Chapter One

• Planning in New Orleans
• Contemporary Framework for Development in New Orleans
• Geographic Organization of the 1999 Land Use Plan
• Methods Used to Develop the 1999 Land Use Plan 
• Common Concerns Expressed at Citizen Workshops 
• Recommendations of the 1999 Land Use Plan
• Next Steps: Zoning and Master Planning Implications 

The 1999 Land Use Plan signifies an important milestone in the continuing history of the city. It was nearly 20 years ago that New Orleans last adopted a Land Use Plan, designating how citizens wanted to see their neighborhoods and their city grow and change over time. In twenty years, of course, much has changed demographically and economically: total population, ethnic composition, average age and household size have changed, as has the composition of the local economy. In turn, these changes have affected the everyday life of the citizens of New Orleans, and their aspirations for the future. This document chronicles change in a succinct manner, showing where we have come from and where we want to be. As a part of the vision included here, the Plan foresees preserving the best of what has happened in New Orleans -- sometimes by chance, such as the mixture of uses that developed historically -- while it recognizes the need for planning to address existing land use conflicts and to prevent incompatible development in the future. 

A land use plan is a long-term, generalized guide for future development. It is not an inflexible or rigid pattern for future land use. A land use plan does not anticipate all the new ideas and new opportunities that may arise over the next 20 or so years. Indeed, a land use plan cannot foresee all the ideas that may occur in a city. In recognition of the hopeful fact that good ideas may occur, a land use plan accommodates flexibility while emphasizing the importance of a reliable mechanism for evaluating unanticipated proposals. 

The goal of this 1999 Land Use Plan is to present agreement about ways to steer change in our city, based on modes of development which sustain and support the community in a sensible and responsible manner. A land use plan does not stand alone; it stands alongside other plans -- for economic development, for transportation, to name only two examples -- which affect how land is used. A land use plan offers guidance for policies and for individual decisions over how land is used, although the plan itself has no regulatory authority under the City Charter and state enabling legislation. The aspirations for change included in a land use plan come about as a result of cumulative private and public decisions about opening a business, locating a residential development, installing a public park, etc. That is, the interworkings of investments by private actors, individual entrepreneurs, as well as development decisions by public and quasi-public agencies bring about physical change to a city. The purpose of a land use plan is to offer guidance to any and all actors whose decisions affect land. 

The 1999 Land Use Plan is significant simply because it recognizes and registers changes that have occurred over the last 20 years throughout the City. The 1999 plan is significant for two other reasons. First, the local planning context within which it was developed is noteworthy. This plan is an explicit element of the Master Plan for New Orleans, a plan-in-process which includes the vision component New Century New Orleans, adopted in 1992. Developing a Master Plan was a task embraced in 1998 by Mayor Marc H. Morial's Administration, the City Council and the City Planning Commission. Such a concerted, coordinated and determined support of the planning process by both branches of government is noteworthy in New Orleans, and will eventuate in a complete Master Plan for the first time since 1970, when such an ambitious effort was undertaken with the backing of federal funds. The new Master Plan will be financed solely by citizens of New Orleans, a fact which emphasizes commitment to the plan, especially in this era of scarce budgetary resources.

Second, this plan is significant because of the methods used in its creation. The 1999 Land Use Plan created an interactive participation process to involve the public in a meaningful manner. Citizens literally got up out of their chairs and together filled in blank maps to indicate the places where land use conflicts existed, where they saw development potential, and where they would prefer to see various land uses located in the future. It was the use of these workshops, the use of surveys of individual attitudes and preferences, and the dedication to drawing out citizens' explanations that made the process of developing this Land Use Plan vastly different from the more familiar public hearing format used to develop most other plans. Residents who participated in the public process of the 1999 Land Use Plan talked to one another, rather than to a group of people seated at the front of a room -- elected officials, planning professionals, bureaucrats, etc. Because of the methods used, this plan is based upon discussion among citizens coupled with guidance from individuals trained as professional planners. The role of the professionals was threefold: to draw out citizens' viewpoints; to suggest means by which their concerns could be addressed and their aspirations realized; and to unite the citizens' attitudes with economic and demographic trends affecting how land is used in New Orleans. The result is a plan written from consensus, carefully achieved in a step-by-step process of citizen involvement. 

The 1999 Land Use Plan for the City of New Orleans outlines a structure for the city's development potential for the next thirty years. It indicates a desired development pattern expected to support and encourage the city's future growth toward a community which is livable for all residents. Some changes may be immediate; however, the plan as a whole proposes realizing long term goals for the future over time. It is worth emphasizing the importance the City Planning Commission places on continuing the dialogue with citizens that was initiated with New Century New Orleans, the city's vision statement for the future; a dialogue that continued with the Strategic Plan to Revise the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, and that has now led to the 1999 Land Use Plan. The Planning Commission is not satisfied merely to complete these plans, it is dedicated to reviewing them regularly so as to assess progress and to adjust the plans as external factors change. Accordingly, the 1999 Land Use Plan, New Century New Orleans, and all other elements of the city's Master Plan will be reviewed every two years.

