Most sweeping change in 25 years for Metairie entertainment district
After hearing from two dozen speakers through more than two hours of debate, the Jefferson Parish Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a sweeping new zoning ordinance for Fat City, defying a firestorm of complaints about earlier closing times for bars.
The 64-page set of codes for buildings, signs, parking and other development standards articulates a gradual transformation of the once vibrant but now fallen entertainment district, into a more upscale mix of shopping, dining and condominium living. It makes for the most dramatic change in Fat City regulations in a quarter-century and marks Jefferson Parish's first participation in a national trend toward redeveloping neighborhoods in favor of pedestrians and promoting a classic "town center" ambiance.
But the provision requiring drinking establishments to close by midnight most days and 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday dominated the debate, with detractors saying the rules suffocate businesses, threaten livelihoods and unfairly and unwisely discriminate against certain night spots based on geography. Strip clubs and other adult businesses, formerly icons of the district, must now phase out altogether by the end of 2012.
Parish officials held steadfastly to the last-call rule, saying it will help produce a genuine change of tone in a neighborhood known for rowdiness and decades of resistance to progress. Now that the law has passed, stand-alone bars will have until March 31 to comply with the new limits on their operating hours.
Speakers in favor of the plan included representatives of business groups, apartment companies that own properties in Fat City, civic association leaders, a neighborhood resident and Sheriff Newell Normand.
"This is an opportunity to take action and move forward," said Patricia Besselman, past president of the East Jefferson Business Association. "Fat City is the heart of Metairie. It can and should be an urban showplace."
David Guidry, owner of Lakeside Camera on 21st Street, said he wants to grow his business by adding later holiday hours but worries about his employees leaving at night. When he installed storm shutters on his building, Guidry said, it was more to block vandals and burglars than hurricane winds. He said the new Fat City strategy promotes improvements.
Past Jefferson Chamber Chairman Tom Meyer said Fat City, located next to Lakeside Shopping Center and near major commercial thoroughfares and highways, could be a much greater economic engine under the provisions in the plan.
"By acting now, we can stop the decline," said Mark Madderra, president-elect of the Apartment Association of Greater New Orleans. "Failure to act may lead this neighborhood to reach a tipping point from which it will not return."
Bar owners, employees, political activists and others who opposed the ordinance, particularly the closing times, continued an argument they have had with officials about police call numbers, issues with troubled apartments and the fairness and legality of the plan. Planners and officials used tallies of police calls to argue that unruly bars and strip clubs are stifling development in Fat City.
"The people that walk the streets, the suspicious persons, are the people we don't allow in our bars," said Jason Jaume, owner of The Bar on Edenborn Avenue, referring to numbers officials gathered showing nearly 1,000 calls during a two-year period for police to check on suspicious people. Jaume argued that none of the police calls can be tied directly to problems that started in bars.
He said bar owners support most of the Fat City revitalization and found it frustrating to stand up against it because of one point they believe will kill their businesses.
Theresa Crosby, a board member of a group called Remove Intoxicated Drivers, said set, earlier closing times are a safety risk because people will down more drinks before leaving in their cars all at once.
Anthony Marullo, who is fighting underage drinking citations at his City Bar on Hessmer Avenue, said the rules punish all bars for the transgressions of a few.
"At its core, this ordinance is anti-business," said Walt Bennetti, a blogger who interpreted state laws and legal precedents as prohibiting the parish from selectively applying rules for bars.
"It is serious overreaching by government and by this council," argued Richard Brown, another political activist. "They can go across the street and drink all night. This is absurd."
Assistant Parish Attorney Tiffany Pepperone said lawyers vetted all the proposed rules and found that the law allows the parish to regulate, but not prohibit, alcohol outlets through its zoning ordinances.
Several opponents complained about being excluded from the process of creating the Fat City road map. They asked the Parish Council to defer its vote and strike a compromise on last calls.
"We have been unsuccessful at getting a voice or a seat at the table with parish government," Marullo said.
Cynthia Lee-Sheng, the Parish Council member who led the Fat City zoning push, along with Jefferson Planning Director Ed Durabb and others who worked on and supported the initiative, said they extended numerous invitations to several public meetings as the plan was being formed. Lee-Sheng said she met with anyone who called about Fat City, but she was unwilling to compromise on what she considered to be a law enforcement matter.
Normand, who gave an impassioned speech on behalf of the proponents, sparred with Jaume, the bar owner who emerged in recent months as a spokesman for the protesting bar owners. Normand said opponents are waging personal attacks on him and other officials by implying conspiracies around the Fat City plan, while Jaume said officials are launching personal attacks on him and other bar owners by implying they are irresponsible operators.
Normand listed several troubling criminal incidents in Fat City and said suggestions from critics that the plan is a front for a land grab there are "absolutely ridiculous."
Jaume pointed to data showing police calls dropping after midnight as a sign that bars staying open late are not the cause of disturbances. Normand pointed out that alcohol outlets are the only businesses open at those hours, meaning they account for a greater share of the numbers.
"Where is the empirical data that shows the impact of illegal, undocumented workers that live in the apartments?" Jaume asked during his remarks. Complaints about problems in rundown apartment complexes were a theme among the ordinance's detractors that drew several responses from its backers.
"I resent the implication that it's the residents, that it's our fault," said Melvin Smith, a Fat City condominium owner, adding that residents routinely encounter prostitution, litter and other disturbances not originating with the housing.
"We are not Section 8 housing," said Katie Rigsby, speaking for Apartment Homes by Tonti, referring to government-subsidized units that were often panned by plan critics. "We do require criminal background checks, credit checks."
"We actually assist in the abatement of criminal activity in our communities," said Elena Cuccia, general manager of 1st Lake Properties.
Lee-Sheng said Jefferson Parish is applying similar tactics that New York City used to revitalize Times Square, although on a much smaller scale. That effort also drew protests, she said, but ultimately proved successful.
"They have a vision," Normand said of the apartment owners who supported the plan. "It is about the greater good. They understand there's going to be a little pain.
"It is a balance of interests of the community against the utility of a few businesses," he said.
Mark Waller can be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7056.