Planning District Five (Continued)

Lakeview

Commercial

Commercial land uses in District Five constitute approximately 131 acres or 2.7% of total land in the district. These figures reflect the limited level of commercial development in the area, which currently exists on major streets and throughways. Commercial uses are largely limited to neighborhood shopping centers and areas of clustered restaurants, such as the Robert E. Lee Shopping Center on the corner of Robert E. Lee and West End Boulevard and the restaurants on the opposite corner of Robert E. Lee and Pontchartrain Boulevard. Other areas of development include restaurants and commercial marina activity along the West End Marina; the neighborhood commercial uses on Harrison Avenue between Canal Boulevard and Argonne Boulevard; and the neighborhood commercial uses along West Harrison between Pontchartrain Boulevard and Bellaire Drive. 

Industrial 

Currently, there are no industrial land uses in Planning District Five.

Public and Semi-Public

In total, District Five offers more than 2,163 acres of parkland, accounting for 45.4% of the district's total size. The predominant public land use in District Five is City Park, which consists of open space equal to approximately two and one-quarter square miles or 1,500 acres. The park offers a wide variety of recreational activities such as golf, horseback riding, bicycle trails, tennis courts, a sporting arena, botanical gardens and the city's modern art museum. The park was developed for public use in 1896 and is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. It contains historic structures as well as numerous WPA-era bridges, landmark trees, and the last remaining segment of Bayou Metairie. Architectural styles include the New Orleans Museum of Art, which is an example of architecture typical to the "City Beautiful" movement of the early 1900s, as is the Greek Peristyle near City Park Avenue and Dumaine Street. Other examples include the opulent W. H. McFadden House, now used by the Christian Brothers School and the flying horse enclosure built in the style of Victorian folk architecture. 

Other green space in the district includes the lakefront area along Lakeshore Drive, which offers picnic and recreational space with public access to Lake Pontchartrain. This area extends from Bayou St. John on the west, to Lakeshore Drive's curve into West End Boulevard on the east. Although not contiguous, the lakefront area on West End Park offers public access to Lake Pontchartrain, primarily for use by boaters. The district also offers smaller neighborhood-scale parks and green space, with the larger of these including the neutral ground between West End Boulevard and Pontchartrain Boulevard. The Delgado Playground has basketball courts and baseball fields for team sporting events.

Other public land uses include the Delgado Community College located directly adjacent to City Park on the east, the expanse of city cemeteries in the southern part of the district near Canal Boulevard and City Park Avenue, and the Municipal Yacht Harbor and the Orleans Marina in the West End harbor area. Public schools, churches and post office facilities are also public uses found throughout the district. 

Section V: Community Participation

The following section provides a synthesis of citizen comments and input gathered at a public workshop held at the Knights of Columbus Hall, on the evening of June 25, 1998 and a follow up meeting on October 21, 1998. Approximately 100 residents and business owners, in seven small groups, participated in the workshop identifying pivotal development parcels and land use conflicts and creating a proposed land use map for the district.

Overall, residents recommended that Planning District Five preserve its low-density residential quality and the existing green space, and noted that the recent trend of replacing small single family residences with large singles or doubles should be controlled. Residents recommended that commercial activity be restricted to where it already exists in such areas as Harrison Avenue and Robert E. Lee Boulevard, and that it should be limited to neighborhood services, including full-service grocery stores. In addition, commercial activity should be kept off North Carrollton Avenue between Orleans and City Park, and the existing regional commercial uses on Toulouse between North Carrollton and City Park should be downgraded to neighborhood commercial. Landscaping buffers and off-street parking are needed to mitigate conflicts between commercial/institutional and residential areas. 

Pivotal Parcels

As in many other parts of the city, the majority of land in Planning District Five is currently developed. However, citizens offered redevelopment suggestions for specific parcels of land or structures that are currently vacant or under used. While the district does not contain many blighted properties, there were a few areas identified with suggestions for future uses. The suggestions for pivotal parcels appear in three categories: vacant lots, under used or abandoned buildings, and "other." 

