A Dance into Progress
New Orleans East is experiencing a season of opportunity for transformative shifts in land use zoning aimed at increasing investment. New development is exciting for any community, and investors typically consider a site’s physical location and surrounding benefits before reviewing its zoning. Rezoning vacant land with flexible classifications will significantly enhance site marketability by reducing New Orleans East’s barriers to entry. Rarely does an investor consider a site’s zoning before the investor first appreciates the physical situs and that location’s demographics. In the metaphorical dance of progress, it is imperative to lean into land use reform underway as a key component to increase New Orleans East’s land use marketability to investors.
As we sift through land use zoning policies that hinder growth and sustain under-investment, we pave the way for purposeful shifts in public policy, mindset, and in norms that are more cultural than doctrine. Palesa Community Development Corporation (CDC) recommends City Council Approval of the following Future Land Use Map (FLUM) Amendment Requests and the City Planning Commission Staff recommendations for APPROVALS and MODIFIED APPROVALS: Request Numbers PD-9-01, PD-9-03, PD-9-04, PD-9-05, PD-9-06, PD-9-07, PD-9-09, PD-9-10, PD-9-11, PD-9-12, PD-9- 13, PD-9-14, PD-9-15, PD-9-16, PD-9-17, PD-9-18, PD-9-19, PD-9-20, PD-9-21, PD-9-22, PD-9-23, PD-9-24, and PD-9-25.
Transformation is at the heart of community progress. Sifting and then shifting sheds an old skin in exchange for - Growth. When we hear the word “growth,” we envision robust commercial corridors and diverse housing options. The mental visual we experience when we hear the word is the definition of growth. The word has a definition of such simplicity that we inherently understand it without any verbal pontification.
New Orleans East can and should plan and build housing and neighborhoods that cater to the needs and interests of younger adults, diverse families, and persons with cultural and creative pursuits. College student’s talents should be incorporated into community planning to effectively engage this target group in socialization that aims to increase their pride, attachment, and thus residency in New Orleans East neighborhoods.
For the first time in the past 200 years of America, minorities will make up the majority of children in public schools that will hopefully grow into citizens participating in varied systems of democracy. Ideally, young adults will become caring residents involved in community plans, laws, philanthropy, sustainability and growth. Since 2000, Louisiana, despite having a majority-minority city, New Orleans, lost two congressional seats due to population decline, while Texas, Florida, and Georgia saw population growth. In June 2023, an LSU affiliate expressed that Louisiana was losing college enrollment to Texas. The state’s growth rate of 2.7% is far below the national average growth of 7.4% and the Southern regional average of 10.2%. Looking farther back to 1980…. Louisiana has had the slowest growth of any southern neighboring state, with only an 11% growth rate. Mississippi had 17% and Alabama 29%. We cannot only contribute this decrease in residents to water/stormwater management challenges and natural disasters if both Texas and Florida have also experienced such challenges.
Zoning and allowed land use policies dictate population growth. When you control the permit, you control the price, and thus the purse. Permit approvals control housing and commercial land use opportunities. Reforming land use policies in New Orleans East involves identifying opportunities, removing conservative policies that limit development, and embracing flexibility. This practice may feel difficult and time consuming, but surely does not have to be. Building to usher in the community's progress requires sifting through the minimum building requirements necessitated. Sifting becomes an act of discernment, isolating the gems of potential development from the clutter of “what used to be” and “what we fear” stagnation. Re-zoning utilizes the major distinction between absolute and nuance; only residential zoning on a parcel or the openness to the free market and business community assessing a site for marketability as residential single-family housing, multi-family housing, both, commercial, or as mixed-land use. When we use the nuance in lieu of the absolute, we manage dialogue that increases community collaboration, increases perception as a welcoming business environment, and increases investment. The amendments proposed by the City Planning Department and Commission increase zoning flexibility through Mixed-Use Zoning classifications.
