New Orleanian of the Year - 2008

Gambit's New Orleanina of the Year - Karen Gadbois!

We done Karen and WELL DESERVED! We are proud of you!

Karen is on the board of NorthWest Carrollton.

See GAMBIT's article on Karen below:

JANUARY 5, 2009

Home Checker
Karen Gadbois' crusade to save the city's architectual heritage brought down a public program riddled with problems.
BY DAVID WINKLER-SCHMIT
Photo by Cheryl Gerber

For Karen Gadbois, the city's recovery and her own have become inextricably linked, and she has fought hard for both. On New Year's Eve 2005, Gadbois finished her final chemo treatment for breast cancer and flew from Austin, Texas, to New Orleans, so she could be here for the last day of the tragic year.
  That night she sat on the porch of her raised, side-hall shotgun house in northwest Carrollton with a friend and her husband. Newly installed streetlights illuminated the neighborhood wasteland of flooded homes, and Gadbois' pile of ruined artwork and other possessions sat on the front curb. Drinking wine, Gadbois began throwing rocks at the bright, invasive lights.
  "And I was really happy," Gadbois says. "I was so happy to be back."
  Gadbois is still happy, but she isn't content. She has battled against those, including Mayor Ray Nagin and other bureaucrats, who have attempted in the name of progress to destroy and squander our city's heritage. With little more than a digital camera, a computer, a blog and her green Honda Element, this indefatigable 53-year-old mom has shown that it is the average citizen — not government — that's leading New Orleans' recovery.
  By the time Gadbois first heard about the New Orleans Affordable Homeownership (NOAH) program in early 2008, the Boston, Mass., native had been taking on City Hall to save homes from demolition for more than two years. Nevertheless, she initially was optimistic about the program because she thought the city finally was making a gesture to help people get back into their homes by creating a program that was supposed to gut and board houses for poor and elderly homeowners.
  "A number of people were questioning why we were spending millions of dollars gutting and boarding homes when there were volunteer groups," Gadbois says. "It didn't make sense in terms of using government, but it could be used to leverage volunteer work to get people back in homes."
  It was in May when Gadbois saw a Central City house — dilapidated and the yard with knee-high grass and filled with junk — supposedly remediated by NOAH.
  "Someone put up a (NOAH) sign," Gadbois says. "It was a joke."
  Sarah Lewis, who was co-director with Gadbois of Common Knowledge, an organization promoting governmental tranparency, requested a list of "remediated" properties from NOAH. Lewis and Gadbois scrutinized the list and found it riddled with problems: nonexistent houses and remediated homes that were owned by slumlords and people like former U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson's brother Mose Jefferson, who clearly were not poor or elderly.
  "It's like finding 700 pounds of gold on your front lawn," Gadbois says, displaying her Yankee wit. "It can't be gold; it's sitting in my front yard. This is so ridiculous it can't be as bad as it looks."
  Gadbois was so flabbergasted that she put her findings aside for a while until another blogger, Eli Ackerman, convinced her the story was more dynamite than gold. Gadbois turned to WWL-TV investigative reporter Lee Zurik, who broadcast her findings in an exclusive special report on July 21. The next day, Mayor Nagin held a news conference — besides city officials, only Gadbois, Lewis and Zurik were in attendance — and decried Zurik and Gadbois' investigation, accusing them of hurting the city's recovery.
  "I was not prepared to be single-handedly destroying the recovery in New Orleans," Gadbois says. "That was a lot of insult, a very loaded insult."
  Nagin's attempt at intimidation wasn't enough to deter Gadbois. Although she had only moved to New Orleans from a small Mexican village in 2002 with her husband, Jon Schooler, and their daughter, Ida, Gadbois had already become a dedicated New Orleanian. She had her hands full trying to renovate the house they bought, but says the family was comfortable and found New Orleans' open and accepting environment similar to what they had experienced in Mexico: "I loved that you could be poor with dignity in New Orleans. The first issue of the day was not what you had on."
  In the days following Nagin's news conference, Gadbois, Lewis and Zurik continued to build a case against NOAH. City officials claimed Gadbois and Lewis were working off the "wrong" NOAH property list, and the correct list would prove NOAH had delivered services for the $1.8 million contract it had with the city. So, Gadbois, Lewis and Zurik pored over the new list; this time they found even more problems.
  Besides listing houses on blocks that don't exist in the city, and charging the city for work done by volunteer groups, NOAH had used a list of contractors that included Cedric Smith, the mayor's brother-in-law, and Trellis Smith, a business partner of former NOAH director Stacey Jackson. More allegations came forward — Jackson had business relationships with other NOAH contractors — the City Council held hearings, NOAH closed its offices and a federal investigation was launched. And it was Gadbois who had first spotted NOAH's leaky ship, but all Nagin would say at the time was, "I love that we have professional investigators involved now."
  What he didn't know, or refused to believe, was that he had been dealing with a professional investigator all along.
With her cancer in remission in 2006, Gadbois became involved with her neighborhood organization, Northwest Carrollton Civic Association (NWCCA). The group argued that a proposed Walgreens drugstore at the intersection of Claiborne Avenue and Carrollton Avenue broke zoning laws. Refusing to budge, NWCCA pushed City Councilwoman Shelley Midura to broker a plan for the new Walgreens that conformed to zoning regulations and included space for a much-needed supermarket.
  "So that was sort of the beginning of my paying attention," Gadbois says.
  Still, it was more of a desire to preserve memories than anger that kept Gadbois focused on the city's recovery. Realizing a number of buildings would be demolished as New Orleans rebuilt, she wanted to start an online memory book of photographs of those structures. It was the genesis of Gadbois' blog, www.squanderedheritage.com.
  As Gadbois began driving around the city in June of 2006 shooting photographs of houses, however, she noticed many of them appeared salvageable.
  "The city seemed to have taken the stance of, 'If you want your house demolished; you can get your house demolished,'" Gadbois says. "End of conversation."
  Even if an owner didn't want a home destroyed, the city could find a way to raze it. Gadbois discovered this when she started tracking — along with Matt McBride, another New Orleans activist — the city's Good Neighbor Program, which was ostensibly set up for residents to notify the city of blighted houses. Gadbois says McBride began crunching housing statistics and determined the program was being used to feed into the city's demolition plans. And if a house wasn't reported as blighted, the city could inflate the structure's damage assessment.
  The city's approach didn't sit well with Gadbois, and with a small grant from the Blue Moon Fund, she (Lewis signed on later) has probed deeper into the city's demolition lists than any investigative agency or reporter.
Nowadays, Gadbois is back to being a solo act — the Blue Moon grant money is nearly gone, so she and Lewis had to part ways — and she is still driving around the city and documenting houses slated for demolition. She thinks there is more to the NOAH story than the public is aware, but she believes the truth will eventually come out.

Feedback to NOPD

Major Little NOPD

Today ~2:30-3:OOPM  
A resident was coming home (8300 block of Apricot) from grocery shopping at Roberts and ran into 3 young black men coming out of the alley on the side of her house. They looked like they were carrying stuff under their jackets.  She yelled at them "WTF are you doing!!!" and they scattered.  Another one of our neighbors (from Cambronne) was across the street picking up the priest to take him to the airport.  He followed the 3 guys in his car. They split up and he saw one of the guys had a small silver handgun.  Both residents called 911. I was still on the phone with the home owner so I heard some of the content of our Cambronne neighbor's report over the phone to 911. One of the men returned to Apricot street He had turned his jacket inside out and he got into a small white van (left of resident's house and across from the church) and BACKED UP down the one way street so that the resident was not able to get the license place. The resident seems confident that nothing was taken from her house. Her dogs were upstairs and loud and nasty and her downstairs didn't look broken into.

The cops did arrive very quickly after the 911 reports. 2 cars. They checked out her alleyway. Officer B.Duncan talked to the resident. He took no written notes.  While he was still on the street talking to resident another neighbor from the 8200 Pritchard Place drove up got out of his car and said he saw the same 3 young black men coming out of the alley across the street between a house in the 2900 block of Dublin.  He too yelled at them like Karen and they scattered. He said one guy had on a black leather coat and was black with close cropped hair and shorter than he was which would be less than 5'5" or going by where he had his hand could have been less than 5 feet.  The other 2 guys had on "winter jackets" with their shirts sticking out.  B. Duncan left with our 8200 Pritchard Place neighbor, presumably to take more statements.

While we are pleased that the police showed up so quickly, our conversation with Officer B. Duncan was galling and insulting. He said repeatedly that we lived in a bad neighborhood. As if because of this we should expect to have gun carrying thieves in our alleyways.  WE DON'T.  We had not one but 3 EYEWITNESSES associated with these gun carrying criminals in our neighborhood.  The fact that we were on the street and that the neighborhood watch approach was working and doing exactly what the cops say they want from us didn't seem to matter to the officer because "We live in a bad neighborhood".  When asked what it was that made this a bad neighborhood he said that it is poorly lit (which isn't true) and that Leonidas is "right there".  He said he lived on Pritchard @ Cambronne 2 years ago after Katrina.  Interesting because I never saw him while repeatedly handing our flyers to start our neighborhood organization. We mentioned that the crime statistics do not support the fact that this is "a bad neighborhood".  Officer B. Duncan didn't seem to even hear this.

When we call the cops we do not want to feel like we are being blown off because "we live in a bad neighborhood".  1) Statistically this is not true.  2) Our Neighborhood Watch is very active, as today's actions shows. 3) Our neighborhood organization is very active at work making this better neighborhood, as recent emails regarding tire dumping behind AutoZone shows.  What we expect from NOPD is support when we work against the "bad guys", not flip comments about "living in a bad neighborhood" again in a "what to you expect manner".

