2021 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 198
BY SENATOR HARRIS
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the New Orleans City Council and the New Orleans City Planning
Commission to study and make recommendations updating neighborhood boundaries
in New Orleans East.
WHEREAS, the boundaries of the city of New Orleans are coterminous with Orleans
Parish, consisting of a wildlife refuge and fishing camps, suburban-style subdivisions, and
historic buildings, to modern high-rise buildings; and
WHEREAS, the city of New Orleans is governed by a Home Rule Charter form of
government which defines the boundaries of the city under Article I, Section 1-103; and
WHEREAS, the Home Rule Charter also created the city planning commission under
Chapter 4, which authorizes the commission, in part, to prepare and recommend to the
council, the official map of city and amendments thereto, upon which shall be shown all
existing and established streets, recommended street lines, all streets or street lines located
on final or recorded plats of subdivisions, and provides that street locations on final or
recorded plats of subdivisions shall constitute amendments to the official map and shall be
placed thereon; and
WHEREAS, historically, the city of New Orleans is divided into seventeen wards
which are used politically in voting in elections, subdivided into precincts; and
WHEREAS, the modern day map of the city of New Orleans' wards has not changed
since the late 1800s; and
WHEREAS, in 1974, in order to qualify for a share of Community Development
Block Grant funds, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development partnered with
the mayor's Office of Policy and Planning and Curtis and Davis Architects to delineate and
name "planning areas" throughout the city; and
WHEREAS, the result of the New Orleans Housing and Neighborhood Preservation
Study of 1974 carved up the city of New Orleans into seventy-three rigidly defined
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neighborhoods and their boundaries by surveying residents on issues of quality of life and
needs, as well as the name they used to describe the neighborhood where they lived; and
WHEREAS, today those seventy-three neighborhoods and their boundaries are used
by first responders, real estate agents, academia, nonprofits, and media outlets; and
WHEREAS, the area commonly known as "New Orleans East" is the suburban area
of the city of New Orleans consisting of the following eight neighborhoods by boundaries:
Pines Village, Plum Orchard, West Lake Forest, Read Blvd. West, Read Blvd. East, Little
Woods, Village De L'est, and Lake Catherine; and
WHEREAS, New Orleans East is more than sixty percent of the geographical area
of the city of New Orleans and the area is patrolled by NOPD's 7th District which
encompasses approximately one hundred thirty-three square miles, making it the largest
police district in New Orleans; and
WHEREAS, residents of the neighborhoods located in New Orleans East have voiced
concerns about how crime statistics and news stories paint their neighborhoods with a broad
brush as dangerous or unsafe by generally identifying the entire area as New Orleans East
and not by individual neighborhoods and their boundaries; and
WHEREAS, the residents say such generalizations have caused real estate values to
suffer in neighborhoods that are located in New Orleans East that are safe, secure, and
provide a sound quality of life and investment opportunities for families; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, the City Council and the City Planning Commission adopted
the initiative called Plan For The 21st Century, a city charter mandated planning framework
for the core systems that shape New Orleans' physical, social, environmental, and economic
future; and
WHEREAS, currently the Plan For The 21st Century reflects the values and priorities
that emerged through a community participation process as the City Council and the City
Planning Commission engaged in a city chartered mandated amendment process from 2016
to 2018; and
WHEREAS, since 1974, the residents of neighborhoods located in New Orleans East
have actively created their own identifiable neighborhoods and have incorporated many of
them as security and improvement districts or homeowners' associations; and
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WHEREAS, since New Orleans East is not a neighborhood, the New Orleans City
Council and the New Orleans City Planning Commission are encouraged to find ways to
address redrawing the neighborhood boundaries in New Orleans East in an effort to address
the residents' vision of the City's Plan For The 21st Century.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the New Orleans City Council and the New Orleans City
Planning Commission to study and make recommendations updating neighborhood
boundaries in New Orleans East.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to New
Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno and City Planning Commission Chairman
Jonathan Stewart.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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