The Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association, Inc. (FMIA) Land Use Blog

City Council Passes Controversial Temporary ABO Permit

Chris Costello — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 17:47:09 GMT

The controversial temporary ABO permit was passed 5-0 by the City Council which allows businesses an automatic two-month alcohol permit while they wait for the normal one. According to Councilman Freddie King, “It makes it easier to do business in the city, that is the best way to describe it.”

The reality is that this ordinance is a stopgap measure put in place to aid businesses so they can sell alcohol in a more timely manner. Businesses who submit their paperwork are waiting months to get their permits due to the seemingly dysfunctional ABO process at Safety and Permits which is not the way it should be.

We worked with Councilman King and his office, along with other concerned neighborhood associations, to tighten the language so law-abiding businesses can obtain this privilege, and it is not riddled with loopholes that would allow bad actors to obtain one.

This ordinance has a sunset clause, so the hope is that Safety and Permits can streamline the process to make the process easier while ensuring those who abuse their license are not renewed. Fingers crossed.

The Department of Safety and Permits, under the stewardship of Tammie Jackson, has been making great strides in improving the department's turnaround time on permits. They have been hosting open houses for the public to view the new space, learn about the departments various sections such as ABO, Healthy Homes, STR, etc and meet with the staff who are working towards providing better service for those they serve.

The Open House was informative and it was encouraging to see the progress they have made. We encourage anyone who has an interest to go. We will have an update for the next quarterly open house, or you can check on their website: nola.gov/next/safety-and-permits/home/.

Letter from the Assessor, Erroll Williams: HIGHER PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS DON’T HAVE TO MEAN HIGHER TAXES

Kip Hollar — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 06:08:26 GMT

September 25, 2023

Assessor’s letter to the editor posted at nola.com.

I would like to thank the people of New Orleans for a remarkably successful open rolls period. We made over 130,000 changes to property values, and the long lines that historically have been synonymous with this time of year were nowhere to be seen.

Now with the assessment rolls closed, I want to make it known that I recognize the concern this year’s quadrennial revaluation caused in our community, especially in light of the skyrocketing cost of home insurance and the stubborn persistence of inflation.

Let me take this opportunity to clarify a few things.

As a whole, Orleans Parish property owners will not pay more in taxes because real estate market values went up and assessments are higher.

The state constitution reads, “the total amount of ad valorem taxes collected by any taxing authority… shall not be increased or decreased because of a reappraisal.”

This means when values go up in the four years between quadrennial reappraisals, the Louisiana Constitution requires a corresponding reduction in the millage rate. This ensures that total tax revenues don’t change just because of the real estate market. This is referred to as a “roll back.”

The numbers won’t be final until the rolls are certified in October, but as of right now there is a 23% increase in total taxable assessments. This means the millage rate will go down 23%, from 146.81 mills to 113.04.

However, each taxing authority can vote to raise the millage rate right back up. This is referred to as a “roll forward.”

To raise the millage rates after the automatic reduction, taxing authorities must:
• Publish two separate notices in public journals announcing their consideration of a millage at a public hearing at least 30 days in advance of the meeting
• Hold an advertised, open and public hearing to consider their vote to increase taxes
• Approve the tax increase with a 2/3 supermajority vote of members

I urge all taxpayers in Orleans Parish to be engaged as the City Council, School Board, Sewerage & Water Board, Sheriff, and other authorities determine whether to raise your taxes.

The roll back required by law is there to protect you, so make your voice heard. Orleans Parish taxpayers don’t have to pay more because real estate market values went up.

