The newsletter will no longer we printed and distributed to everyone in the neighborhood. In order to save on printing costs we will print copies for those who request them, but otherwise the Newsletter will be available on-line here.
Most recent issue: December, 2008 (pdf format)
Touro Bouligny Neighborhood News – December 2008
~James Smoak, TBNA President
Happenings in the neighborhood are going on, on in the area of the four corners as well as in the interior of our vibrant residential area.
First, a little history about some of the street names in our area for those who are new in the neighborhood and others who may not have seen the prior references. Part of Touro Bouligny was originally in the development of the Faubourg Bouligny in 1834. The surveyor Charles Zimple drew a plan for the Faubourg. The Jefferson Parish surveyor Pierre-Benjamin Buisson, who served as an officer in Napoleon’s army, is credited with naming the streets which are named for cities with connections to the French emperor. Originally, the Faubourg Bouligny boundary ran along St. Charles Avenue (then called Nyades Street) from Upperline Street to Lowerline Street (now called General Taylor Street). The actual Touro Bouligny neighborhood now includes part of the section of this old Faubourg Bouligny from Napoleon Avenue to General Taylor Street. The first street below Napoleon was named Berlin after the Prussian capital that Napoleon occupied after his victory at Jena but was changed to General Pershing Street at time of World War I. Streets that follow are Milan and Marengo that honor Napoleon’s victories in 1796 and 1800, and Constantinople and finally Austerlitz which is named for the site of the French victory over the Austrians in 1805.
Faubourg Bouligny was part of Jefferson City in 1850, thus being part of Jefferson Parish until annexed by New Orleans in 1870. The streetcar line was constructed in 1835 which influenced the urbanization of the Faubourg Bouligny development.
CORNER ACTIVITY
At Corner of St. Charles and Louisiana Avenues the Border’s bookstore opened this December 2008; a great addition to the community; already the parking is challenging, but on a pleasant day it’s a nice walk-over from our neighborhood. Across St. Charles from Border’s, the First National Bank of Commerce plans a full service bank and with its architect William Sizeler has presented the plans to the Historic District Landmarks Commission. Across Louisiana from Border’s, the site previously an Exxon station is for sale. Closed since Katrina and now vacant more than 3 years, it has lost its non-conforming use permit for the site.
At Corner of Napoleon and St. Charles the former Copeland’s Cajun American Café site will be taken over by the Superior Grill owners who have plans to open a seafood restaurant. Across the Avenue diagonally from the proposed restaurant, the Capital One Bank has completed its drive-thru facility with a small bank lobby, ATM, and bank telephone.
(The American Planning Association has named St. Charles Avenue as one of the ten “Great American Streets”. The streetcar has been designated a National Historic Landmark, approved by the State of Louisiana Office of Historic Preservation and the United States National Park Service.)
At Corner of Magazine and Napoleon the city plans to relocate the 2nd district NOPD headquarters as soon as a new facility can be built. The time frame for the new building may be in the range of 18 months. The new headquarters will be near the Childrens’ Hospital by the levee (highest ground in the area). The current HQ building is a 19th century designated historic landmark facility, so there will be a need to recycle this building for as yet an undetermined purpose. The City may ask the community for use ideas. Now that Magazine Street has been designated a Cultural Arts District (which allows shop owners to sell original art free of state tax) there is the potential to integrate the NOPD HQ building into the Arts District as a cultural outlet.
At Corner of Magazine and Louisiana the brick mini-mall owner petitioned the city to revise the conditional use (CU) permit to include the fast-food Subway outlet. Subway had been granted a permit to open without going through the established city hall approval process. City Planning Commission refused but City Council agreed, because the owner threatened suit if not passed; this was over the opposition of the Touro Bouligny and the Garden District. However, as a compromise, the owner, Touro Bouligny, and the Garden District executed a Good Neighbor Agreement and Restrictive Covenants (notarized) that will be recorded in the conveyance records of Orleans Parish and shall run with the Restricted property as provided in the Louisiana Civil Code p|650 et. seq. and shall be binding upon future owners, tenants, and operators. If the Subway ceases to operate for a period greater than 90 days, the permit for operation terminates. Additionally, the Chinese Hot Wok that was near the Blockbuster has revamped its outlet from solely a fast food take-out to a restaurant format and has changed the name to Green Tea. The Hot Wok was an illegally permitted fast-food outlet that the Touro Bouligny and the Garden District opposed, and by persuasion, Paul May, Director of Safety and Permits, put the pressure on the Hot Wok to convert to table service format or face a forced closure. The Hot Wok was not part of the revised CU permit action involving the owner and Subway.
