business

Safeguard Storage wants to expand next door on Erato Street

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Safeguard Storage wants to add a three-story expansion next door to its five-story building on Erato Street, Lower Garden District neighbors learned Monday night. Safeguard has operated its five-story building at 919 Erato Street since 2007, and now wants to expand next door to 933 Erato Street, currently an armored car business. Safeguard’s owners met with a few nearby neighbors in early May, and they had some specific concerns about the propsed building’s facade and parking, owner Jim Goonan told the Lower Garden District Association on Monday night. Over the last month, architects have revised those plans, those updates were well received by the association. Some neighbors asked to use the most prominent corner, at Erato and Constance, as some sort of more attractive retail or office storefront, and the new design places the Safeguard offices at that spot.

city government

Faubourg Marengo neighbors seeking end to ‘noxious odor’ near the river

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Several residents in the Faubourg Marengo neighborhood say they’ve had to deal with a tar-like odor around – and sometimes within – their homes for several years, and their new City Councilman says he will try to find the cause of the smell. About 10 people from the small community between Magazine and Tchoupitoulas near Napoleon Avenue have banded together to examine the source of the reported foul odor. The group, unofficially led by Eric Eagan, met for the first time Wednesday evening. “I have noticed the posts (on NextDoor) and noticed I’m not alone, so it’s time to stop sitting back and time to start doing something about it,” Eagan said. “My instinct is to go about this slowly and deliberately.”

neighborhood groups

Coliseum Square Association announces new name: Lower Garden District Association

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In an attempt to broaden its reach within the neighborhood, the historic Coliseum Square Association has decided to begin using a new name: the Lower Garden District Association. The association was founded in 1972 as part of an effort to gain historic recognition for the area in order to literally save it from destruction by a planned Mississippi River bridge ramp that would have required demolition of much of the neighborhood. That history remained crucial to acknowledge for many of its founding families, even though the association’s work has grown to represent a much broader area since then, said Ryan Kropog, the association’s president. “The city wanted to put an onramp running right through the neighborhood, essentially right through Coliseum Square,” Kropog said. “”It was really more specific at that time to the Coliseum Square area.”

business

Coffee shop, retail development envisioned to replace former Shell station at State and Magazine

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A small retail development anchored by a corner coffee shop is the planned future of the vacant lot left by the demolition of the former Shell gas station at the corner of State and Magazine streets, developers told neighbors Wednesday night. The 7,500 square foot building would house two or three shops at most, likely with a coffee shop facing the corner, attorney Michael Sherman and developer Clay Cambre told the Audubon Riverside Neighborhood Association at their monthly meeting on Wednesday. “Everyone keeps saying ‘coffee,'” Sherman said. “We agree. That would be a great fit.”

business

Opposition swells against new Subway proposed for Magazine Street as City Council vote approaches

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The proposed new Subway sandwich shop in the corner unit of a strip mall on Magazine Street has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing battle over chain fast-food restaurants on the historic Uptown thoroughfare, with a broad array of neighborhood and civic activists organizing opposition as a vote by the City Council approaches. The new Subway is planned for 4637 Magazine Street, in the far-right corner of the same building near Valence Street that also houses next to a nail shop and laundromat, according to plans submitted to the city. The project will add a small porch area outside the Subway space, and will be operated by Amite Patel, who previously owned the Subway sandwich shop at 1116 Louisiana Avenue that was forced to close when the building was converted to a Walgreens, the application notes. Because it is a fast-food restaurant, the Subway needs a conditional-use permit from the city in order to open, and the request had its first hearing before the City Planning Commission on March 27. The commission voted 5-3 in favor of the request, but the issue drew opposition from a variety of nearby neighbors and civic activists.

Advertiser specials

Advertiser: Community Health Fair & Summer Camp at CCEC

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If every community member bought just one cup of coffee at Stella’s each month, that $1.50 per person would be enough to sustain the Community Commitment Education Center. The CCEC is founded on the premise of one neighbor helping another. Our primary goal is to connect the people of our community with the available resources: Community Advocacy, Communication/Literacy Skills, Social Skills Training, Emergency Financial Assistance. We’ll be keeping busy with a health fair this month and summer camp starting in June, so here are some ways people like you can get involved and support:

GiveNOLA Day is today! Every dollar donated will go toward keeping our free programming free.

community meetings

Uptown Triangle Neighborhood Association holds spring meeting

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The Uptown Triangle Neighborhood Association — which serves the area bounded by Broadway Street, St. Charles Avenue and the river — will hold its spring meeting tonight at the former Benjamin Banneker school, with both incoming City Councilman Joe Giarrusso III and retiring Councilwoman Susan Guidry expected to attend. The meeting will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the school, currently KIPP Believe Primary School, at 421 Burdette Street. In addition to Giarrusso and Guidry, NOPD Second District Commander Shaun Ferguson will also be speaking. More information about the Uptown Triangle Neighborhood Association can be found at their website.

city government

Carrollton neighborhood groups to discuss short-term rentals with Guidry, Giarrusso

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Both outgoing District A City Councilwoman Susan Guidry and incoming Councilman Joe Giarrusso III will meet with Carrollton residents tonight to discuss issues relating to short-term rentals. The event is being organized by the Carrollton Area Network, which includes members from the Maple Street area, the Carrollton-Riverbend, Central Carrollton, Northwest Carrollton, Hollygrove, Fontainebleau, Hollygrove-Dixon, Palm-air, Carrollton United and Mid-City. The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight (Monday, April 16) at St. Mary’s Dominican High School at 7701 Walmsley Avenue. Secured parking is available on Burdette Street behind the school.

events

Evans Park to host free outdoor “Jungle Book” screening, Family Fun Fest

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Evans Park is preparing for a busy pair of weekends, with a free outdoor screening of “The Jungle Book” this Friday, and the “Family Fun Fest” scheduled for the following weekend. “The Jungle Book” is part of the New Orleans Recreation Department “Movies in the Park” series, and will start at sunset, roughly between 6:15 and 6:45 p.m. Friday, April 13, at Evans Park, 5100 LaSalle Street. The rain site is Lyons Recreation Center on Louisiana Avenue. The following weekend, the Evans Playground Family Fun Fest will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 21,

“It will be a day of fun in the heart of the Freret Street Neighborhood,” according to the event announcement. “There will be special speakers, sporting events, vendor tables, and food provided by Celebrity Chef Chris Hayes from the Food Network.

business

Controversial Irish Channel ice cream shop rezoning rejected by City Council, sent back to City Planning

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A rezoning request to create an ice-cream shop on Louisiana Avenue in the Irish Channel was rejected by the City Council on Thurday after neighbors expressed worry the spot-zoning would permit a year-round AirBnB hub. Reginald Commodore, a 41-year-old engineer, is seeking to rezone the building at 940 Louisiana Avenue (the corner of Constance Street) from residential to neighborhood business in order to open an ice-cream parlor called “Love Kreme.” That could be accomplished by a conditional use within the current zoning, officials have said, but Commodore also wants to use the two apartments inside the building as short-term rentals, which requires the full rezoning. He has always rented out one of the apartments to help him pay off the mortgage, he said, but it is not always easy to keep occupied. More recently, he has listed it as a short-term rental, and has had more than 100 happy guests, he said. The City Planning Commission denied a full rezoning request in November, encouraging Commodore to reapply for the conditional use to open just the ice-cream shop.