Developer won't wait for land-use study

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

By Mark Waller

Even as neighbors and planners put the finishing touches on a study to guide the future of Bucktown, one proposal for a 32-unit condominium project is already winding through the government approval process.

Its architect touts the proposed development between Chickasaw Street and Seminole Avenue as a likely match for the goals of the study. Still, it is raising concerns among residents that the project should wait for the study's completion.

Landowner Clay Frazier applied for multifamily zoning before the study began, so he does not have to follow a building moratorium that is in place until the Bucktown blueprint is finished. He envisions a pair of four-story structures containing two-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot units priced up to $300,000. The complex would be built behind high-rise condos lining Old Hammond Highway .

"The properties have just laid there dormant in their dilapidated conditions," architect Raymond Bergeron said of what is a string of empty lots and weathered buildings. "You've got tax benefits. You've got progress in terms of (hurricane) recovery. And you improve the area by bringing in more desirable property."

Bergeron said there's no need to wait for the results of the new Bucktown zoning scheme because the buildings already fit into the plan's potential strategy of creating a transition between the larger developments fronting Lake Pontchartrain and the single-family houses farther inland. The 50-foot buildings would be smaller than the lakefront condos, he said.

But Joel Borrello, a member of the Bucktown Civic Association and a citizens committee reviewing the Bucktown plan, said it remains to be seen whether requirements about height, density, architectural reviews and other provisions would differ from the condos as they are now proposed.

"Our position was wait to see, give deference to the study," Borrello said. "It's a master plan that we'd like to see followed, an orderly plan for the development of Bucktown. This is something kind of sticking up in the middle of an otherwise planned development."

Borrello said the study could create entirely new land use classifications designed specifically to address the issues facing Bucktown, the site of years of tension between a fishing village heritage and the pressure for lakefront development.

The Bucktown citizens advisory group today is set to review the latest plans for Bucktown, drafted by hired consultants. The plan will then face scrutiny from a broader Jefferson Parish citizens review board before it is presented to the public as part of the Parish Council's formal process of considering new regulations.

Parish Planning Director Ed Durabb said the plan, launched in 2005 before Hurricane Katrina, is entering its final stages, with possible council consideration by the end of the year.

"The idea is for all of us to be on the same page in the same book in the same library," in making decisions about construction in Bucktown, Durabb said.

Frazier is seeking to rezone one section of his one-acre piece of land from commercial use to multi-family residential and another section from single and double-family use to multi-family. He also wants to combine five lots into one.

The Jefferson Planning Advisory Board deferred making a recommendation on the changes last month, after hearing residents' concerns. It will next take up the project on Sept. 28.

Some neighbors also raised issues outside the status of the Bucktown study. Darleen Bordes Barré said she worries about drainage and traffic and thinks the project is too big. Neighbor Randy Mullet questioned whether the complex would have enough parking.

"I'd prefer to see (fewer) units, a little less density," Mullet said. "It's not architecturally in line with the rest of the neighborhood."

Bergeron, however, said it fits perfectly between existing condos on Old Hammond Highway and houses to the south and would appeal to people looking for new housing after Katrina and to senior citizens hoping to escape the chores of maintaining individual homes.

"It provides upscale, moderate housing availability for people who need to relocate," Bergeron said.

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Mark Waller may be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7056.

Shown is a computer rendering of a proposed condominium project in Bucktown. The architect touts the proposed development between Chickasaw Street and Seminole Avenue as a likely match for the goals of the land-use study being completed to guide the building of the structure. [2692073]