Sincerely,
Jenel Hazlett - President NorthWest Carrollton

----- NOPD Response -----

Response From: Bruce Little

Sent: Dec 21, 2008 8:57 PM
To: nwcarrollton@mindspring.com, "Kirk M. Bouyelas"
, Ronald Laporte

Subject: Re: Neighborhood Watch Report
There was no response from me because there were no questions asked of me. It appeared from your email that everyone was pleased with the police response, but you were upset the officer referred to the area as bad. I'm sure he meant no disrespect to anyone personally nor to the community as a whole. I'm quite certain he was warning those involved to be wary and extra careful.  Despite the fact that today is my day off I was out with my officers and personally dispatched all available units in the area to look for these suspects.  Despite our efforts they were not located.  The residences were checked and there were no apparent signs of entry or damage. We don't know what they were up to so no report was taken.  Tying an officer up for an hour writing to write  report on  suspicious persons would be counterproductive and take that unit from responding to other emergency calls. A description was broadcast and all officer noted the descriptions.

I am thrilled by the level of cooperation and response from all of the neighborhood groups in the Second District.  Today was a perfect example of how it is supposed to work

The Second District is currently leading the entire city in not only crime reduction but also leads each week in arrests.  Morale is very high and the officers and citizens are proud of our accomplishments. It is only your organization that continues to send derogatory emails. I'm not sure why but our successes speak for themselves. 
Major Bruce Little
Commander Second District
New Orleans Police Department-
Sent using BlackBerry

----- Followup email-----
Major Little,
It has been a few days since I've personally been on Email.  It's the holidays and everyone deserves a break now and then. 
A couple of things:
I understand that there are times in any job when proficiency and efficiency can appear cold and heartless to those not in the middle of doing the job.  Imagine a surgeon cutting into a patient. Is it possible to do that with out some detachment? How you feel when that patient is your loved one and you are watching is anything but detached.  I'm sure you can see the analogies.
When I wrote my email I wanted to write down what I had seen and heard as quickly as possible so as not to loose anything.  Also I was offended when I wrote it and the combination of being offended and trying to get down all the data may not have been the best combination.
But there is something else in this equation that I am still concerned you may be missing.  The secret to life is public relations. We, all of us law-abiding citizens who want to work with the police, want a RELATIONSHIP with the police of the 2nd district.  We in NorthWest Carrollton know that there are other neighborhoods who "are nicer", have more wealth, have more power, and on the other side of the coin we know there are neighborhoods that are a lot worse than ours, that don't have power or influence.  When officers "dis the hood" while we have folks on the street doing what we can to stop the bad guys the relationship is damaged.  What I was trying to get across in my email was that what was said: "this is a bad neighborhood" damages the relationship.  Given that this was a minor incident in the grand scheme of things, no murder, no gun fire, just gun toting, there was, in my opinion, an opportunity for the police to say something like: "Thanks for being on the lookout, thanks for calling. It is impressive to have so many people work together and report criminal activity. We will let you know what our investigation finds."
See it isn't just about what your people do. As you indicate they did their difficult job but didn't find anything - this time. The problem is that without our email, we would have never known this.  What we would have been left with is a feeling that the cops think this is a bad neighborhood and have blown us off.  And that is inaccurate and damages the relationship and is exactly what can prevent people from calling in next time.  We, the representatives of NorthWest Carrollton, don't want that and neither do you.  My hope when I sent the email was that the information could be helpful but most importantly to let you, as leader of the 2nd district, know how important the "public relations" aspect is of the cops on the street.  The NWCCA board will continue to call on and communicate with NOPD but given a similar experience other members and citizens living in NWCCA might have just climbed back into their holes and checked out or worse "dis'd the NOPD".  And none of us want that.

Thanks for doing the difficult job that you and your team do for us. Have the happiest and safest of holidays,

Jenel Hazlett - NorthWest Carrollton bounded by Claiborne-Carrollton-Earhart-Leonidas       

What is a streetscape?

A streetscape is a public improvement project that will enhance the public area and trigger subsequent recovery and investment in surrounding neighborhoods. This development is designed to help create additional and continued private investment in New Orleans key recovery areas. The streetscape is designed to benefit the surrounding neighborhood residents, business owners and visitors by providing amenities that contribute to economic vitality. Streetscape projects enhance the area surrounding the actual roadway, but do not include roadway repair or reconstruction.

 

Streetscapes can include: 

• Sidewalk, bikeway, driveway and other pedestrian surface walkway improvements
• Traffic and pedestrian signalization and signage
• Landscaping
• Lighting
• Public Art
• Pocket park improvements
• Minor utility modifications and improvements

Insulting

What & Who: Councilmember Stacy Head will attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Irish Channel and St. Mary Overlay Projects completion on Thursday morning. The ceremony marks the rehabiliation of 1.75 miles of roadway throughout the Irish Channel and St. Mary neighborhoods.

When: Thursday, December 11, 2008 11:00 a.m.

Where: Burke Park (Uptown) Annunciation St, between 2nd & 3rd St.

Background: As a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, an estimated 17,000 individual sites (roadway and sidewalks) and 6,000 blockers were damaged due to flooding in 80 percent of the City. To date, the City has completed 13 roadway and walking path projects and also completed more than 2,275 repairs to city streets and sidewalks damaged by the storms of 2005.

REALITY CHECK: Really? Oh Yeah, the flood waters were REAL DEEP in the Irish Channel and on the Isle of Denial. As a New Orleans citizen who DID have ~3 FEET of Water in the streets of her neighborhood, this is nothing short of insulting. Stacy Head does good work and I admire her, but having “recovery work” work done in the IRISH CHANNEL and having the audacity to say the damage to the road way was Katrina/Rita related is inappropriate and INSULTING to those whose neighborhoods were ravaged by flooding and postK cleanup. How much does it cost the city to plan & execute a ribbon cutting ceremony for less than 2 miles of roadway in an area of town that DID NOT FLOOD!?

We all need to keep our eyes on the recovery ball. You can’t talk about efficiency in budgeting and city services and do things like this at the same time. Focus. Focus. Focus!

Entergy and the joys of having a MONOPOLY

Folks, Maybe you heard about Shelley Midura and Rod West going after it regarding “contract issues”. Maybe you didn’t.

EVERYONE should read Clancy Dubos on the Blog of New Orleans. Make sure you read the article AND scroll all the way down to where Clancy rebuts some of the stuff in the comments.
This is only just heating up and it will eventually hit your checking account.

Free Concert in Palmer Park

LPO and Palmer Park ConcertBring a picnic and enjoy music outdoors!

SATURDAY October 11, 2008 - 5:00pm

Musical SelectionsVoyages with the LPO!
Overture to HMS Pinafore
Handel Water Music
Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid
Selections from South Pacific
Armed Forces Salute
Selections from Pirates of the Caribbean
Harry’s Wondrous World fromHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Music from Apollo 13
Star Trek through the Years
Selections from E.T. The Extraterrestrial

Rain date: Sunday, October 12, 5:00 PM

The LPO concert in Palmer Park is made possible byDistrict A Councilmember Shelley Miduraand by Harrah’s Community Support Grant Program.

Earhart Expansion Schematic

Earhart Expansion Schematic, originally uploaded by NorthWest Carrollton.

In June 2008, NorthWest Carrollton invited Department of Public Works Robert Mendoza and team to talk to us about the new that Earhart would finally be resurfaced. What the plans showed was that Earhart would be expanded from 4 to 6 lanes and that a left turn lane would be placed at Carrollton and Earhart.

Citizen reaction to this plan was not good. A Carrollton Area Network meeting was held at St. Matthew's and the reaction at this meeting was essentially the same.

The citizen proposal was created and meetings were held with Department of Public Works and Regional Planning. Traffic studies were done and traffic models created. The citizen proposal had the best traffic flow in the models.

Democracy worked.

Thank You Marc Robert - POWER update

Smart enough to place a generator at his new store on Claiborne & Dublin, Robert was open for business on WEDNESDAY. Thank you Marc Robert.

On Wednesday about 1/2 of the neighborhood had power. By Friday power came back on for most of the rest of the neighborhood. The street light at Walmsley/Apple & Carrollton is now working. This should prevent the accidents we saw after Katrina. The power was still out at Earhart & Carrollton.

Should we EVER have to do this again please leave your porch light on. This will allow us to drive down the streets in the neighborhood and report which blocks *look* like they have power. Even when the bulk of a neighborhood has power there can still be some houses without. IF you don’t have power when you return report the outages to Entergy at 1-800-9-outage. Entergy is working hard to get the power back up a soon as possbile.

When you see the trucks - stop and tell them THANK YOU.

Why come back (and why not come back) - PostGustav Evacuation

O.K. That’s it I’ve had it. I am tired of unthinking or flat foolish people saying things regarding our return to OUR CITY!

So let’s list it out for those who can’t think it out for themselves:

1) My job requires me to return. Yeah they can make a lot of noise about “Tier 1″, but there are MANY companies who have to know that their PEOPLE are back before we begin to get our city back (power or no power). Let’s think about who these companies are. Let’s take the example of the saints game this weekend. WHO do we neeed? Ticket takers, concession stand workers, parking lot workers, cleaning staff, building maintenenace staff, security staff. Now that you are thinking about the fact that you need your fellow citizens start thinking about other services. Do you want your gabage picked up? Do you want to be able to go to the grocery store? Do you want to be able to fill your tank? Do you think filling your tank takes place 100% withOUT people? We are all Tier 1 because without citizens there is no city.

2) My finances require me to return. Some of us are lucky enough to have family and friends to take us in indefinately and do NOT have to return to work. Thank goodness for family and friends. Some of us have the means to fly to New York or California or Europe. Yes believe it or not some New Orleanians spent their Katrina evacuation in France. Some of us have the financial means to whip out a Credit Card and stay indefinately in a hotel. Think about the people who make up this city. REALLY think about it. Think about the state of the economy in this country and tell me that you realy believe that the bulk of the citizens of New Orleans, many who are financially strapped because of Katrina Recovery, and tell me you can’t understand why they might want to come home.

3) My house is MY HOUSE and it is MY HOME! While family and friends are great and a hotel stay may be fun, my house is my home. I want to see how it faired in the storm. If there are damages that need to be addressed I want to do it as fast as possible to prevent further damage. But more importantly ESPECIALLY POSTKATRINA! I want to be HOME, in my HOUSE, in my neighborhood! Kids want a return to normalcy. They want to go to THIER Schools with THEIR Friends and not to an “evacuation school”. People who could not go home quickly postKatrina want to come home quickly now. There is very little to prevent this.