Said plainly, the 1999 Land Use Plan continues an ongoing community conversation on potential and desired land use changes for the City of New Orleans. 

This overview of the 1999 Land Use Plan is organized so that the reader can readily grasp the major components of the Plan and understand as well the context within which it exists. The sections contained in this overview are as follows: 

• Planning in New Orleans 
• Contemporary Framework for Development in New Orleans 
• Geographic Organization of the 1999 Land Use Plan 
• Methods Used to Develop the 1999 Land Use Plan 
• Common Concerns Expressed at Citizen Workshops 
• Recommendations of the 1999 Land Use Plan 
• Steps toward Implementation

Planning in New Orleans

The New Orleans City Charter gives the City Planning Commission the responsibility of providing sound advice for future public and private development in the city. This charge is best fulfilled by formally adopted plans and ordinances developed through a public process of review and comment. 

Beginning in 1990, the City Planning Commission worked with citizens to develop a vision of the future: a hopeful description of how New Orleans might grow and change, and a description of the policies citizens hoped future elected officials would pursue. The result of this work is New Century New Orleans, the Master Policy Plan for the city, which discusses matters related to culture, the economy, transportation, the environment, even racial harmony, in addition to what most people commonly understand as the subject of city planning: physical development. All planning efforts subsequent to the adoption of New Century New Orleans in 1992 take their inspiration from this clear expression of community desires for the future.

Articulated in New Century New Orleans are two primary goals: "vital, distinctive neighborhoods" and "well-managed physical and economic growth." In 1992, citizens in New Orleans agreed that these two goals were essential to achieving their aspiration of a more livable community. As will be seen in the 1999 Land Use Plan, these goals maintain their primacy in the minds of the New Orleanians.

New Century New Orleans concluded with a strong call for a revised Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, a revised land use plan, and commitment by city officials to fulfill the aspirations articulated in the vision document. The City Planning Commission has worked diligently to respond to this call. In 1997, the Commission adopted the Strategic Land Use Plan to Revise the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance; in 1998 the Commission specified the elements of a Master Plan for the City of New Orleans and sponsored the efforts to develop such a plan; in 1999 the Commission is presenting this revised Land Use Plan for public review, and later in the year will present a revised Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance for public discussion and implementation.

Contemporary Framework for Development in New Orleans

The 1999 Land Use Plan is presented primarily in terms of the thirteen planning districts which comprise the City of New Orleans. However, each district is integrally related to the well-being of the city, and therefore subject to the overall prospects for economic growth. In addition, the future of the city is directly affected by plans for transportation facilities, housing improvements, and the provision of community facilities. This section briefly describes these major features of the network which affects the well-being of the city. 

I. Economic Growth 

New Orleans faces a fiscal dilemma common to American central cities: increasing the tax base would improve city services, yet it is poor city services that contribute to out-migration and further decreases in the tax base. Net migration out of the city, although down from the one thousand plus residents per month of the 1970s and 1980s, has averaged more than 500 people per month over the last three years. Certainly part of the solution is economic development, and it is worth noting that the city has emerged from the extended economic downturn of the 1980s more diversified, with most private and public businesses leaner, more compact and overall, more stable. As mentioned above, the studies prepared for the Strategic Plan to Revise the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance projected moderate growth for the next several years, the physical needs of which can be satisfied with existing sites or facilities. That is, this growth will occasion few changes in land uses, a point which underscores the necessity of guiding economic development where it will provide the greatest benefit to the city. 

Encouraging economic development is the subject of the Overall Economic Development Plan (OEDP, hereafter) recently submitted to the State of Louisiana. The OEDP focuses as much on strategies to improve the skills of the city's labor force and to improve the environment for business as it does on specific development programs. In this regard, the OEDP supports the effort to revise the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance that was first identified as an "urgent need" in New Century New Orleans; this effort was the subject of the Strategic Plan adopted by the City Planning Commission in 1997, and the revised Ordinance will be ready for review and implementation in 1999.

Many other goals of the OEDP derive from New Century New Orleans, and can be summarized as encouraging economic development while preserving the uniqueness and culture of the city. The larger goals contained in the OEDP duplicate or corroborate those of the 1999 Land Use Plan with regard to the following three topics:

1. Industry and residential neighborhoods should be separated from one another.

2. Areas should be targeted for business development

• maintain the CBD as a premier office, shopping and residential area 
• continue to expand the Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization program 
• develop and maintain existing commercial areas of the city 
• support development of the New Orleans Medical Complex 
• support continued development of UNO's Research Park 
• promote development of Enterprise Community sites 
• relocate or expand port-related enterprises, particularly for areas with multi-modal access 

• develop additional attractions and visitor facilities 
• support the Arts & Tourism Partnership's efforts to broaden the city's tourism industries 
• afford program support for the Ogden Museum, the Black Music Hall of Fame, the National Jazz Historical Park, the Artists' Guild, the Sports Arena, the Oretha Castle Haley Tourism and Cultural District, the Lincoln Beach redevelopment, and Jazzland 

