Clickers in hand, St. Bernard Parish residents voted Saturday (March 9) on improvements they'd like to see in their parish. The public meeting during which the votes were recorded was the second, and possibly last, before consultants prepare a draft comprehensive master plan that essentially is a vision, a blueprint for the parish's future more than seven years after...
Clickers in hand, St. Bernard Parish residents voted Saturday (March 9) on improvements they'd like to see in their parish. The public meeting during which the votes were recorded was the second, and possibly last, before consultants prepare a draft comprehensive master plan that essentially is a vision, a blueprint for the parish's future more than seven years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
While about 200 people came to the first public meeting December, only about 40 residents attended Saturday's session in Chalmette. That meant each participant represented about 1,000 residents of the roughly 40,000-person parish.
The group on Saturday voted that it would like to see the parish move from one that is filled more with working and lower-income families to one made up of more working and middle-class families. Residents on hand stated they'd like more shopping and dining choices, fewer chain stores, and would like to beautify neighborhoods.
Charles Buki, founder of Alexandria, Va.-based czb LLC, a consulting group for the parish, described St. Bernard as "a very, very proud parish with real history, a phenomenal place to raise a family."
But Buki, who is handling strategy and analysis for the planning process, said, "on the other side of the coin, there was a lot of anxiety expressed to us that change is afoot, has been afoot, and that things don't quite feel right."
"'I'm not sure who is living next door to me anymore,'" Buki described as a typical sentiment. "'My folks didn't worry about my brothers and me playing ball until all hours of the night on a summer evening, but I'm not sure that I'd allow my kids to do the same because I don't know anymore who lives down the block from me.'"
In terms of retail, he said the general sentiment has been, '"We don't have the stores we want and the stores we have aren't what we want.'"
Jeff Winston of Boulder, Co.-based MIG/Winston Associates, who is spearheading the study with the various subcontractors, said parish residents also gave housing, property value, and property appearance negative assessments.
"So, where does the parish go from here? And, how much work are you willing to do to get there?" Winston asked the crowd.
Typically, the 40 attendees said they were willing to work hard to accomplish the goals, but, still, how representative the Saturday crowd was and whether residents really are willing to pay more in taxes to help make that happen, remains to be seen. Buki made clear, though, that it's not just taxes, its also attitude - how the community works together to prevent blight, crime and keep the schools strong.
Winston said in 8 to 10 weeks that the consultants will have a draft plan that they will present to the parish Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will hold additional public hearings on that draft plan before formally adopting it.
The planning process is expected to wrap up in September.