That said there are some reasons to stay away. Let’s talk about those.

1) If you have critical medicial needs: like a requirement for oxygen (which requries power) or dialysis or ongoing speciality disease treatment that can be handled by facilities where you are, you need to stay where these services are readily available. Yes, we have hospitals. But the entire electrical transmission system (the interstate highway of power) is severely damaged. NorthWest Carrollton does not currently have power. Even if we get power as the systems are repaired there maybe temporary but significant power outages. THINK before you move if you have medical needs.
2) The entire electrical transmission system (the interstate highway of power) is severely damaged. Yes, Entergy is working diligently to repair this system, but this is NOT just a New Orleans problem this is a River Parish problem that includes Baton Rouge (and I’m not talking about the governor, I’m talking about the power grid infrastructure.) So if you want to come home KNOW that you could be in the dark and living out of an ice chest and cooking on the grill for quite some time. No power, No Air Conditioning! Can you and your family stand each other for days in the heat? Do you have a generator and the means to fill it with gas? Do you have ice chests and the means to fill them with food? Because their are few to no groceries open today. Make SURE that you have enough gas for your vehicle to get you all the way HOME. No power, no working gas pumps. THINK camping. Think October 2005. Think seriously roughing it. Make an informed decision.

IF you do return, Think traffic safety! Assume every non-functioning traffic signal is a 4 way stop. People have reverted to PostKatrina driving habits and not all of these are good. Be safe. Make an informed decision.

The city needs to think about this:
People won’t leave if they can’t come back.

Let us not forget that the people who live in New Orleans survived the months following Katrina. Power? Please. Post K I didn’t have Gas at my house and therefore no heat and no hot water until Christmas 2005. Flushing the toilet with a bucket, yep. We lived in houses with gutted bottom floors with NOTHING in them and if we were lucky enough to have 2nd floors lived there or in formaldehyde FEMA tin cans. We lived in these circumstances for MONTHS, not days. MONTHS. Some of us YEARS. If there is one thing that the politians in the city of New Orleans should know by now is that we are tough enough to deal with adversity. We can live without power. We can cook on our grills. We can haul in food and water if that is what we are told to do. We can make the determination NOT to return if we feel that is best for our own personal circumstances. But I believe that the at the very least what we have earned is the right to make our own determination about what is best for us. The Mayor needs to stop acting like Big Brother and should not treat me or my neighbors as children.

5 Myths about Katrina

The national press is finally beginning to understand that New Orleans and the surrounding areas are not just below sea level areas of the country where people just should not live. I even saw coverage that touched on the wetlands and MRGO and the damage done to the wetlands by the oil and gas companies that put fuel in the nations cars and heat homes in the northern US in the winter.

Encourage your friends and family to watch this video put together by Levees.org

Robert Fresh Market Open in August

Finally the grocery store is here!

See their website for details on all the offerings.

Yeah! Marc Robert for your perseverance to get to this day.
We are thrilled to have your in our neighborhood!

S&W Leaks

Thank you very much for your help. BOTH leaks have been repaired.

Happy 2009! Sincerely, Jenel Hazlett - NWCCA

*********************************************************


From: NorthWest Carrollton <nwcarrollton@mindspring.com>

To: "EJSterling@cityofno.com" <EJSterling@cityofno.com>, Shelley Midura <smidura@cityofno.com>

   

Subject: Large Leaks in 8500 Block of Apricot & 8300 Block of Pritchard

Date: Dec 27, 2008 12:38 PM

 

Happy Holidays, I am hoping that you can help us contact the right people at Sewerage & Water Board who can help us get action on 2 large leaks in NorthWest Carrollton. The first photo is of the leak at 8300 Pritchard Place. It has been reported to Sewerage & Water Board from this address. The leak is on the street side of the water meter. At first we were not sure if it was a leak or rainwater, but now we can literally see it getting larger every day. The second photo is of the leak in the 8500 block (even side) of Apricot Street. It has been reported by the folks at 8530 Apricot, repeatedly for more than a month. The exact source is hard to determine The surrounding area is soggy and the puddles stretch for half a block. Any thing you can do to expedite these repairs before things get worse is appreciated. Sincerely, NorthWest Carrollton

Earhart Planning - Citizen Proposal

The Citizen proposal was reviewed and endorsed by the Regional Planning Commission & New Orleans Public Works in the Fall of 2008.

A public meeting was held in April 21 @7PM at St. Matthew’s Church, 1333 South Carrollton Avenue and follow up meetings were held with Regional Planning & Public Works.

Harvard Presentation

In 2007/2008 NorthWest Carrollton participated in meetings in held as part of Harvard University's Broadmoor Project. Click here to see our neighborhood presentation.

The Economics of Neighborliness

I’m reading Bill McKibben’s book, Deep Economy. It has some very interesting ideas to consider. Personally I think “Local” is the “new Green”.

But decide for yourself. Come and see Bill McKibbin discuss his book in person at the Garden District Book Shop on March 12th from 5:30 to 7:30PM.

Earhart BOULEVARD

Urban Conservancy, City Council, Senator Grey:

NorthWest Carrolltion would like to talk with someone in your organization regarding work that will soon begin on Earhart.

Wednesday February 20th, Robert Mendoza came to our neighborhood meeting and gave us the low down on the Earhart “repairs”. While we are glad to see these much needed repairs move forward we were not happy with what we heard regarding the plan.

Currently Earhart is 3 lanes (each way for a total of 6) in Jefferson Parish and then merges to 2 (each way for a total of 4) as it enters Orleans at the overpass. The “repairs” will cause Earhart to be 3 lanes in Jefferson Parish, drop to 2 at the overpass, EXPAND to 3 at the base of the overpass in Orleans, grow a total of 5 lanes (8 lanes both ways!) at Carrollton & Earhart and then drop back to 2 on the Orleans side of Carrollton. Nothing in anything we have read regarding Earhart improvements mentioned increasing the number of lanes. What we naively assumed was that the street would be repaired and proper curbs and sidewalks installed.

While we can appreciate that modifications may be necessary to help traffic flow at Carrollton and Earhart and we completely support a marked and dedicated turning right turning lane (to the river) at Carrollton, we are concerned about the total lost of green space in the center of this intersection to allow for 2 turning lanes onto Carrollton toward the lake. We are also disappointed that NO effort has been made to provide a marked and dedicated turning lane off of Carrollton and onto Earhart toward Jefferson Parish. Anyone who has used this intersection knows that this is a traffic issue in the evenings.

In the process of creating the plan for Earhart there has been no discussion of bike racks and very little thought given to green space and tree cover. There is a requirement to put in sidewalks and ADA crosswalks because of the associated federal dollars. But we see very little in the plan that looks at the whole picture or the long haul. Will people really use the sidewalks if they are right on top of the 3 lane “highway”? This is one of the last opportunities that we will have to improve Earhart for a long time. With all the planning that has been done in the city of New Orleans it would be nice to see some broader thinking. Many of the planning sessions that New Orleanians participated in discussed a need for better integrated streets, sidewalks and bikepaths, some of them specifically referred to Earhart.

Why are we making what should be an “Urban Corridor” into a 6 lane highway? 8 lanes at Carrollton Avenue?

Does anyone remember that Earhart was part of the horrible idea of a Vieux Carre INTERSTATE?

What sense does it make to have Earhart be come 3 lanes on each side only to drop to 2 (on each side) as it crosses Carrollton?

What sense does it make to have the overpass at the Jefferson/Orleans line drop to 2 lanes only to widen to 3 lanes in Orleans Parish. Won’t this only encourage speeding on what should be an Urban Corridor and partially residential street? Once traffic is slowed down from the 3 lane Jefferson part of Earhart by the overpass and narrows to 2 lanes in Orleans WHY allow it to spread out and speed up again?

We hope that there are opportunities to tweak the plan to provide for more green space and to reassure residential and business owners that the intent is not to create a Veterans highway like environment in New Orleans. We CHOOSE to live in New Orleans and it is the character of New Orleans streets that we wish to retain. Please see that attached article written by a graduate student at UNO.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding the concerns expressed by the neighbors of NorthWest Carrollton.

Jenel Hazlett – President, NorthWest Carrollton Civic Association

A Tale of 2 Januarys

January 2006. I’ve been back in my home since October 2005. The bottom floor of our house is gutted. We have replaced our water heater, a washer & dryer. My husband and daughter came home to our raised bungalow from Austin, TX in November 2005. We finally got gas service in December 2005. I’ve been driving from Carrollton to my job at the Chalmette Refinery through postapolcalytic New Orleans for months. My route usually takes me down Carrollton to I-10 to the Claiborne exit and then to Franklin where I jump to St. Claude. The Claiborne bridge has been raised since I returned. The only 2 routes into Chalmette are either via Paris Rd or St. Claude, limited access and both routes require you to go through a military/police check point.

I watched the tide rise and fall from my porch before we floated ourselves and our bicycles out on air mattresses and then rode to I-10 & Causeway. I slept under the I-10 and had FEMA throw bottled water and MRE’s at me. I’ve gutted my own house and driven past more dead refrigerators and tatoo’d houses and debris piles bigger than garbage trucks than I can count. I repeatedly worked side by side with the folks removing debris piles sweeping and scooping the debris from in front of my home. I drive past the devastation and emptiness daily. I have a profound sense of loss but I’m tough and grateful. I have a job, a home, my daughter can return to school, my husband is working on our lower floor, we had insurance. I know that it could be worse. My mom lost everything in her lower 9th Ward home, her job moved to Covington then the Mississippi gulf coast. My brother lost everything in his home in old Arabi. His job is here. His family is still in South Carolina.