We are each uniquely wired to contribute to our community. By embracing a process for sifting through each unique opportunity we then lay baselines that leverage patience to identify opportune shifts that are neither all black nor all white, but mostly gray and in a “Well, it depends” state of analysis. The actual, patient work of determining development opportunity nuances guide us toward a New Orleans East which may be experienced as welcoming first, second - less stressful, and ultimately primed for a future of diverse individuals in age, race, gender, and talent. Diversity in talents will contribute to our collective wellness and resident empowerment, which rests on guiding principles that leverage Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Benefitting beyond the housing industry’s construction economics, which is needed in New Orleans East, entails a dedicated commitment to crafting new living environments that encourage connection and nurture innovation. Fostering community growth is a technical and creative art that involves cultivating individual then shared dreams, purposeful spaces, and a vision beyond the ordinary. Managing this delicate dance into progress requires understanding neighborhood and regional economics, having an adept hand in navigating resources, and an unwavering commitment to initiating more of the world’s best community development practices. Building community leverages former practices, resources, and persons, to create conduits that cater to both the current and the unknown, future resident’s housing interests.
Here is a highlight on what is current and new in federal housing policy. In June 2023, President Biden shared an economic vision that builds an economy from the middle out and bottom up. The central goal of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan is to lower costs by building and preserving more housing. The White House intends to tackle challenges that have stifled housing development for decades, as well as seize immediate opportunities.
As New Orleans considers the city-wide Future Land Use Map Amendments for New Orleans East, note the similarity found in policy goals at the federal level. HUD’s Announcement states efforts to accomplish the following:
Reduce barriers to build housing: such as restrictive and costly land use and zoning rules.
Expand financing for affordable, energy efficient and resilient housing; and
Promote commercial-to-residential conversion opportunities, particularly for affordable and zero emissions housing.
The White House & HUD’s actions are directly leading to the creation of tens of thousands of housing units. These administrative actions are in direct alignment with the leadership of the City of New Orleans Mayor and the City Council’s Future Land Use Map Zoning Amendments currently under review.
The article titled, “Biden-Harris Administration Announces Actions to Lower Housing Costs and Boosts Supply I The White House,” is excerpt herein: “Like Restrictive and Costly Land Use and Zoning Rules. Local land use laws and zoning regulations limit where, and how densely housing can be built. This constrains housing supply, perpetuates historical patterns of segregation, prevents workers from accessing jobs, and increases energy costs and climate risk. The Biden-Harris Administration is funding jurisdictions committed to removing barriers that restrict housing production and preservation, through the following.
Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing Program (PRO): Restrictive local land use rules slow down housing production, or prohibit housing being developed at all, which increases the costs to rent or purchase a home. Such restrictive rules are often also inconsistent with fair housing principles. This first-of-its-kind $85 million federal program will provide communities with funding to identify and remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation. HUD will award grants of up to $10 million to jurisdictions that have an acute demand for affordable housing and are working to identify, address, or remove barriers to housing production and preservation. Funding can be used for planning and policy activities to allow for higher-density zoning and rezoning for multifamily and mixed-use housing, streamlining affordable housing development, and reducing requirements related to parking and other land use restrictions. Funding can also be used for infrastructure activities necessary for the development of housing.
The Department of Transportation announced the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program (RCN) to reduce land-use restrictions and improve transportation access to housing. The program provides up to $3.16 billion for planning and capital construction projects that prioritize disadvantaged communities and improve access to daily destinations. This includes improving connections to affordable housing, fostering equitable development, and increasing housing supply through zoning reform. RCN includes a $450 million Regional Partnership Challenge that will incentivize stronger regional partnerships to tackle persistent equitable access and mobility challenges, with land use reform as a key priority.
The Economic Development Administration (EDA) updated its “Investment Priorities” that guide the agency’s grantmaking to include an emphasis on efficient land use, where commercial uses, economic activity, and employment opportunities are concentrated and accessible to nearby residential density. Moving forward, EDA will more explicitly incentivize projects that include an emphasis on density in the vicinity of the project – which can in turn encourage greater housing supply and allow people to live closer to work and services they need.”
The White House has taken action to reform zoning policy with targeted funding. Sifting through New Orleans’ zoning laws signifies a departure from status quo to a conscious effort toward expanding the area’s potential use and a cultural shift toward a more-free market.
Supporting land use policy that increases quality housing options for renters and homeowners will encourage investment in New Orleans East residential and commercial thoroughfares. Palesa CDC supports the FLUM Amendments approved by the City Planning Department and Commission and encourages community support for these zoning changes.
