City is proposing zoning changes for Uptown commercial corridors

The city is proposing zoning changes for a few Uptown commercial corridors that would allow more housing in these areas.

The City Planning Commission discussed these and other potential amendments to the city Master Plan last week at a public meeting held at the International School of Louisiana.

The meeting was for Planning District 2, which includes Central City, the Lower Garden District, St. Thomas, the Irish Channel, the Garden District, Milan, Touro-Bouligny, East Riverside and the Hoffman Triangle. A few dozen residents showed up for the opportunity to see the proposed amendments in their district and provide feedback.

The Master Plan, a policy and planning document, is subject to regular revision. In 2008, New Orleans voters voted in favor of an amendment to the City Charter that development, zoning and zoning changes must be consistent with the Master Plan’s Future Land Use Map. As such, the City Charter says that the Master Plan must be amended regularly.

At the meeting in the Garden District, relatively few changes to the master plan were shown in District 2.

These proposed amendments include changing future land use of the corridor on South Claiborne from Louisiana Avenue to Gen. Pershing from general commercial use to mixed use (medium or high density), changing South Claiborne from Calliope to Washington Avenue from general commercial use to mixed use (medium or high density).

On Tchoupitoulas Street, the Walmart site and the Rouses site may be changed from commercial to mixed-use. The planners also discussed a swath of Broad Street and Earhart Boulevard from commercial to mixed-use medium or high density

One low-density residential area in the Hoffman Triangle, Galvez Street from Jackson Avenue to Toledano, could be changed to low-density mixed-use. changing the triangular 1400 block of South Gayoso from residential low-density to industrial.

These proposed changes to the land use guidance in the Master Plan do not automatically change the zoning of the properties that each plot encompasses; rather they alter what development is permissible to be “consistent with the master plan.” For example, in the cases of commercial areas changing to mixed-se, that could allow for housing developments in the future rather than solely commercial uses.

Despite the healthy showing from residents, one attendee lamented that they had limited notice about the meeting, and said that there should be information about the amendment process before the meeting, so that they could show up better prepared and informed prior to the presentation. There were limited comments and questions proffered at the meeting, which took place somewhat far from the sites where zoning amendments were proposed.