In December 2005 I take what is left of my 2005 vacation and spend some down time at home with my family, a real luxury. Then in January 2006 I drive back to work, down Carrollton to the I-10 to the Claiborne exit, down Claiborne. But it’s been 2 weeks and I am on automatic pilot so I forget to turn on Franklin, I reach the foot of the Claiborne bridge and see that it is open. Cool. Great. Progress, right? I drive over the bridge and there to my left is the barge that split the levee still sitting amide what is left of the broken and battered homes. I gasp out loud. How can I still be shocked? I keep driving and there at the foot of the bridge is a house in the middle of the right hand lane. I have to veer around it. I drive on to work but feel gut punched. But the time I get to the light at Claiborne and Caffin I have tears running down my cheeks. I’m a bit bleary eyed as I go through the checkpoint on St.Claude/St.Bernard Hwy. but the cop on this watch has seen it before. I show him my badge and go through. I’m recovered enough to put in a days work before I drive home through the devastation again.

January 2008
I’ve been on vacation putting the finishing touches on our downstairs. It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve driven down Carrollton to the I-10 to the Claiborne exit, down Claiborne across the Claiborne bridge to Chalmette. As I come up over the bridge there on the left are rows upon rows of little pink houses. And I smile broadly at the vibrant image of hope and say out loud “Thank You Brad Pitt”.

January 2006 Despair . January 2008 Hope.

Parking Enforcement in NorthWest Carrollton

Please be advised that the 2nd District is ticketing parking violations.

Please see the President’s response to a resident of NorthWest Carrollton who, almost, got a ticket this AM for parking facing the wrong direction.

Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: how to lose members and infuriate people

(Name removed),

I can totally appreciate that almost getting a ticket at the holiday season is a bad experience. I’m very glad the policeman backed off when you said you’d move the car.

I’d like to give you a bit more background on NWC efforts.

We started asking the asking the police and city to enforce parking and speeding laws a year about a year ago. Working with the police to get them into the neighborhood is a very good thing. The second district didn’t know where we were in January 2006. Today the cop who was writing tickets knew the neighborhood. While this still doesn’t make almost getting a ticket fun, it is an improvement. We want the police to know who we are and where we are and not just when people are getting robbed or shot or stabbed.

Speeding on Pritchard is bad, but nothing compared to what happens during the school year on Apricot. We’ve asked for and gotten police ticketing folks for speeding in our neighborhood. Not as often as we’d like but they have responded. We’ll continue to ask for speeding enforcement throughout the neighborhood.

The parking issue has many layers.
One layer is associated with Mr. Russell, the neighborhood towtruck driver who parks abandoned cars all over the neighborhood and who the 2nd district just helped us get convicted last week. We have repeatedly asked for parking enforcement in our year long fight to get Mr. Russell to stop trashing the neighborhood.

Another layer is associated with our effort to plant trees in the neighborhood. People who park on the green space between the sidewalk and the street endanger our tree planting efforts. People who park on the sidewalk make pedestrians park walk in the street and this affects the walkabilty of the neighborhood and is not good either. Last weekend we planted 28 trees in NWC. We specifically and recently asked the 2nd district about parking enforcement because Mr. Russell was parking his tow truck right where a tree was slated to be planted.

One of the things I personally did throughout 2006 and 2007 was to place notices on cars that were parked illegally. I wanted to make sure that folks who lived in the neighborhood knew when they were parking illegally so that they could adjust their parking habits and avoid getting a ticket . You can ask (name removed) next door, I know I placed one on his car, specifically because he was parked facing the wrong direction. I don’t remember if I ever placed a notice on your car. I did this through out the summer & fall as often as I could to try and avoid just what happened to you today. We also talked about parking enforcement at our neighborhood meetings.

In order to make our neighborhood safe and clean and walkable and livable we need to work with the police as much as possible. It has taken almost a year to get parking enforcement. We expected it would take this long. Unfortunately we can not tell the police to selectively enforce parking ordinances. When they come into the neighborhood to write parking tickets all violations are fair game.

Again, I am very glad that the police did not write you a ticket and allowed you to move your car. I hope that this gives you a better understanding of our efforts and I hope that this understanding will help us not lose you as a member. I’m sorry you were infuriated. I’m home today working on house cleaning and repairs. If you’d like to come down and talk to me about this or any other concerns, I’d welcome a visit.

Jenel Hazlett

Sent: Dec 21, 2007 10:25 AM
Subject: how to lose members and infuriate people

So, this morning I almost got a ticket for parking against traffic in front of my own house. Luckily the policemen backed off when we said we’d move the car. He was very quick to apologize and point the blame at our NWC for hounding his sergeant to address this PROBLEM. Maybe you’d like to change your focus to speeding. We park the car in the street, NOT our driveway to slow the cars down.

If we had gotten the ticket you can bet that if NWC ever asked me for money again, I would say no. And the week before Christmas! I swear this is not the time to be adding $20 to people’s budget.

I can understand that you don’t like cars parked the wrong way. My personal pet peeve is cars that block the sidewalk. However, I think it would be appropriate to WARN members via email that this is a hot item for you so that we can be aware. Honestly!!! This is not the way to build neighborhood unity!!!!

Mr. Russell & Ramifications

Today our neighborhood tow truck driver went to Municipal Court.

Neighbors, Justin Schmidt- legal consul for Roberts, Quality of Life Officer Eddington from the 2nd district were in attendance and testified. See the letter NorthWest Carrollton provided to the 2nd district and the court below. Mr. Schmidt spoke of about the trailer full of gas tanks and the toxic remediation they had to do at the Roberts site. (Thank You Justin! Officer Eddington! and Captain Bouyelas!)

The judge gave Mr. Russell a $500.00 fine, and 30 days, which were suspended. BUT
The judge also gave Mr. Russell 40 hours service with the Sanitation Department riding the garbage trucks. Quality of Life Officer Eddington will be following up with Mr. Russell.

We hope Mr. Russell sees the error of his ways.

**Letter sent to New Orleans Municipal Count below **

I am the president of NorthWest Carrollton Civic Association. The boundaries of our neighborhood are Earhart-Carrollton-Claiborne-Leonidas.

Mr. Russell lives in our neighborhood. He also operates his towing business illegally inside our neighborhood. He tows cars into the neighborhood and dumps them on our streets. He leaves these abandoned and non-functional cars on our streets until he has striped them down. This process can take weeks. He dumps the toxic fluids indiscriminately on the ground. He leaves tires that are not picked up by city services strewn on our streets. He leaves other useless car parts behind in his wake. He is disrespectful and abusive when neighbors attempt to talk to him about his illegal activities.

NorthWest Carrollton has worked with the NOPD 2nd District Commander and the Quality of Life officer to encourage Mr. Russell to change his ways. The 2nd District Commander rode with Mr. Russell in a squad car and had Mr. Russell show them which cars dumped in the neighborhood were his. He has been given numerous warnings by NOPD. He still continues his illegal activities. Cars are still dumped in the neighborhood.

Mr. Russell has used the paved lot behind AutoZone to dump and strip cars. Mr. Russell used the old Canal Villere Parking lot to dump and strip cars. He has been chased from one end of our neighborhood to the other. His current primary operating location is Apple Street. (see the enclosed picture) Approximately once every 2 months members of NorthWest Carrollton ride around and compile a list of abandoned vehicles and provide this to the 2nd District Quality of Life Officer. We also pick up Mr. Russell’s abandoned tires. In pursuit of anything that could get Mr. Russell to follow the laws, we contacted the State Police and were told by Major Minor that Mr. Russell does not have a valid Tow Truck license.

In addition to 2 years Katrina recovery, the neighbors of NorthWest Carrollton have spent 2 years of cleaning up after Mr. Russell. We ask that the court take this information into consideration.

Jenel Hazlett - President
Karen Gadbois - Vice President
Scott Andrews - Secretary
Kim Carver - Treasurer
Debi Theobold - At Large & Crime Liaison

Mr Russell gets caught

We heard last week that the Mr. Russell has finally been “caught in the act”. Towing cars into the Neighborhood and dumping and stripping them.

Thanks to Officer Eddington for taking time on his rare day off to follow Mr. Russell and arrest him.

Why New Orleans?

Post Katrina many of us were told that we were stupid for living in New Orleans and that New Orleans should not even "be here".

Anyone saying this does not understand the history of the United States much less the history of the city. It's like saying there should not be a San Francisco (because of earthquakes) or a Seattle (because of volcanos) or a Venice or a Tokyo or ....

Click on the link for a quick lesson on "Why New Orleans" is here and should be here.

Neighborhood Watch

NorthWest Carrollton has a representative at each 2nd District New Orleans Neighborhood Police Anti-Crime Council (aka NONPACC) monthly meeting. These meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at Touro Hospital at 7PM. We have actively worked to have the drug & crime issues in our neighborhood addressed by the NOPD.

NorthWest Carrollton was recognized by the NOPD as a Neighborhood Watch Area at the 2007 Night Out Against Crime in Palmer Park.

Crime Fighting takes everyone. NorthWest Carrollton is in NOPD's 2nd District.

Straightening the Street Signs and hope for replacement signs

During our March 10th, 2007 cleanup 2 of our board members took a ladder around the neighborhood and did their best to straighten our twisted street signs. Our neighborhood still has missing or ruined signs. City Hall advises that the street sign repair project is still "east of Broadway". According to City Hall, "because of the number of signs to be replaced DPW will not be responding to individual requests for sign replacement but will go back at the end of each contract for each district and conduct a quality control sweep to identify any that were missed or misspelled."
Details on that can be found at this website:
http://www.neworleanscitycouncil.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=72

December 2006 Holiday Home Tour

In December 2006 our members opened 5 historic homes – all with some damage from Katrina – to the public.
This was our first official fund raiser. We raised enough money to provide our Firehouse at Carrollton & Nelson with a commercial grade BBQ Pit. The event was advertised on WWNO & WWOZ and was coverage was broadcast on WWL Channel 4 TV. The coverage called us "the little neighborhood that could". We were sure that the BNOB had gotten the message that we had “proved” our viability.