ERROLL WILLIAMS
Assessor, Orleans Parish

FMIA position on 2600 St Claude proposed distillery

Allen Johnson — Mon, 15 May 2023 20:58:01 GMT

2600 St Claude 5-14-23 CPC.pdf

502 Frenchmen History from Assistant Professor Dudley

Allen Johnson — Wed, 10 May 2023 20:36:51 GMT

TDudley-Letter re 502 Frenchmen.pdf

502 Frenchmen Origins

Allen Johnson — Sun, 07 May 2023 15:40:38 GMT

502 Frenchmen Origins.pdf

502 Frenchmen from Esplanade and Chartres

Allen Johnson — Sun, 07 May 2023 15:27:39 GMT

502 Frenchmen from Esplanade

Allen Johnson — Sun, 07 May 2023 15:25:12 GMT

FMIA opposition to HDLC appeal for 502 Frenchmen- II

Allen Johnson — Sun, 07 May 2023 15:23:07 GMT

502 Frenchmen Appeal Denial Request- II.pdf

CM King STR Relief Valve Amendment

Allen Johnson — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 20:45:22 GMT

AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE CALENDAR NUMBER 34,083

CITY HALL: March 23, 2023

BY:COUNCILMEMBER KING

SECONDED BY:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

An amendment to Calendar Number 34,083 to provide an application process wherein any property owner may request a special exception for an increase in the number of allowable non-commercial short-term rentals within the block in which the property owner owns property.

AMENDMENT:

In Section 11, on page 19, on line 65, delete the word “Only” and insert the words “Except as provided in Section 21.8.C.18.r, only” in lieu thereof.
In Section 11, on page 20, after line 87, insert the following:

r.Any property owner may request a special exception increasing the number of allowable non-commercial short-term rentals within the block in which the applicant owns property. Prior to submitting said request, the property owner shall provide written notice of the application, on a form developed by the Staff of the City Planning Commission, to all residents and property owners whose properties share a property line with the subject property, as well as the district Council office and any neighborhood organization that is registered with the Office of Neighborhood Engagement and whose geographical purview includes the property, as shown on the Office of Neighborhood Engagement website. Said request shall be submitted to the Executive Director of the City Planning Commission, who shall review and make recommendations to the City Council relative to the special exception request. The City Planning Commission staff shall render its recommendations within sixty days of receipt, using the following review standards:

i. Is the requested increase compatible with the surrounding land use and structures?

ii. Are there unique geographic considerations which would mitigate the impact of an additional non-commercial short term rental use within the block?

iii. Are there unique use conditions in the surrounding areas which would be well-served by or mitigate the impact of an additional non-commercial short term rental use within the block?

iv. Will the additional non-commercial short term rental use increase traffic and safety hazards?

v. Will the additional non-commercial short term rental use create parking issues around the block or in the surrounding areas?

vi. Will the additional non-commercial short term rental use impair the health, safety and welfare of the neighboring properties?

The Council shall have sixty (60) days from receipt of the recommendation to approve, deny, or modify the special exception request by motion. The granting of a special exception shall not entitle the applicant to a short-term rental permit. Additional permits within blocks subject to a special exception shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions set forth in the City Code. In the event the Council denies a request for a special exception within a particular block, no new request for a special exception in said block shall be accepted for a period of two years.

ENGROSSED VERSION

The following engrossed version shows how the proposed amendment would modify Calendar Number 34,083, as originally introduced. Additions are underlined. Deletions are shown as strikethroughs.

* * *

SECTION 11. THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS HEREBY ORDAINS, That Article 21 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance No. 4264 M.C.S., as amended by Ordinance No. 26,413 M.C.S. and subsequent amendments), be, and is hereby amended and reordained to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 21.ON-SITE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS

* * *

21.8.C PERMITTED TEMPORARY USES

* * *

21.8.C.18 SHORT TERM RENTAL, NON-COMMERCIAL

* * *

m.Except as provided in Section 21.8.C.18.r, only Only one (1) non-commercial short term rental permit may be issued within each city block, inclusive of all lots fronting any exterior boundary of said block and all interior lots not fronting the public right of way.

