups, including many in the Uptown: the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association, the Touro Bouligny Association, the Baronne Street Neighborhood Association, the St. Charles Avenue Association, the Audubon Area Zoning Association, the Upper Hurstville Association, the Audubon Riverside Neighborhood Association, the Hurstville Neighborhood Improvement Association, the Freret Business and Property Owners Association and the Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association.