"The city's planning function before the hurricane was significantly less than what's necessary for a city of this size," says Fernando Costa, AICP, the team leader, in a prepared statement. "Now with budgetary constraints and layoffs, the planning capacity is not adequate to manage the functions required for rebuilding the city."
Before Katrina, the city's planning commission had a staff of 24, which the assessment team says is inadequate for a city of New Orleans' size and complexity. Now, after the disaster and resulting municipal budget cuts, the staff has been reduced to eight positions, according to the report, which was based on a trip to New Orleans in late October and released this week.
Changes also may be needed to zoning ordinances to allow "of-right" reconstruction. This will enable damaged housing that does not conform to current zoning to be rebuilt in keeping with a neighborhood's pre-storm "form and density."
The city's 1970s zoning ordinance is outdated, according to the report. As a result, the APA says it may be ill-suited to regulate certain aspects of post-Katrina redevelopment, such as resubdivision, the establishment of nonconforming uses, and mixed-use development.
Finally, the report says the city needs to engage residents in every step of the planning process, including community workshops on redevelopment proposals. "We heard from many community leaders that they felt excluded from the planning process in the past," says Costa.
Costa was joined on the assessment team by Jane Brooks, chair of the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at the University of New Orleans; Chandra Foreman, a researcher with the University of South Florida's Center for Urban Transportation; Bob Lurcott, former planning director of Pittsburgh; Grover Mouton, director of the Tulane Regional Urban Design Center at Tulane University; and Richard Roths, a nationally recognized expert in floodplain management and mitigation planning.
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