* * *

r.Any property owner may request a special exception increasing in the number of allowable non-commercial short-term rentals within the block in which the applicant owns property. Prior to submitting said request, the property owner shall provide written notice of the application, on a form developed by the Staff of the City Planning Commission, to all residents and property owners whose properties share a property line with the subject property, as well as the district Council office and any neighborhood organization that is registered with the Office of Neighborhood Engagement and whose geographical purview includes the property, as shown on the Office of Neighborhood Engagement website. Said request shall be submitted to the Executive Director of the City Planning Commission, who shall review and make recommendations to the City Council relative to the special exception request. The City Planning Commission staff shall render its recommendations within sixty days of receipt, using the following review standards:

i. Is the requested increase compatible with the surrounding land use and structures?

ii. Are there unique geographic considerations which would mitigate the impact of an additional non-commercial short term rental use within the block?

iii. Are there unique use conditions in the surrounding areas which would be well-served by or mitigate the impact of an additional non-commercial short term rental use within the block?

iv. Will the additional non-commercial short term rental use increase traffic and safety hazards?

v. Will the additional non-commercial short term rental use create parking issues around the block or in the surrounding areas?

vi. Will the additional non-commercial short term rental use impair the health, safety and welfare of the neighboring properties?

* * *”

”

FMIA Letter to City Council re STR's 2-26-23

Allen Johnson — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 00:55:10 GMT

FMIA Letter to City Council re STRS 2-26-23.pdf

FMIA Letter to CPC re STR's 1-15-23

Allen Johnson — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 17:57:56 GMT

STR CPC Letter 1-15-23.pdf

FMIA Opposition to Appeal of VCC Decision for 440 Bourbon

Allen Johnson — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 18:26:02 GMT

440 Bourbon Denial Request.pdf

FMIA opposition to HDLC appeal for 502 Frenchmen

Allen Johnson — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 13:45:12 GMT

502 Frenchmen Appeal Denial Request.pdf

FMIA Position on Outside Live Entertainment

Ryan Harms — Sun, 22 May 2022 12:14:27 GMT

FMIA position on OLE.pdf

Outdoor Live Entertainment Study Draft

Ryan Harms — Mon, 16 May 2022 00:22:59 GMT

OLE Study 1 pager DRAFT.pdf

Sound Ordinance Letter

Ryan Harms — Mon, 16 May 2022 00:21:37 GMT

Sound ordinance GB003.pdf

SHORT TERM RENTAL ZONING INTERPRETATION CHANGE

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 17:28:10 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2022

CITY ISSUES ZONING INTERPRETATION CHANGE

FOR SHORT-TERM RENTALS

NEW ORLEANS – The City of New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits today

released a zoning interpretation establishing changes to commercial short-term rental (STR) licensing. The Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) determined during its previous meeting that commercial STRs will now be considered a commercial use under the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.

The Department had previously considered commercial STRs to be a residential use in a primarily commercial area. This change means that effective immediately, they are now considered the same as all other commercial-use buildings. Applicants for new commercial STR permits will also have to apply for a building permit before they can be eligible for the STR permit. This will include a zoning and plan review of the structure for commercial use.

Click here to read the entire zoning interpretation.

Multi Family Housing CZO Text Amendment

Allen Johnson — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 22:40:52 GMT

Zoning Docket 08421.pdf

CZO Text Amendment to Allow Increase in Units per Dwelling

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 16:22:04 GMT

Zoning Docket 083/20

Dear City Planning Commissioners,

On October 27, you will be asked to consider a Staff Report from the City Planning Commission Staff regarding a Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment. The Council Motion that initiated this study does not state what problem or circumstance this motion is trying to correct in the Historic Core, so we are unable to speak to its goals. However, we do recognize what could be unforeseen negative consequences. This text amendment would only allow a property to be converted to the same number of units as previously existed, however it is unclear from this Motion how many properties could be changed by this motion, and what effect this would have on a neighborhood that has seen massive changes (dramatically raised prices, gentrification, the expansion of the tourism footprint and STR’s). Additionally, it doesn’t specify in which form those units be built, allowing many configurations that would be centered around profit making, and not neighborhood character, in a neighborhood that has seen massive changes in the last few years.