INTERIOR RESIDENTIAL ACTIVITY
The Touro Bouligny Neighborhood is a community of mostly well kept properties, but there are exceptions where particular attention is lacking. As a rule, the owners of such properties are not residents of the neighborhood but absentee landowners. Two properties that were in an advanced state of blight in the Touro Bouligny were targeted for code enforcement.
One property that was becoming blighted is located at 4235 Coliseum St. (Corner of Gen.Pershing St.) owned by Howard Russell. Complaints were filed with the Code Enforcement Office and the property was on an Administrative Adjudication Docket for a hearing that addressed blighted properties on July 2, 2008. Two Touro Bouligny residents were present to press the issue and suggested that further action would ensue if action were not taken to restore the property to residential acceptability. The lawyer for H. Russell – Richard Richthofen (899-7949) – requested that the neighborhood wait 30 days before taking action because he personally would see that restoration work would start on the Coliseum property within two weeks. As anyone can see who has passed by this site, substantial work has been done and continues to be done. The neighborhood can give thanks to Mr. Clarence Wolbrette, a neighbor of the Russell property, who has pressed this matter to its current state.
Another property that was blighted is at 1303 –05 Peniston St. owned by Mercier Realty and Investments. The property was gutted and boarded before Katrina, but the siding was falling off and vines were also growing on various parts of the structure. The blight was progressively advancing and needed to be addressed in short order. Neighbors in the vicinity had expressed concern about the condition and had spoken with the owner directly to no avail. A letter and pictures were delivered by hand on July 9th (2008) to Dr. Blakely’s Office – Office of Recovery and Development, Bureau of Administration, Code Enforcement, with a request that this property be declared blighted and put on the Administrative Adjudication Docket for action to either prod the owner to fix up the property or put it on the market so someone could restore the property or let the NORA (New Orleans Recovery Authority)appropriate and market the property. Councilwoman Stacy Head and Dr. Ed Blakely, at the neighborhood’s request, included this property to be observed on one of their recent Saturday morning walks for identifying blighted properties that need action. Action was initiated. On November 24th this property was listed by Code Enforcement for a hearing scheduled on December 8, 2008. The day it was listed, the owner sent a crew to begin repairing the exterior! At the Hearing on 12-08-08, the lawyer for the owner tried to spin the issue as if the blight were Katrina related when in fact Katrina had little effect on the property. This fact was pointed out by the Touro Bouligny representative present at the hearing. The owner was fined hearing cost ($75) and a code violation fine of $250. The lawyer for the owner, Mr. Peter Nass, took umbrage at the comments by the neighborhood representative and retorted that Code Enforcement can only require external remediation and not internal work. The lawyer further indicated that the neighborhood would get little cooperation from the owner to complete rehabilitation and that the boarded-up condition will likely continue. This issue bears continued neighborhood surveillance and monitoring.
The neighborhood needs to be involved and proactive to assure that blight does not get a foothold in this community…..Code and blight issues should be addressed to the Office of Recovery and Development, Bureau of Administration, Code Enforcement, 1340 Poydras St. Suite 1100, New Orleans, LA 70112. ( You can fax to 658 – 4368) (or you can send by email to nebutler@cityofno.com)
MAGAZINE STREET ITEM OF INTEREST
As was reported earlier the Red Velvet Hookah Lounge at 4224-26 Magazine Street had petitioned for a permit to establish a cocktail bar and lounge, that would include late night hours. It was not granted by the City Council. The Lounge was subsequently observed (by owner of Feet First) selling alcoholic beverages and confirmed by undercover ABC (Alcohol and Beverage Control) personnel; the lounge was cited for the violation of selling without a permit. The Lounge has now closed.
TOURO BOULIGNY SECURITY DISTRICT
The CPA review of the Touro Bouligny Security District’s first year operations has been completed and will be posted on the following web site of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. www.lla.la.gov
The millage rate for 2009 related to the Security District funding remains unchanged from the 2008 rate of 7.8 mills. This is a substantially less than the initial millage assessment of 12.8 mills.
The Metro Security, Inc. is the contracted service for the neighborhood patrols. Presently there is one 24-hour everyday patrol plus an 8-hour daily patrol for the period 4:00 PM to 12:00 midnight. There is also a Saturday foot patrol for Magazine Street between Louisiana and Napoleon. Please use the patrol services for your own safety needs by calling 635-5421 to assure that the holidays are enjoyable and free of any unpleasant incidences. Please do let the patrol know if you will be away for any part of the holidays so they can routinely check your property during the patrol, and do leave your porch and garden lights on at all times.
Touro Bouligny Neighborhood and Security District Boards wish you all happy holidays.
Prior newsletter issues:
August, 2008 (pdf format)