Planning Recovery: Lambert & UNOP and Apple Street

In May of 2006 NorthWest Carrollton started actively working with the City Council’s Planning Team lead by Paul Lambert & Shelia Danzey. Ideas and concerns were shared at neighborhood meeting in June and July. During the August neighborhood meeting detailed plans were shown for West Carrollton/Leonidas and other Planning District 3 neighborhoods. A project to revive the NorthWest Carrollton section of Apple Street is included in these plans.

In October 2006 the final Lambert Plans were posted to this web site http://www.nolanrp.com/final.php . These the official Neighborhood Recovery Plans of the City of New Orleans that were unanimously approved by the New Orleans City Council and accepted by the Louisiana Recovery Authority on November 6th, 2006. While having our hopes documented in these plans does not automatically provide funding for revitalization efforts for Apple Street, it is an important first step.

NorthWest Carrollton continued to participate in the UNOP process. Our participation was primarily to assure that the work we had done with the City Council / Lambert planning efforts were not lost in the process and to ensure that other “Dry” neighborhoods didn’t make decisions for our recovering neighborhood.

Walgreens & Roberts corner of Carrollton & Claiborne

In March of 2006, Walgreens was planning to put a suburban style store in the middle of the block and fronting Claiborne. Many neighborhoods in the area were concerned about this. What the neighborhoods really wanted was a grocery store. The original plan violated the zoning laws for Carrollton Avenue and would have placed the Roberts grocery store effectively “behind” the Walgreens. This plan would have also caused increased truck traffic through the neighborhood. The plan also did not respect the historic character of our neighborhood and the fact that the development is at the end of the historic street car line. Many people thought our determination to have Walgreens follow the zoning laws was more than a little misplaced.

But as a result of the NorthWest Carrollton group’s insistence and with the support of many neighbors throughout the Carrollton Area and the rest of the city, by August 2006, Walgreens changed their plan so that the store is on the corner of Carrollton and Claiborne (following the zoning ordinance). Roberts will be set back from the Claiborne at the corner of Nelson & Dublin and readily visible from Claiborne. The delivery truck traffic will be concentrated to the center of the parking lot and along Nelson Street. The delivery times for Roberts must be approved by the NorthWest Carrollton Civic Association. The 2 stores will have a similar look and share a tree shaded parking lot. The style of the buildings should look like the “Old Bubble Gum Factory" (Hopkins Imports) at the corner of Fig & Dante, off Earhart. The Bubble Gum Factory is on the National Historic Register as a historic building. The Walgreens and Roberts stores are to open up at about the same time in August or September (date subject to change).

Recognition by and work with the Preservation Resource Center (PRC)

In August 2006 NorthWest Carrollton was recognized in the Preservation Resource Center’s – Gulf Coast Recovery – One Year later with this write up:
“North of Claiborne Avenue about half of the homes flooded. A newly-formed neighborhood association – Northwest Carrollton Civic Association – has responded to the crisis by organizing workshops and participating in the city’s planning initiative. They have set up a Web site for neighbors to post blogs and distributed crime-prevention flyers with relevant phone numbers, Web sites and recommended citizen action. Neighbors stood fast and succeeded in gaining a neighborhood-friendly design for a proposed Walgreens at a busy intersection at the end of the historic St. Charles streetcar line.” http://www.nationaltrust.org/hurricane/oneyearlater.html

In September, NorthWest Carrollton worked with the PRC (Preservation Resource Center) to highlight the efforts to save a historic home on Cambronne. It was the best attended PRC Renovators Happy Hour at that date.

We hope to soon be working with the PRC’s Rebuilding Together Program to help low income senior members repair and maintain their homes. See this web site for more details.: http://www.rtno.org/

PostKatrina Planning & NORA

What a shame that the NORA description of District 3 misrepresents the makeup of the Broadmoor and West Carrollton Areas (including NorthWest Carroltlon) ,HollyGrove and Dixon so badly AND that it equally misrepresents the impact the storm had on us. Additionally you would never know by reading the description that when you look at a MAP and the statisics at least half of District 3 was serioulsy impacted by the levee failures postKatrina.

The statistics at the bottom of the NORA page indicate that the district was seriously impacted as well. While Broadmoor has gotten much of the press associated with postKatrina impact and recovery, Broadmoor was not the only area impacted. Many areas of District 3 while working hard to recover are still only at the 50% recovered mark, despite our proximity to the "sliver on the river". At this point in New Orleans history and in at this point in the postKatrina recovery efforts it sad that District 3's diversity and the needs associated with that diversity can not be better communicated. District 3 has always been a tale of 2 cities, but never more so than now. If NORA is to be our new new knights in shinning armor we should be very afraid..... because it seems the emperor still has no clothes.

NORA, You can do better.

Cities are like little laboratories

Global warming, local initiatives

THE NATION

Unhappy with federal resistance to world standards, communities are curbing their energy use and emissions.

 

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/dec/10/nation/na-climate10

 

BOULDER, COLO. — Frustrated with the federal response to global warming, hundreds of cities, suburbs and rural communities across the nation have taken bold steps to slash their energy consumption and reduce emissions of the pollutants that cause climate change.
This outdoorsy college town recently adopted the nation's first "climate tax" -- an extra fee for electricity use, with all proceeds going to fight global warming. Seattle has imposed a new parking tax, and the mayor hopes to charge tolls on major roads in an effort to discourage driving -- a leading source of greenhouse gas pollution.

Cities not typically associated with liberal causes have also jumped on board. In Fargo, N.D., Mayor Dennis Walaker swapped out every traffic-light bulb for a light-emitting diode, or LED, which uses 80% less energy. In Carmel, Ind., a suburb of Indianapolis, Mayor James Brainard is switching the entire city fleet to hybrids and vehicles that run on biofuels (made from plant products rather than petroleum).
"It's quite incredible, the number of things cities are beginning to do. It's very heartening," said Tom Kelly, who directs a national environmental group called Kyoto USA.

Boulder Mayor Mark Ruzzin says skeptics often ask why global warming must be a local priority. He responds by acknowledging the obvious: "Even if Boulder could somehow wish away all of our greenhouse gas emissions, that wouldn't be a drop in the bucket. It would be a drop within a drop."

Then he argues that the city must try anyway -- if only to prove to larger communities that they, too, can reduce pollutants without spending huge sums or slowing economic growth.

"Every one of us has the ability, small as it may be, to make change," Ruzzin tells his residents, asking them to substitute a push mower for a gas mower, or at least to turn out the lights when they leave a room. "No one's going to be able to escape the responsibility."

The movement began nearly two years ago, when Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced that his city would strive to meet the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty that aims to control global warming. The treaty requires industrialized nations to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants that hover in the lower atmosphere. In what is known as a greenhouse effect, these pollutants create an invisible shield that keeps the sun's rays from dissipating. Many of the trapped rays are reflected back to Earth, raising temperatures.
Greenhouse gases are directly tied to energy use, because the process of burning fossil fuels emits carbon dioxide. So any measures to conserve energy can indirectly cut greenhouse emissions.

Planting trees can also help, because they absorb carbon dioxide -- and several cities have launched campaigns to take advantage of that fact. Denver, for instance, plans to plant an average of 140 trees a day for the next 20 years, while Los Angeles is replacing its famed fan palms with more leafy sycamores and oaks. Chicago encourages the planting of lush rooftop gardens, which have the added effect of cooling buildings, reducing the need for air conditioning.

Fargo acts on climate change more directly by trapping the methane that normally wafts out of its landfill as a byproduct of rotting garbage. The methane -- a potent greenhouse gas -- is then sold to a soybean processing plant, which uses it in its boilers.

"All these cities are like little laboratories, experimenting with what works. Then we learn from each other," Brainard said.

President Bush rejected the goals of the Kyoto treaty soon after he took office, calling it ineffective and unfair because developing countries such as China and India are exempt. He also argued that it would be enormously expensive for the U.S. to comply.
Determined to prove him wrong, Nickels challenged his fellow mayors to adopt Kyoto's targets at the local level. He has received more than 330 pledges from mayors representing 54 million people. All have vowed to reduce their cities' emissions below 1990 levels within the next several years.

The nation's biggest urban areas have made the pledge: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Dallas, Denver. So have Turtle River, Minn. (population 79) and North Pole, Alaska (population 1,778).

Meridian, Miss., where nearly 30% of residents live in poverty, has signed on to the Kyoto goals. So have Sugar Land, Texas; Dubuque, Iowa; and Norman, Okla. Scores of blue-state coastal cities are on the list, including Berkeley and Cambridge, Mass. The industrial Rust Belt town of Gary, Ind., is also taking part.

Some of the cities that made the pledge have since lost interest. Topeka, Kan., is on the list, but that's because a former mayor signed up. The current mayor, Bill Bunten, has other priorities: "Our environmental problems in this city are just trying to make it clean and attractive."

Nah, our government wouldn't do that to us.

I invite the people of New Orleans to take some time out to think about the political history of New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana.

New Orleans has always been Louisiana s largest city.
We are not anymore. We are now 3rd behind Baton Rouge and Sherveport.

The rest of the State of Louisiana, especially those above the South Louisiana Cajun/Catholic line, has always had a love-hate relationship with the City of New Orleans. We in the New Orleans area were different, our faiths, our racial mix, our culture, our flavors, our music. We are different from other areas in Central & North Louisiana. We are different from the rest of “the South”. The relationship has always been a little uncomfortable. Historically the New Orleans generated significant tax revenue for the State of Louisiana and there has been more than on occasion when New Orleans had to fight to have that tax revenue returned to provide services, because once that tax revenue got into the state coffers it belongs to the whole state, regardless of where it was generated.

Take a look at the LRA.
Why is Orleans parish the only parish that has been required to have a master plan before the dollars that the Federal Government has provided to assist recovery can begin to flow and allow repairs to essential services? In December, the federal government provided recovery dollars to the people of South Louisiana who were affected by Katrina and Rita. Why is it that the State of Louisiana is still holding on to the money? Perhaps the are those in power in Baton Rouge that are hoping that the victims of Katrina and the Corp of Engineers will give up trying to jump through all the hoops the LRA puts before us and then the recovery dollars can end up in the hands of other Louisiana cities.
Nah, our government wouldn't do that to us.