The range of development suggestions for currently vacant lots in the district included green space, neighborhood commercial, regional commercial, residential, and institutional (such as a post office). Participants expressed support for retaining the West End/Pontchartrain Boulevard neutral ground as green space, and did not desire further development of this property. The vacant parcels discussed included the following: 

• The West End/Pontchartrain Boulevard neutral ground, including the wedge of property near the interstate at Veterans Boulevard and West End Boulevard. 
• The vacant lot bounded by Regent, Pontchartrain Boulevard, New Orleans-Hammond Hwy, and Hay Street. 
• The vacant lot at Fleur de Lis and Harrison Avenue 
• Vacant lots at Harrison Avenue and Argonne Boulevard 
• Vacant lots at Robert E. Lee and Regent Street in West End area. 

• Old school on Milne Boulevard and Brooke Street 
• Canal at City Park cemeteries, former gas station 
• West End & Robert E. Lee-vacant theater and commercial space 
• Former gas station at South Carrollton Avenue and Dumaine Street 
• Former bomb shelter on West End Boulevard/Pontchartrain Boulevard neutral ground 

• Old First NBC on City Park Avenue near Interstate on-ramp 
• School board property at Fleur de Lis and 38^th street 

The schematic map which appears on the facing page summarizes comments recorded on district maps during the workshop. The summary schematic is an attempt to represent graphically the most frequent and consistent comments made by citizen participants. For ease of interpretation, various local landmarks, such as parks, housing developments, and large-scale developments, have been included. 

Section VI: Proposed Land Use for Planning District Five

Planning District Five, generally referred to as Lakeview, is composed of stable, quiet neighborhoods having access to the city's largest public recreation areas, City Park and the lakefront. The area's residents, more than those in any other area in New Orleans, are satisfied with their quality of life. A large part of this satisfaction is due to the District's predominantly residential character, limited commercial development, absence of industrial uses and an abundance of green space. The Lakeview planning district offers a significant amount of land devoted to public or semi-public land uses such as City Park with the Museum of Modern Art, Delgado Community College, West End Park and a complex of cemeteries. 

District Five, similar to District Three-Uptown, is one of the most stable areas in the city, with only a minimal population loss projected for 2002. District Five is also relatively wealthy, recording an average household income in 1997 almost double that recorded for the city as a whole. Over the last ten year period, the district saw slight increases in the total number of housing units -- while the city's total dropped -- and recorded a markedly lower percentage of vacant units than the citywide total.

Issues/problem areas:

With all the positive attributes of the area, it is not surprising that the greatest concern of the Lakeview residents regarding the future development of their neighborhoods is related to preservation and protection of the existing quality of life. The community unanimously calls for protection of the residential character of the area, maintenance of the overall development density and preservation of the green space. Residents also acknowledge commercial and institutional pressures in certain sections of Harrison and City Park Avenues and Fleur de Lis Drive that create traffic congestion, parking pressure and encroachments into residential neighborhoods. Furthermore, residents would like to reduce the likelihood of further spot zoning designations and prevent the establishment of non-conforming commercial uses throughout the district. The residents' assessment of problems are confirmed in detailed neighborhood plans as well as in the daily duties of the City Planning Commission to research zoning and subdivision applications. Briefly, they are as follows: 

• Pressure from institutional uses -- particularly Delgado College, St. Paul Episcopal and St. Dominic Schools, post offices -- on the adjacent residential neighborhoods (traffic congestion, parking problems, noise, litter); 
• Pressure from commercial uses on residential neighborhoods (truck deliveries, insufficient parking, noise, litter); 
• Increased numbers of nonconforming uses due to the lack of enforcement of the existing regulations; 
• Increased instances of spot zoning which creates additional conflict and destabilizes neighborhoods; 
• Infill development and redevelopment of residential properties irrespective of the established character of the area; incompatible densities, height and bulk of new residences; 
• Access to West End Park and pedestrian access to City Park over Orleans Avenue Canal need improvements; 
• "Gateway" areas to the City (I-10 exit ramps, Hammond Highway, sections of Veterans, Canal and West End Boulevards) need beautification. 

