Lawyer-homeowner says site should be his
The Lot Next Door program in St. Bernard Parish has been one of the most anticipated neighborhood renewal programs since Hurricane Katrina, a plan to shift more than 4,000 vacant lots sold to the state's Road Home program back to nearby private owners.
But as anxious homeowners await word on purchase agreements and acts of sale, a pilot program in which Parish Council members nominated certain residents to move to the front of the line to test out the real estate transfers has sparked a lawsuit challenging the way the program is being run.
David Jarrell, a Chalmette attorney who owns a lot on Birch Street in Meraux, has sued the parish over its choice of a nearby neighbor to get first crack at the lot next door to his. The lot went to Judith Buffone, the ex-wife of Parish Council Chairman Wayne Landry, even though it is not next door to Buffone's house. The lot in question is behind her home and on a different block.
According to parish rules governing the program, property owners behind a Road Home lot have the chance to purchase it only if owners of adjacent homes aren't interested. The goal is to preserve the appearance of neighborhoods and prevent oddly configured streetscapes, where front yards are right next to backyard fences.
"It's hard to understand how it's the Lot Next Door program when she's down the street and around the corner," Jarrell said. "It's a complete deviation from the rules."
Jarrell, who works for prominent St. Bernard attorney Sidney Torres III, said he was never notified by letter that the property next door to him was available for purchase. He owns several other properties throughout St. Bernard, and said he received notice that adjacent Road Home lots were available in every other case.
An essential component of St. Bernard Parish's post-Katrina redevelopment, the Lot Next Door program is the first step in absorbing more than 4,000 vacant Road Home buyout lots scattered throughout the parish.
Adjacent property owners get first crack at buying the lots. If there is a house on the current lot, a property owner isn't allowed to build a new house on the lot next door purchased from the state, only expand the yard or add a room or garage. The program is administered by the Housing, Redevelopment and Quality of Life Commission, which is made up of the seven Parish Council members, Parish President Craig Taffaro and St. Bernard Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy James Pohlmann.
The commission held two meetings on the dispute between Jarrell and Buffone in July and August, when members eventually voted to sell the lot to Buffone, prompting Jarrell to question whether Landry had steered it to his ex-wife.
Landry said he doesn't understand why Jarrell is raising questions about his influence in the process. He said he rarely speaks to his ex-wife and doesn't remember whether he selected her to be in the pilot program.
"Obviously the guy is bitter, but don't throw personal attacks at somebody because they may have been related to someone 15 years ago or something," Landry said. "I couldn't care less what he gets or doesn't get, what she gets or doesn't get. I don't have a dog in the hunt."
Buffone could not be reached for comment.
Name was on the list
Taffaro said Buffone's name had already been on the parish's list because she had called Clay Cosse, the parish's housing and redevelopment director, expressing interest in buying the lot. Taffaro said Landry did not object to Buffone's property being included in the pilot.
View full sizeSlabs and homes co-mingle on one block in St. Bernard Parish in April. Jarrell said he too had been repeatedly asking Cosse about the Road Home property since 2008. Cosse declined to comment, saying that all public information about St. Bernard Parish government has to go through Taffaro. Another notable St. Bernard Parish resident on the pilot program list is state District Judge Jacques Sanborn.
Sanborn's name appears on the list as being selected by Cosse and Parish Councilman Frank Auderer. Auderer said he is a friend of Sanborn but did not pick him for the pilot list, and instead deferred the choice to Taffaro's administration.
"I believe that is a role of the administration," Auderer said. "I wouldn't want to hand-pick anybody."
Taffaro, in an e-mail message, said Sanborn was included because he had shown "persistent interest'' in the property.
Sanborn said he wasn't aware of the pilot program, and noted that he is still waiting to buy the lot. There are no other adjacent property owners in his neighborhood laying claim to the vacant lot next door. Sanborn said he probably was on the list because he had repeatedly inquired about the lot with Cosse.
"It's certainly not because of favoritism," Sanborn said. "It might be persistence."
Because of various bureaucratic delays getting the program off the ground, only 21 Lot Next Door properties have closed. Aside from the Buffone property, which is in limbo because of Jarrell's lawsuit, only two other properties on the pilot list have gone through so far.
Change in computer log
According to documents subpoenaed by Jarrell from the parish's Lot Next Door contractor, Global Risk Solutions, the log for Buffone's property shows that someone went into the computer system in June 2009 to change the property designation from "not next door" to "next door," meaning it would be considered in the top tier of property transfers.
The computer log for Jarrell's property shows very few updates until June, when he began raising questions with the parish.
Landry said Buffone's property was a good pick for the pilot program because it is a rear lot on an oddly configured block, which could be a good test for more unusual cases that might come up over time. He also pointed out that he was not present for the final vote on the matter at the commission's August meeting to avoid any conflict of interest.
"I purposely did not participate in that meeting because I didn't even want the perception of impropriety," Landry said. "That's what I did. I took the high road."
Regardless of who was involved, Landry said he would be philosophically opposed to giving the lot next door to someone like Jarrell -- an investor who doesn't live on Birch Street -- over someone like Buffone, who is a homestead-exempt resident. "I don't believe we should go into a long-term neighborhood with a long-term resident who committed to come back after the storm and instead sell that property, when there's a choice to be made, to an investor who can put a rental property in its place," Landry said.
However, the parish's Lot Next Door rules do not differentiate between investors and homeowners, and do not deal with the intentions of property owners. The rules state that adjacent property owners, regardless of whether they have a homestead exemption, have primacy over rear homeowners.
The state had to agree in principle to St. Bernard's Lot Next Door program, but the parish created a tier system afterward that laid out which owners would get the first shot at buying the lots.
Another councilman on the Housing and Redevelopment Commission agreed with Landry's assessment.
"We wanted to be able to reward those people for basically being pioneers and coming back," said Parish Councilman Mike Ginart. "When I looked at it, I said, '(Jarrell's) not a tax-exempt homeowner there. He didn't come back and rebuild on that property. He bought the property considerably after the storm.' ... I felt that she was the tax-exempt homeowner, and to me that made the difference."
But Parish Councilman Ray Lauga, the only member of the commission to vote against the transfer to Buffone, agreed with Jarrell that his property was next door to the open Road Home lot and rightfully should get first crack at it.
"It's the lot next door, and there's one lot next to it. It's a no-brainer," Lauga said. "It's totally against the way we're trying to lay out things and do a better planned community. You're going to all of a sudden give preference to rear lots?"
Chris Kirkham can be reached at ckirkham@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3321.