4 Corners

There has been a war on the corner of Carrollton and Claiborne. The enemy has shifted at times, and there was never a Peace or Resolution. Just an uneasy cease fire.

Our Neighborhood was never much of a player in this war. We live in the Territory but we had always figured it was someone elses fight. That we were powerless to effect a change and that the outcome would be one that we would have to live with.

As is said so often “Katrina changed everything”, it changed our landscape and it reinvigorated our desire to save our Neighborhood.

Jenel…..One of the quickest thinkers ever, she walked the Neighborhood and passed out flyers till she assembled the beginings of a Team. She wrote the letters and spoke up when perhaps Silence was what was expected.

Scott… One of the first ones back, no gas, no hot water, no heat. His first fight was with Entergy and our then Council Person. He is The Architect, and the quiet force who balances our strident yells with a quiet firm no.

Kim…. The Bow Tie Man, he is the Yin to our Yang and flew the Flag. Before we met I would silently salute the Flag on the front of his house on Carrollton. “DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP” it said. He has taught me a lot.

Morrey…. The passionate pragmatic actress. See her now at Southern Rep. [shameless plug] She kept us on point with paperwork and membership and remebering to dot the i and cross the t. It made all the diffrence.

Our last recruit. Debi…. She lives at the corner of Blight and Despair. Her house overlooks the 4 Corners. When we met she was worn to the nub from this fight and sure that the outcome would be one that was inevitable. She brought reality to the situation. When ever I thought that the fight was over I drove to the Parking Lot and looked at her house. I thought about being a single mother and trying to make a home for a 11 year old. As the piles of trash and gas tanks and flooded cars grew I thought about what it was like to live there. As I write this I am listening to “Room with a View [of the Blues} by Johhny Adams. That is her theme song.

Me…All I know is that there is a right way and a wrong way, and my list of gratitude is long. Alan at Think New Orleans he pointed me in a the direction of Civic Activism that has forever changed the way I see things. Maitri the Magnificent and Ray from New Orleans relocated to Austin and back again with a shovel and broom.

All of this is an introduction to the announcement this week that Walgreens will be working with the City, and the residents of our Flooded City. They are planning on building according to the Carrollton Overlay and including a much needed Grocery in the equation. Marc Robert is on board with this and we are as well.

For the first time in a long time the residents of the 4 corners are working together for a better community.

We have Shelley Midura to thank for that. Shelley did not even have time to hang her hat in her City Hall office, and she was meeting with us, and other residents in the area. She and Alex Morgan worked tirelessly and dogedly to resolve this issue. At a time when there are nothing but issues, she gave this one her full attention and we can not say enough about her even handed approach.
So Thanks to all those who made it happen. Walgreens, Gordon Kolb, Justin Schmidt, Marc Robert and all those that care about the future of this City. And not to forget, Mid City, Neron Place, Marilyn Barbera [The Sage], Richard Layman in D.C. Michelle and Peter, for gas when I was running low.

I have probably forgotten to thank you, my mind is now hampered by chemo and Double Post Traumatic Stress, and the relentless sound of jack Hammers in my Neighborhood.
So Thanks… Karen Gadbois

NorthWest Carrollton mentioned in NYTimes

Planning... Lambert
Planning... UNOP
Planning... CPC to come

In the neighborhoods, New Orleanians are skeptical. “Why does it seem that every time someone swoops in to help us, it winds up being a mess?” asked Jenel Hazlett, of the Northwest Carrollton Civic Association, a neighborhood group. “They keep moving the players around, and we as citizens keep getting jerked around.”

Like others, Ms. Hazlett professes bewilderment at a planning process, now stretching out for nearly a year,that involves an ever-shifting cast of characters, embraces and then swiftly rejects differing visions, and calls for repeated consultations with the citizens — and still produces no plan.

NorthWest Carrollton in the Village Voice

See the article in the Village Voice.

Building Blocks
Neighbor by neighbor, house by house, New Orleans struggles on
By Anya Kamenetz Tuesday, Aug 22 2006

"I've lost all sense of what's normal," says New Orleans resident Bart Everson. His house, which took on five feet of water, stands at a crossroads in the city's recovery—one of the points where people staring at destruction must decide whether to stay or go. At the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, he and his wife are back in their Mid-City home, in a neighborhood where fewer than 30 percent of the families own the place they live in and which most visitors might see only on their way to Jazzfest.


Absentee landlords have abandoned more than half the nearby buildings in his district. His neighbors across the street, an elderly African American woman with her three grandchildren, are gone, replaced by someone who seems to be a squatter. Newly arrived Hispanic laborers are paying twice the pre-Katrina rents, yet some have no electricity or gas. Some pile their unbagged garbage in the street. The block around the corner is full of FEMA trailers, and across the street is a grocery store untouched since the storm. Inside, rats scurry over a floor slick with rot.

And yet Everson, who works at Xavier University, and his wife, who teaches school, have no plans to leave. They are renovating their flooded first story. They complained to their City Council member about the garbage and the rats, and used Spanish-language flyers to persuade new neighbors to clean up. And most of all, the Eversons are active in their neighborhood organization, which like dozens around the city is working independently to devise a plan for rebuilding. Their group is proposing to form a community redevelopment corporation to buy blighted houses and provide a path to homeownership for those willing to renovate them.

"We want to give people a reason to move to Mid-City," Everson says, especially people from more wrecked neighborhoods who can't afford to buy in the areas that stayed dry. "I really think we are the best of the worst, as far as a flooded neighborhood that's coming back."

If you want to get what's going on in New Orleans right now, you need to understand Everson's state of mind, which he describes as "tightly bridled optimism." People here have always read the map as a checkerboard—rich and poor, safe and dangerous, white and black. One year post-Katrina, the grid has acquired a few more dimensions. Multiply the August 30 flood line by the percentage of renters vs. homeowners, and by the distance from the "sliver on the river" or the "Aisle of denial"—the dry area from the French Quarter to Tulane University—and you get a rough index of viability.

The grassroots commitment of individual residents like Everson is the X factor in the fate of each of the city's 73-odd neighborhoods; still-inadequate hurricane protection and an absence of citywide coordination are the immovable variables that threaten them all.

Add to that mix the big money and big plans coming at the beginning of September. Up to $150,000 in homeowners' assistance is coming through the Road Home program, federal grants administered by the state Louisiana Recovery Authority. But for rental housing and every other city planning issue, no one knows what exactly will be funded, or how and when. John McIlwain of the Urban Land Institute, a national urban planning and developers' trade organization, has been advising in the process officially and unofficially for the past year. He says Mayor Ray Nagin has just a few weeks to designate someone who’ll make sure the money goes where it's supposed to. "There is a window of opportunity now with the plans in place and the money coming in,” McIlwain argues. “If they're not coordinated by a strong organization, the money will be wasted."

On the other hand, he says, "One thing I think is really positive is that the neighborhood groups are involved in the planning effort . . . . Recovery has to be neighborhood based and block by block."

Dozens of neighborhood organizations have either been formed or greatly expanded, even in the most devastated areas, and suddenly everyone knows the local city councilperson by name. "I knew my neighbors to wave to," says Karen Gadbois. After the storm, she co-founded the Northwest Carrollton Civic Association and is now trying to get elderly neighbors back in their homes, shut out a big-box store, and improve police response. "I've called them and they literally say, 'If you'd like to report an emergency, press 3--it's like calling Cox Cable, except you're calling 911." At a recent 2nd District community police meeting, she says, a man reported that a gunshot victim crawled under his FEMA trailer and died.

Talk to neighborhood activists citywide and you hear the same chorus of complaints: housing blight, decaying infrastructure, resurgent crime, and a lack of leadership. "The mayor is invisible," says Maitri Venkat-Ramani, a Shell Oil geologist who hears drug deals outside her house on Magazine Street.

"He's done nothing for the city," seconds Linda DeGruy, who moved back into the Iberville projects in June without authorization and is withholding rent. She’s suing the Housing Authority of New Orleans for her right to stay. While most of the city's public housing remains closed and slated for demolition, around 250 residents have returned to this development, some with permission and at least 29 without it. The drug trade is back here too, with a vengeance. Cleveland Young, one of a group of men standing outside Iberville's corner grocery with beers on a Sunday afternoon, says he got out of prison in the spring after five years and is "just trying to survive."

Walgreens Kills Flooded Neighborhoods

In spite of the fact that the Walgreens Corporation has leased property for 8 years and has let it fall into a a state of disrepair.

In spite of the fact that it has become a public nuiscance to the degree that the neighbors next to the site fear for personal safety.

In spite of the fact that we have experienced the worst man made disaster in the History of this Country.

In spite of the fact that we are busy trying to fight for the survival of our Neighborhood with no help from The LRA and our Federal Government.

In spite of the fact that we have asked repeatedly and been lied to repeatedly by Walgreens Corporate offices as well as local representatives.

In spite of all that they want to continue to ignore the Zoning Laws of this City.

Hold Walgreens Accountable

This is a store built in Ohio for a town of less than 3000 people. Walgreens does not want to give the same respect to the recovering citizens of New Orleans.

World Monuments Watch

New Orleans alone contains 20 National Register Historic Districts and 20 National Historic Landmarks, many of which were severely impacted by flooding. These buildings and neighborhoods are as much an integral part of the culture of the area as its celebrations, music, and food.

WE ARE NOT JUST ANY CITY, WE ARE NEW ORLEANS

Whose Plan is it Anyway

An e mail recieved from a NorthWest Carrollton member

New Orleanians have waited for clear direction in the planning process and worried over who was going to end up in charge.
We have yet to get it, either clear direction or even a process to might get us to a clear direction.
We’ve had BNOB.
We’ve had individual neighborhood plans done by folks with either money or connections or both.
We had the City Council-Lambert Planners put in place to try to help those folks who have neither money nor connections and to herd the other planning cats and now ….. drumroll please

We have GNOF, Rockefeller, the NOCSF and the Unified plan.