This text amendment would affect “Dwelling, Established Multi-Family”, where the use is currently classified as Conditional Use, and would apply to only 4 Articles of the CZO, including Article 9, which covers the Marigny, Treme, Bywater and portions of surrounding neighborhoods, and would allow HMR-3 properties to be altered to include up to 4 units as a Permitted Use. Currently, this change can only occur after being granted a Conditional Use approval, which requires consideration of three factors:

"a. the extent to which the physical character of the structure is indicative of a legal history of two- or multi-family residential use, respectively;

b. The documentation of a legal history of two- or multi-family residential use, respectively;

c. The duration of past use as a legal two- or multi-family residential use respectively.”

We believe that this text amendment would make altering the housing stock of the second oldest neighborhood in New Orleans an unfettered Permitted Use. We have seen many changes to our Historic Neighborhood in the last decade, and believe this proposed text amendment could do further harm to the Residential character of our neighborhood, for the following reasons:

1) History in the French Quarter- Years ago, large houses in the French Quarter were divided into apartments and condominiums. The hope was that these smaller units would bring more residents to the French Quarter, thus buoying a neighborhood that was losing its residential character to the growing tourism industry. Instead, the opposite occurred, as these units were sold and rented to people outside of New Orleans that used them as pied a terres, and drove up the rents in the French Quarter. These units sold at such prices that it was irresistible to property owners, who followed the trend and, before you knew it, a trend that was hoped would repopulate the French Quarter was blamed for damaging the Residential character of the neighborhood. Let’s try to learn from our history, and not inflict the same damage on the Marigny, Treme and Bywater. We need to find a way to bring people back to these neighborhoods, not push more people out for pied a terres.
2) Short Term Rental Expansion- The recently passed STR rules were a great improvement to the previous rules, however, they still have a profound impact on the character of our neighborhood. Without density limitations or caps, it is unknown how many Short Term Rentals will eventually be opened in our neighborhood, but it is safe to say that we will be one of the top two or three neighborhoods for STR licenses. We fear this new text amendment would allow properties that are not currently multi-family to be altered to house a maximum of four units, which is the maximum amount of units that are allowed in the new STR rules for a Residential- Small (RSTR-Small) license.
3) While only one STR unit would be allowed, that would be dependent upon strict enforcement, which no one can reasonably suggest we’ve seen since STR’s have been legalized. This would also allow for one STR unit of up to 5 bedrooms to be created in a double shotgun, with the “owner’s unit” of a size small enough to maximize the profits from the STR. I doubt I can find anyone that thinks that is appropriate for a historic neighborhood with neighbors in such close proximity that they can’t sleep due to the bachelor party next door.

In a neighborhood that has seen residents pushed out due to higher prices and a proliferation of STR’s, we fear that this amendment will be used to maximize our housing stock for STR’s, not New Orleanians. We believe that before any changes are made to our neighborhood, we should wait a reasonable time to judge the effect of the current STR rules.

3) Major Implications- Almost the entirety of the housing stock in the Marigny Rectangle is zoned HMR-3, so this would have a great effect on our neighborhood. We believe that the Historic Core neighborhoods should be removed from this text amendment until the impact of STR’s on our neighborhood can be examined. We also ask that you consider the precedent this would set. Before this step is made, please consider what would happen when these policies go to other neighborhoods, or other zoning classifications.

In conclusion, we ask you to vote against this text amendment, or at least remove the Historic Core for further study, or at least until the effects of the new STR rules can be evaluated on a neighborhood that has seen nothing but change in recent years.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey J. Seymour

Land Use Committee Chairman

Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association

Land Use Update from Jeffrey Seymour

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:56:12 GMT

The update contains quite a lot of information, photos and plans regarding several important projects in the neighborhood. The full details are HERE.