II. Transportation Facilities

Several entities other than New Orleans city government plan for and construct transportation improvements within the city. The Regional Planning Commission coordinates some of the improvements undertaken by Orleans Parish and its neighboring parishes. Included in this group are several new projects currently under consideration whose commencement will have direct effects on land uses in the city. For example, the streetcar line might be extended within the Desire Street Corridor, as mentioned above there is an active effort to connect the city with the airport, and studies are now being undertaken regarding the appropriate design of the Florida Avenue connection to St. Bernard Parish. The Corps of Engineers and the Port of New Orleans have received authorization to commence the relocation of the lock on the Industrial Canal. Furthermore, the completion of the 5-mile Tchoupitoulas corridor will channel truck traffic onto a new Port roadway on the riverside of the floodwall and regular traffic will continue on the rebuilt Tchoupitoulas Street. By removing Port-related truck traffic from uptown residential and commercial neighborhoods, many deleterious effects -- damage to historic structures, noise, exhaust fumes -- will be alleviated. 

With these exceptions -- large and important as they are -- the primary components of the transportation system in the City of New Orleans are unlikely to change. The emphasis of the 1999 Land Use Plan is to make the best use of the existing system as in strategies to centralize commercial uses around the major streets and intersections in the city. As the larger projects commence, the biennial review process of the land use plan will allow adjustments to be made that capitalize on the improvements. 

III. Housing Improvements

The Federal government sponsors several programs which are directed at improving housing, both in neighborhoods and in public housing developments. In order to qualify for these programs, the city must provide plans which indicate where improvements should be undertaken, and the type of improvements that will be made. The Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) is dedicated to improving not only the living circumstances of individuals in public housing developments, but to reducing the density of the developments and integrating tenants with the larger city. Comments received during the creation of the 1999 Land Use Plan corroborate the goals of the city and the efforts of HANO in this regard. The extent to which some areas are put into non-residential uses must be more precisely determined as a result of a dialogue among HANO, the city and the current residents.

In addition to these federally sponsored housing programs, it is important to note the significant role that community-based organizations and other not-for-profit providers play in improving neighborhoods and housing in New Orleans. Coordinating their work is the subject of the current efforts to develop a Housing Element for the New Orleans Master Plan. Indeed, as elsewhere in the country, the fragmented relationship between city government and community-based organizations has been changing to widespread, healthy and effective collaboration. This collaboration is noteworthy and will be given formal support in the Housing Element in the Master Plan.

IV. Provision of Community Facilities

Community facilities have a clear and direct effect on the satisfaction citizens feel from where they live. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, deteriorated community facilities cause some individuals to move out of the city, meaning that improving the facilities is part of any rational strategy to reduce outmigration. 

The list of needed physical improvements that are within the city's authority to provide is extensive: parks, schools and other city properties need upgrading and proper maintenance, roads need resurfacing citywide, streetcar lines and bike lanes need to be designed and built. Hiring city residents in well-paying jobs to perform this work would both provide income to citizens and improve the city's infrastructure. An overhaul and increased funding of the public school system would undoubtedly make the city more attractive to families. 

The City Planning Commission is responsible for preparing the Capital Improvements Plan for New Orleans, and will integrate the suggestions from the 1999 Land Use Plan into next year's plan. 

From this brief description of the four primary components of the development framework in New Orleans, it is perhaps clear that there is considerable coordination among efforts of agencies within the city to assure its continued well-being. However, this coordination is poorly defined and largely unknown to citizens. This situation will change in 1999, when the City Planning Commission finally authorizes a complete, unified Master Plan and specifies connections among the elements of that Plan. 

Geographic Organization of the 1999 Land Use Plan

The primary geographic unit of reference for this document is the planning district. Defining "planning district" and "neighborhood," two geographic terms used throughout the document, is essential to understanding the proposed plan. In 1970, the City Planning Commission designated 72 individual neighborhoods in the city based on census tract boundaries. For the purpose of the 1999 Land Use Plan, thirteen planning districts were defined by aggregation of the 72 neighborhoods based upon population size, similarity of demographic or economic circumstances, and common development history.

Planning district boundaries follow along census tracts to facilitate demographic analysis. One exception is the Warehouse District, which would fall within District Two (Central City/Garden District) if census tract boundaries were followed. A further breakdown by block group was used to place the Warehouse District within Planning District One.

The substance of the plan is organized into 10 chapters which describe these 13 planning districts. In two chapters, two or more planning districts have been combined based on their common geographic characteristics. Specifically, the area east of the Industrial Canal and north of the Intracoastal Waterway, which includes Districts Nine, Ten and Eleven, is covered in a single chapter. The West Bank of the City of New Orleans, which includes Districts Twelve and Thirteen, is also covered in one chapter. The other eight planning districts have separate chapters. 

The map on the facing page outlines the 13 planning districts; Appendix A lists the neighborhoods contained in each district. 

Chapter One Continued

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