LETTERS OPPOSING ICINOLA

We, the newly formed Bywater Civic Association, are not opposed to new development in our neighborhood, but want development that respects the essential historic nature, heritage, diversity, and quality of life that has long characterized the Bywater. We are opposed to ICInola because it threatens that character in all ways. We recognize that development is necessary for a healthy tax base and for rebuilding New Orleans, but as residents, we also have an interest in preserving our community's historic value and character, existing small businesses, and overall quality of life while such growth occurs. We ask for a greater balance between new development and redevelopment and we want the city to recognize the importance of compatibility and balance between development and historic preservation. The ICInola architecture, cited as a public benefit, does not appear to have been designed with respect to the Bywater Historic District or it’s neighbors and neighborhood. The HDLC has, in turn, not upheld it’s mission and protection of the Bywater by giving it’s permissions to this project. This development requests zoning changes and proposes considerable adverse and far reaching effects to neighbors while dramatically altering the scale of the Bywater visual and landscape. There is no place in America like this place, and maybe no place in the world. The Bywater is alive and thriving, and as the old saying goes: what isn’t broken, doesn’t need fixing. We need smaller scale development and designs that conform to detailed and thoughtful plans already established for this unique area. The city will, in the long run, receive more economic benefit by preserving the resources that make the Bywater a unique neighborhood of New Orleans than it will by undermining the very fabric of this area. We came back! We need to help our neighbors in St. Claude and the lower 9th ward, and businesses along the St. Claude corridor. This will make the entire area part of the economic recovery.

Our major concerns with ICInola's plan are: density, scale, and incompatibility with historic architecture, loss of light and views for neighbors, traffic congestion, effect on residential parking, the moving of existing historical structures, negative impact on current local businesses, noise, and the fact that providing [condo] housing for a starting price of between $200-350,000 does not in fact bring back our neighbors in the Bywater, St. Claude, Holy Cross, and other people who wish to return home, as stated by Shea & Cam.

We believe the traffic study is a critical aspect of the planning process and one the developers have failed to meet. We are concerned that ICInola will create unacceptable levels of traffic congestion and parking problems. The development's plan has not addressed the routing of all building traffic, residential, retail and delivery traffic. It also provides far too little parking for proposed business, employee, and resident parking.

The buildings’ overall mass, driven by density, dwarfs all of its neighbors.
We disagree with the decision to move two historic properties as part of the site in the design proposal.
As to New Orleans’ urgent need for housing, there are many opportunities to build housing units that would actually be more affordable to displaced residents, expensive condos is not the way to go. If the city is truly committed to addressing a housing shortage, they will focus on affordable housing for returning residents, not these big, upscale condo “projects”. Like the projects, they will likely increase crime in the neighborhood by virtue of the disparity created by a closed, dense, upscale community with private security in our mixed income/mixed race .

In summary, we are not opposed to development in the Bywater, but we are adamantly opposed to the ICInola development. We need development and design that respects the existing Historic architecture and bridges old and new with grace and dignity.

Finally, we want to all residents of Bywater to be included, in a meaningful way, in the planning and decision-making process affecting the neighborhood.

I am writing to express my extreme opposition to zoning docket ZD039-07, the proposed ICInola project near Bartholomew and Burgundy Streets in the Bywater. I am aware that this project was recently approved by the Bywater Neighborhood Association, but please know that their support does not reflect the opinions of many (possibly the majority) of Bywater residents. Instead, the BNA's approval of the project only reflects the opinion of its board: home owners who can afford to pay the membership fee.

The developers behind ICInola assert that the building of these condos (priced well above $200,000) will encourage people to return to the city because they will be low maintenance and ready to move into. We all know the real reasons people have not returned to New Orleans are because housing is unaffordable, crime is high, public schools are in crisis, and professional job opportunities are few and far between.

There are many of us who believe that ICInola threatens the unique character of this neighborhood by not providing for affordable or mixed-income housing to preserve diversity, by not adequately addressing the issues of parking and traffic that will harm our quality of life, and by surreptitiously changing the rezoning plans to allow for construction up to 75 feet therefore allowing for the possibility of construction of an aberrant eyesore. The Bywater is a quaint, historic neighborhood that deserves the same protective preservation efforts as the Faubourg Marigny or the French Quarter. Letting the Bywater to become no different than the faceless suburbs of New Orleans will insult my decision to return to this city, and make me question whether or not I should stay. If I wanted to live somewhere with horrible traffic and ugly buildings, I would move to Metairie and take my tax dollars with me.

