Most who turned out for a City Planning Commission hearing opposed the plans
What's in a name? For would-be Faubourg Marigny wine seller Troy Gant, there is enough symbolism or possibly magic in the name Burgundy -- even though most New Orleanians pronounce the street Bur-GUN-dee and the wine BUR-gun-dee -- that he wants to open a combination wine bar, shop and school in a vacant commercial space at 1938-40 Burgundy St., in the heart of the Marigny Triangle, despite the fact that the current zoning does not allow it.
Gant, who called the coincidence of names "almost like winning the lottery," said he spent 10 years as a state manager for the Remy Cointreau USA wine company. He said his business would take "the corky approach, not the swirl and pinky in the air" approach of other wine shops.
Although Gant produced letters or email messages of support from numerous residents, most of the people who turned out for a City Planning Commission hearing Tuesday opposed his request, including the zoning law change he would need.
As a result, the commission voted 3-2 against Gant's proposal, with four members absent. However, because it takes five votes to express an official commission position, the matter will go to the New Orleans City Council without a recommendation from the commission.
The Marigny is in Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer's district. She will have to decide whether to go along with the Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association, whose board voted to oppose Gant's plans, or try to work out a compromise.
Proposals for wine bars and shops, from the Central Business District to Oak Street in the Carrollton neighborhood, have stirred up controversy several times in recent years. In fact, Palmer last year had to craft a definition of "wine bar" to help one open on St. Claude Avenue, not far from the Burgundy Street site Gant has his eye on.
Although businesses calling themselves wine bars have been around for several years, the city's zoning law had never made any provision for them until last fall. They had been legally classified as cocktail lounges, which their supporters said was misleading and created problems when they sought city permits to open, especially if they also wanted to sell wines for off-premises consumption.
The problem for Gant is that his preferred site is zoned HMC-1, a low-intensity commercial zoning for parts of Marigny and Treme. Although most of the popular Frenchmen Street entertainment corridor is zoned HMC-1, the zoning also covers parts of other minor streets that are in mostly residential areas.
Opponents of Gant's proposal said he should have found a site on Elysian Fields or St. Claude with higher-intensity HMC-2 zoning, like the business the council approved last year. He said he wanted to take advantage of the street's appropriate name, but critics said there already are five alcoholic beverage outlets within a block of his site and more than 50 in Marigny.
One of Gant's backers accused the neighborhood association of "ranting-raving" opposition, and others emphasized that he proposes to close by 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends.
However, Erik Hansen, who lives in the same block of Burgundy, wrote this to the commission: "We already live in a loud, hard-partying area. Crime is commonplace. The last thing we need is another inducement for people to come to our block and misbehave, no matter what kind of nice frippery and trappings they put on it. And where would they park?"
The Planning Commission staff, noting that the HMC-1 zoning already allows cocktail lounges -- which can become far bigger neighborhood headaches than Gant's wine business is likely to become -- as conditional uses, recommended changing the law to allow wine bars and shops on the same basis, meaning each proposed business would need City Council approval and special conditions could be attached. The staff also recommended approving Gant's specific application, though denying his request to have a wine school as well as a wine shop and wine bar.
Commissioners Royce Duplessis and Joe Williams voted to endorse the staff's positions, but Kelly Brown, Pamela Bryan and Chairman Craig Mitchell voted to reject both the proposed amendment to the zoning law and Gant's specific application. Brown cited the "overwhelming" neighborhood opposition and said she thought Gant would do better to find a site where the zoning allows what he wants to do.