Plan Recommendations:

Planning District Five is not expected to undergo a large-scale transformation of land uses over the next 25 to 30 years. The proposed land use plan makes only minor adjustments, each intended to reinforce the district's residential nature while simultaneously eliminating the deleterious effects of spot zoning. The plan does not suggest future development of residential parcels for multi-family housing; rather, new development on empty parcels within residential neighborhoods should be confined to single or two-family homes. Also proposed is the preservation of green space and concentration of commercial services along the major thoroughfares.

Neighborhood Commercial Uses Proposed future development of commercial activities is restricted to major thoroughfares such as Canal Boulevard, Harrison Avenue and the intersection of West End Boulevard and Robert E. Lee Boulevard, where similar establishments currently exist. The limitations are intended to support and reinforce the existing residential nature of the District and minimize the negative effects of commercial development on the surrounding residential areas. While legal non-conforming commercial uses are currently scattered throughout the district, the proposed land use plan reflects a reduction as individual uses cease operating and become available for future residential development. In District Five, the 1999 Land Use Plan and subsequent revisions to the CZO are likely to result in a more restricted list of permitted uses allowed in neighborhood commercial areas. No area of high intensity, regional commercial land uses has been proposed for District Five.

Parks and recreation. The 1999 Land Use Plan supports continuation of all existing parks and encourages development of additional green space. The 1999 Land Use Plan for District Five proposes to keep access to Lake Pontchartrain public, to maintain City Park, to continue development standards regulating building setbacks and alleyway drives, and to add green space at currently vacant lots. 

The area of the New Basin Canal/West End has a great redevelopment potential. Although the New Basin Canal Master Plan was completed in 1992, no action has been made toward its implementation except for the 1995 improvements to Lakeshore Drive. In addition to recommending upgrading of the street infrastructure, the plan proposed redevelopment of the area supporting commercial, recreational and leisure activities that benefit residents of the nearby community and the city as a whole. The Land Use Plan sees the west End area as an opportunity to develop a first rate waterfront development with commercial and recreational facilities that should recapture the old spirit of this unique site. 

Institutional uses. While recognizing problems regarding the pressure from various institutional uses on the adjacent residential neighborhoods, the land use planning solutions to the problem are rather limited. The Plan recommends restrictions on further expansion of institutional uses and mitigation and/or dispersion of their ancillary effects on residential areas. The Plan foresees confining all institutional uses to their current boundaries and recommends greater scrutiny regarding any request for expansion. All large institutions such as Delgado Community College should be required to develop (or update) parking and traffic circulation plans which should be reviewed and approved by the City Planning Commission with the neighborhoods' input. 

Redevelopment of vacant properties. Based upon extensive public input, analysis of the adjacent land uses, traffic circulation patterns and overall stability of the area, the Plan proposes redevelopment of several properties identified as "pivotal" parcels. In addition to the previously discussed area of New Basin Canal -- which is the most significant pivotal "parcel" in Lakeview -- residents of the area expressed great concern regarding the future development of the West End shopping center at Robert E. Lee. They want to see vacant theater and retail spaces replaced with other needed neighborhood services, including a full service grocery store. The Old Milne School is proposed to retain its commercial land use designation, and should be redeveloped as an institutional use: community or senior citizen center. As suggested in the Pivotal Parcels section above, other identified parcels located in residential areas have been designated as residential or green space.

Other recommendations. Due to their general nature, land use plans do not provide recommendations regarding many site-specific land use problems, nor regarding issues that are only indirectly associated with the use of land but that concern neighborhoods. These problems are analyzed on the level of detailed neighborhood plans, zoning applications or sector studies. As a guidance for future planning actions, the 1999 Land Use Plan recommends the following:

 
• Conduct special traffic studies of the intersection of Pontchartrain and West End Boulevard with Robert E. Lee (Hammond Highway). Improve traffic signage and access at I-10/I-610; 
• Secure greater public input in preparing any future development plans for City Park; 

• As a part of the work on the revision to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, develop measures for density control (restrict townhouses, determine minimum setbacks) and create design guidelines for specific neighborhoods and commercial corridors (such as Harrison and Carrollton Avenue) to ensure harmonious relationship between the existing and infill developments. Create landscaping and design standards for major traffic thoroughfares to enhance the overall appearance of the area. Recommend buffer zones and strips as a part of site design to reduce potential conflict between the residential and adjoining commercial and institutional uses.