Interesting that GNOF folks participated in BNOB.
Interesting that GNOF is full of folks which lots of connections. i wonder if I were to look deeply at membership how many of those families are Rex or Comus families.
Interesting that GNOF/Concordia and others are only now stepping to the forefront, now that they have secured financing and feel that they can improve upon (circumvent?) the messy democratic process that should be associated with the follow of federal dollars to New Orleans’ recovery. In short what they have said to New Orleans citizenry and government is: “We have the money and the Rockefeller connections” so now that you are desperate you all have to follow us.”
Interesting that we as citizens continue to be told we MUST PARTICIPATE!!!!!, yet are not provided with details or even the actual locations for the meetings where we can PARTICIPATE will be held by our GNOF/Concordia friends. Perhaps this really is the Comus-Rex Plan and all those GNOF/Concordia/folks with connections really don’t want us to participate as much as they want us to stand on the streets and watch their parade.

To bad they haven’t realized, that Katrina made us more aware and less willing to stand on the sidelines.
This, folks, is fixing to implode.

2 Weeks

Yesterday Shelley Midura read a statement at City Council. This is an excerpt:

“The question is will Walgreens build to the corner in such a way that allows
a Grocery to be built next to it, or will it build to the corner in such a way
that excludes that possibility. So in the end the decision is Walgreens.

Having attended the City Council Session I can say that Shelley demonstrated a remarkable knowledge of the issue, one that has a History in the City, in terms of Neighborhood wishes and Development.

She has spent considerable time and effort along with her Staff to research and listen

We sincerely hope that the Team Walgreens will come to the table and we all can find the middle ground that we can live with, and celebrate.

We would like our corner to be the Urban Model for Walgreens, a store which serves the cars passing by and the residents who live there. Much as the downtown; Canal Street, Walgreens delights with it’s Huge Art deco sign.

We would like to see our corner be the icon for future development.

Letter from NorthWest Carrollton to Shelley Midura

This letter was sent to Shelley Midura

Shelley
Thank you very much for your statements and your actions today in the City _Council Meeting.

We know you listened to every word we said.
We know you evaluated every angle and all possibilities.
We appreciate you diligence and thoroughness and evenhandedness (even though it has been nerve racking!)
We hope you realize that what we the neighborhoods truly want a
win-win situation.
We will wait to hear from you or from Walgreens as to how we should proceed.

As for the request from the Council President:

the neighborhoods will not budge on their insistence that the protection provided to the residential and historic neighborhoods by the overlay is upheld

I hope our alternate plan showed we are not anti-Walgreens or anti-development

Again your constituents Thank You very much,

Jenel Hazlett
NorthWest Carrollton

Walgreens Plans

Thanks to Third Battle site some of the history of the famous NorthWest Carrollton Walgreens' fight is preserved.

8405-07 Apricot

8405-07 Apricot sold
by Gwendolyn Baylis Everage & Charles Everage
to  Brandy Truehill Bush & Michael Bush Jr.
for $105,000

GNOF and Lambert

This is a copy of A Letter to the Editor from a Resident of NorthWest Carrollton

As a recovering neighbor in a flooded neighborhood on the edge of the Isle of Denial I looked around to the few neighbors who were back and we all said: HUH?!!!! or “We’ve got to get busy” and “How the heck do we prove our viability or plan?” So we organized, we went to countless meetings, we learned and we were annoyed by the conflicting signals being sent from Federal, State and City government as well as the well meaning non-profit organizers. Some neighborhoods “have money to hire their own planners others have worked connections with local and national universities, some neighborhoods used both money and connections to start their plans.

In January BNOB said that neighborhoods had to prove their viability.Many neighborhoods had neither money nor connections and were left to figure it out for themselves, while they were rebuilding their houses and lives.

The City Council’s Planning process allows these “have not” neighbors and neighborhoods a voice. Has the process been perfect? Nope. Welcome to PostKatrina New Orleans. In case you haven’t noticed, not much is perfect.

But if you take the time to attend the meetings, talk to the planner or planners directly, speak to Mr. Lambert (who attends the meetings) directly and explain your frustrations, concerns, ideas then, I promise you, the City Council Planners will listen and respond and work with you.

This is true bottom up grassroots planning by the neighborhoods and the neighbors who are here struggling to make it work. We can not throw the baby out with the bathwater just because the GNOF and the Rockefeller Foundation have ridden in their white horses. Lest we forget, the funding for the GNOF planning and the associated recovery funding is coming in on the backs of flooded, recovering neighbors. The plan to fold the work of the City Council planning process and other independent planning processes into the work being done by GNOF honors the work of citizens who have been at this for a long, long time. Let our city government work out a process that joins the City Council planning efforts and GNOF efforts. It is possible. To assure continuity in the planning process key contacts from neighborhood groups who have actively participated in building their own plans or working with City Council planners should be included in GNOF’s efforts. The CSO process and associated contacts are not enough. I am glad the Rockefeller foundation is working here in New Orleans. I’m sure they will do good work.

We must collaborate and cooperate to make this work. By “we” I mean all of us: Neighbors, Non-Profits, Federal-State-City governments, Wet and Dry, Back and Not back, all of us. Because if we New Orleanians do not all stand together in our recovery and planning then we shall surely all drown together. And most of us know what that is like and do not care to repeat it.

Jenel Hazlett

NorthWest Carrollton

Letter to Our Council

This is an exceprt of a letter was written by one of our members

There is a misconception that I have heard voiced, both by Councilperson Miduras office, and in the ABC TV news story on the proposed Walgreens at the corner of Carrollton and Claiborne, that I would like to correct. The public and neighbors who are in opposition to a proposed 150 foot setback variance for the building, have been told that if the Carrollton Overlay is adhered to (ie. No setback from the street), no design review will be given to the actual design of the building itself. That is a misleading, and utterly false statement. The Zoning Ordinance clearly states that :

The overall building design (including its height and bulk) should be compatible with the neighborhood and shall provide for a pedestrian environment (through) the use of visually active ground level treatments by incorporation of overhangs, arcades, balconies and galleries, (and) architectural details, material, colors, textures. The design vernacular and site development shall adhere to the character and scale of the surroundings.The City Planning Commission has the authority, and indeed the duty, to review the design (including the facades) of the proposed building, and the power to recommend changes if they find the design lacking. I would hope that a neighborhood committee could be allowed to be part of that process as well. This was obviously not done at the Walgreens on Claiborne and Napoleon, and resulted in a nondescript block of a building. But that, I fear, was due to the City Planning Commission not following the design review recommendations of the Zoning Ordinance, and not a fault of the Zoning Ordinance per se.

It is important to set the record straight for those who may have been confused by any unintentional misinformation disseminated by the media or Ms Miduras office on this matter.

What a difference some blight makes.....

OLD NEWS FROM FIA
This past May, FIA invited newly-inaugurated District A City Councilman Jay Batt to our General Membership Meeting, to discuss Walgreens planned re-development of the northwest corner of South Carrollton and South Claiborne Avenues.

In his campaign speeches,then-candidate Batt made a bold promise of bringing not one
but two or three grocery stores to the lower Carrollton area. This Walgreens site
plays heavily in the ongoing grocery store debate, as it is one of the few ommercial sites along South Carrollton Avenue capable of handling anything more than the smallest neighborhood store.

For over two years, members of several neighborhood groups in the Carrollton area have met with City planners, former District A Councilman Scott Shea and other municipal leaders, to monitor and critique Walgreens design and development plans, hoping to ensure that Walgreens plans for the busy corner were compatible with the
historical and residential character of our neighborhood.

At the request of FIA representatives and others, Councilman Shea deferred
any City Council action on Walgreens proposed plan, to allow additional inquiry into the matter, and to allow his successor Batt time to broker a compromise between the increasingly opposing factions. Batt never shied away from the fact that his primary
objective was simply to ensure that the Walgreens plan included a grocery store. But many residents had additional concerns, and were willing to forego the opportunity to make groceries just down the corner, if it meant compromising on the City
Carrollton Overlay design restrictions.

Briefly stated, Walgreens proposed plan began with demolishing the existing commercial building that once housed a K&B Drugstore and a Canal/Villere grocery store. But in addition, Walgreens planned to acquire and raze the entire city block, including, most notably, the fire station at the corner of Carrollton and Nelson.
In its place, Walgreens proposed a new commercial center that, in the eyes
of many residents, was poorly situated on and simply too large for the site. Many residents also opposed the relocation of the fire station to an unidentified site on the lake side of Earhart Boulevard.

Another key objection expressed to the Walgreens plan was the lack of certainty that a grocery store the second phase of a two-phase development would ever be built. As
proposed by Walgreens, the former K&B/Canal Villere building would be demolished immediately, making room for the quick construction of the new Walgreens store.

Carrollton Overlay

OK…How Hard should this be to understand?

The following design standards take precedence over ones specified in the underlying zoning districts which are less restrictive:

Building Design A strong visual connection shall be made between the building design and the existing character of the area. The overall building design (including its height and bulk) should be compatible with the neighborhood and shall provide for a pedestrian environment through the use of visually active ground level treatments. Where appropriate, buildings should provide climatic protection to their users by incorporation of overhangs, arcades, balconies and galleries. Architectural details, material, colors, textures and landscape treatments shall be coordinated to provide visual continuity, quality and consistency. The design vernacular and site development shall adhere to the character and scale of the surroundings.

2. Site Development

a. Setbacks Front yard setbacks shall be the average of the existing buildings on the block face with the installation of landscaping in any front yard setback.

b. Vehicular Use Area Landscaping and Screening. Parking areas shall be designed to meet the standards set forth in Section 15.2.5 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. A continuous landscape hedge at a minimum height of thirty (30) inches shall be required along the perimeter of any vehicular use area adjacent to the public right-of-way. Alternatively, masonry wall, earth berm, metal fence and a hedge, or any combination thereof meeting the same height requirements may be substituted. Any residual areas not used for parking or vehicular access shall be landscaped with trees, shrubs and groundcover. Additionally, a landscaped island shall be required every ten (10) continuous parking spaces, to include the planting of a minimum of one (1) shade tree, shrubs and/or groundcover. All required trees shall be a minimum of ten (10) feet in height and have a minimum caliper of two (2) inches upon installation.

c. Street Tree Planting Where the continuity of major street tree plantings has been interrupted, as determined by the City Planning Commission staff, the reestablishment of such planting shall be required as a condition of development/redevelopment. Such plantings shall be in accordance with the standards of the Department of Parks and Parkways.

d. Trash Dumpsters Trash dumpsters (and any other type of refuse storage area) that are positioned adjacent to or visible from any other land use or street right-of-way shall be screened from view from them with an opaque wooden fence or masonry wall that is no less than six (6) feet tall.

e. Loading Area Service drives or other areas for off-street loading shall be provided in such a way that during the loading and unloading, no truck will block the passage of other vehicles on the service drive or extend into any other public or private drive or street. All loading areas shall be screened from view from the adjacent properties or street right-of-way with an opaque wooden or masonry fence that is no less than six (6) feet tall.

f. Lighting Light standards shall be limited in height to twenty-five (25) feet and shall not be directed toward any adjacent residential uses.

3. Signage

a. Each business shall be limited to one (1) attached wall or projecting sign. The sign shall be limited to one (1) square foot per linear foot of building width or tenant space to a maximum of seventy (70) square feet. Exterior attached signs shall not project above the first floor of a building.

b. One (1) detached (monument) sign shall be permitted for businesses/uses located along corridors or sections of corridors with at least four (4) lanes. The sign shall be limited to one-half (1/2) square foot per linear foot of the lot width to a maximum of seventy (70) square feet in area. Maximum permitted height of the detached sign shall be twelve (12) feet. Any detached sign shall be set back from all adjacent public rights-of-way a distance at least equal to the height of the sign.

c. A maximum of two (2) canopy signs shall be permitted for each business but their area shall be counted in the total allowable sign area for the business.

d. The sign may be illuminated but shall not flash, blink or fluctuate. The backlighting of awning containing signage shall not be permitted.

e. Only one interior window sign per business shall be permitted within four (4) feet of the interior face of any window of a building and shall be counted in the total allowable sign area for the business.

4. Litter Abatement Program A litter abatement program acceptable to the Department of Safety and Permits shall be established for each development indicating procedures, pick-up schedule and a contact person.

(Ord. 18,569 § 1 (part), adopted 1/8/98)

Ideas for Planning

We batted around some ideas the other night for the planning process of our Neighborhood

1) A police substation on our side of Audubon Park.

2) A floodwall on the Orleans side of the Monticello Canal.

3) Dark skies lighting.

4) Light rail system down Claiborne Avenue.

5) A streetcar line down Carrollton to connect Xavier University with Tulane and Loyola.

6) Change bustops from ugly oven-like stops to user-friendly tree-landscaped stops.

7) Appropriate commercial development along Apple Street from Dante to Leonidas.

8) No conversion of residentially-zoned properties to commercial.

9) Trees on every major thoroughfare including and particularly Earhart.

9) Redevelopment of Incarnate Word. Should be placed on the Historic Register.

10) No demolition of historic houses in federal historic neighborhood.

11) Create a local historic neighborhood consisting of the boundaries of the Historic Town of Carrollton.

12) Very careful development of high-density housing.

13) Planning for Claiborne/Carrollton. Safe and inviting ways to get from streetcar to Palmer Park.

14) Revitalization of Palmer Park. Perhaps a bandstand.

15) City Gates Artistically inspired structures at the entrances to Orleans Parish at Claiborne and at Oak and Earhart that effectively announce that you are now entering a very special place.

16) Correct traffic flow at Earhart and Carrollton interchange.

Next Meeting

Meeting in City Council Chambers June 28,
7 p.m. (see below)

Please forward to friends, especially the following neighborhoods: Carrollton/ Claiborne//Broadway/Upper St. Charles/Fontainebleau/Mid City.
–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–-–

This is a major issue in how the old Town of Carrollton shall be redeveloped and ultimately, the entire Carrollton Corridor all the way to City Park. The value of our property hinges on retaining the authentic New Orleans architecture facing major thoroughfares.
The possibilities are: beastly or beauty.

*Note the only issue before the council shall be either to grant a variance to Walgreen or not to do so. There is no vote by the council concerning a Grocery Store.

Granting the variance will allow for a suburban designed store with parking facing Carrollton, and the store placed in the rear behind the parking. Carrollton Ave has a design standard which requires the Urban concept of placing the store near Carrollton with the parking behind the store. Upholding this Ordinance is consistent with historic neighborhoods surround by residential property.

Town Hall Meeting

Join Shelley Midura on Wednesday June 21.
Jesuit High School at Banks and Carrollton 7pm
Enter on Banks Street Side.

We will have the opportunity to review plans for the corner of Claiborne and Carrollton, meet with Council Woman Midura and the Developers of Walgreens.

Speaking Out

At a June 28th Town Hall meeting held in City Council Chambers Scott Andrews (on NorthWest Carrollton's board) spoke out on why we deserve better than Walgreens was offering.

Walgreens Town Hall

This past Thursday several members of NorthWest Carrollton, along with residents of the Riverbend carrollton area,attended a meeting with Mr. Darryl Berger, Mr Gordon Kolb and Mr. Marc Robert amoung others.

What we see in the present site plans is a suburban model placed in an urban context. In the past Walgreens had waged a campaign against the Neighborhoods, it worked to the degree that they are still willing to fight this fight with the exact same position

History of the Walgreens Fight

Walgreens is once again requesting to build a Drug Store at Carrollton and Claiborne, and is requesting a variance of the Carrollton Ave. Inner-city Overlay.* There is no firm commitment at this point that a grocery store will ever be built next to it. Those who have attended the June 15th meeting with Shelley Midura, may wish to update us on any progress that was achieved.

History of the Carrollton Residents fight for a grocery store.
1. An open forum sponsored by Uptown Triangle, Carrollton/Riverbend, Upper Carrollton Residents and MARI was held at Xavier where approximately 60 people went to the microphone and each stated they wanted a grocery store at that corner. The meeting was attended by 90 plus residents The Walgreen developer from Houston, their attorney, Councilman Scott Shea, Alex Heaton, Steve Scalise were present. The event, advertised on widely distributed flyers, was designed to tell Walgreen and Councilman Shea that the neighborhood wanted a grocery store.

2.. Picketing at the site with signs that reflected the neighborhood's overwhelming desire for a grocery store rather than another drug store. It was carried by the TV media on more than one occasion.As many recall, who were involved in stopping Walgreen from obtaining a variance of the "Inner City Carrollton Overlay," * the upholding of the Overlay was crucial to the redevelopment of the square, but was not the sole issue. A grocery store for the site had overwhelming neighborhood support for miles around. The position of the neighborhood was to uphold the parking and design requirements of the Overlay and to force the issue of getting a grocery store. Walgreen withdrew their request for a variance and decided to wait out the neighborhood opposition to a variance.(The Overlay addresses “setback” requirements on a major thoroughfare, that is, a structure is to be built near the sidewalk with the parking in the rear. This urban design benefits aesthetics of the streetscape with sensitivity to the surrounding residential properties and in this case Palmer Park as well. It also affords convenience for pedestrian traffic. In contrast, a suburban design has parking near the side walk with the building set back behind the parking lot, e.g. Veterans Blvd. The overlay was signed into an ordinance by Peggy Wilson and recommended by the City Planning Commission as a reaction to some unsightly commercial development that had occurred between Earhardt and I-10.)
3. Petitions numbering approximately 1000 in favor of a grocery store were collected by all neighborhood associations from Broadway and beyond to the Jefferson Parish line and from the Mississippi River to Pritchard Place and Walmsley Ave. Never before had this area collected as many petitions.

4. Thousands of flyers were distributed announcing several neighborhood meetings to obtain input from residents. All neighborhood associations overwhelmingly supported a grocery store on that site, but would not support a variance of the Carrollton Ave. Overlay design ordinance.. The support for a grocery store at that location was also a major topic in neighborhood association newsletters.

5. Architectural plans were drawn up by Rodney Dionisio, an architect, and at the time a board member of Carrollton/Riverbend Residents’ Assoc., indicating that both a Walgreen’s Drug Store and a grocery store within the square with parking could be achieved. The design was in compliance with the Overlay and was exhibited at

several neighborhood meetings. Walgreen refused the offer of the design because they insisted upon building the store behind the parking lot away from Carrollton Ave.

Note: Was told that there shall be another and perhaps even larger redevelopment in the area of Piccadilly and the Carrollton Shopping Center and perhaps even closer to Earhardt. If the residents allow a variance from the Overlay for Walgreen, it shall set a precedent for a waiver of the Overlay from Claiborne to I-10. Shelley Midura needs to be aware of the possibility of an uglier than ever Carrollton Commercial Strip. This is a complex issue, it involves not only a much needed grocery store, but it also involves the beautification of Carrollton Ave. In the 1960’s, the Lower St. Charles Ave. streetscape became urban blight. It went from beautiful historic mansions and oaks to unsightly commercial buildings set back with concrete parking lots in front. It will take much activism to prevent this from happening to Carrollton Ave.. Please support rebuilding the way that Urban Planners design beautiful cities.

Thanks to Marilyn Barbera..She has worked on this project for too many years to count

Walgreens and City Council

This Thursday the first session of the new Orleans City Council was an important day for the Residents of NorthWest Carrollton.They voted to table the ordinance and allow the Neighbors to take part in the process.

Guerrillas in Our Midst

Take a look at this story about Walgreens and PostKatrina development.

Ye Olde College Inn

When NorthWest Carrollton Civic Association was in its infancy, Johnny Blancher allowed us to use Ye Olde College Inn's upper room for our first meetings. We were lucky when we had 10 people show up. But then it was February & March of 2006 and the whole city was still recovering. Thank you Johnny.