I implore you to not allow this project to move forward, not because I oppose progress but because I oppose allowing such a vibrant community to be drained of its heart and soul. Thank you for taking the opinions of ALL Bywater residents into consideration before making a decision that has the potential to permanently change our neighborhood.

Best Regards,

Daniele

France St
New Orleans, LA

The Bywater is special & unique & historic. ICINola is visually against the historic context of Bywater. I feel that the design of this has significant architectural flaws, in its inability to blend or compliment the neighborhood, there is no continuity with the current shotguns and Creole cottages and these buildings will tower above and dwarf surrounding historic architecture.

My backyard will have a massive structure blocking out sunlight, what is currently a parking lot will be a 50ft. building behind my home in a quiet residential area, not on a main road like St. Claude. It is not compatible with the neighborhood.

There is no spacing between any of the massive buildings which does not match the historic Bywater individual corner stores and residences. The scale is not in line with human size.

The threat of moving the two historic homes is significant as one of these homes is in current litigation over ownership. They have not informed the neighbors and many of our poor residents without access to the internet or computers have received no information about the project. And let's be honest, condos starting at over $234k are not helping the people of the 9th Ward and Lower 9th Ward come home.

They have made none of their Powerpoint presentations available on their websites, nor has their website announced any city meetings or resident meetings related to the project. Additionally, none of their slides show the backs of the buildings which is what my backyard will be facing, an "up to 50ft" building as the heights of these buildings keep changing.

I request that the HDLC oppose conceptual approval of the ICINola project and preserve historic Bywater.

Denise Heston-Taylor
Mazant Street
70117

April 20, 2007

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to strongly urge you to vote against the proposed development by ICI NOLA at Bartholomew and Burgundy. I live on the 900 block of Burgundy and have been a Bywater resident for eleven years.

I am against the proposed development for the following reasons:

1. The proposed construction does fit in with the character and historic grace of the architecture of the rest of the Bywater, in terms of both appearance and proportions. As per the HDLC guidelines governing new construction in historic areas, no new construction should unnecessarily draw attention to itself. The new construction proposed by ICI NOLA, measuring up to 75 feet in height, will dwarf existing shotguns and Creole cottages, and these ugly, massive buildings will become the new focal point of our lovely neighborhood.

2. The occupancy of the proposed condominiums far exceeds that which the area can reasonably accommodate, in terms of parking, garbage, noise, and traffic.

3. The area is not suited for the high volume of traffic that would also arise as a result of the businesses that are included in the ICI NOLA plan. The amount of street parking that exists is currently adequate for residents of singles and doubles, in addition to the existing public library and schools.

4. The proposed cost of ICI NOLA condominiums at $300/sq. ft. far exceeds the current values of average mortgages and rentals in the Bywater. Given the average incomes of current Bywater residents, the likelihood that these units will be purchased by actual full-time residents (whether they currently reside here or plan to make the neighborhood their home) is low. If the units remain unsold (a likely scenario), the neighborhood will be tarnished by unsightly, half-completed construction projects.

5. The zoning changes (from residential and light-industrial to mixed-use and from 3 story limits to 5 story limits) that would necessarily accompany the ICI NOLA development do not reflect the wishes of the Bywater as were set out in the former Bywater plan. This plan clearly earmarked St. Claude as the desirable location for new commercial and mixed-use development. St. Claude, being a four-lane divided highway with fewer residents, is obviously more suited to the high traffic volumes and increased parking that would result from the addition of these proposed new businesses in the Bywater.

On a personal note, I am very worried that the rezoning which would accompany the ICI NOLA development could spark an onslaught of zoning changes and unchecked construction, particularly during this very fragile time for New Orleans communities. New development is not necessarily a bad thing, but projects such as those proposed by ICI NOLA, which aim to obliterate existing zoning mandates and dominate the neighborhood's landscape, should be approached with caution and care should be taken that the input of affected neighbors and existing businesses is considered. Instead, the architects of the ICI NOLA project give the appearance to many of squelching dissent and criticism through a campaign of misinformation, the methods of which include non advertisement of “public” meetings, (including removal of flyers I personally pinned up around the area yesterday evening announcing last week’s meeting of the HDLC), and deflecting or outright ignoring questions critical to the project at such meetings. Also troublesome to me is the fact that the owners of ICI NOLA, Cam Mangham and Shea Embry, have a history of selling out of similar large-scale construction projects (three projects) after the affected land had been rezoned for their proposed developments. With a track record like theirs, it seems foolish to me to subject our precious historical neighborhood to their whims and back-room dealings. They have also seemingly convinced many Bywater residents that ICI NOLA offers the neighborhood the only chance of getting a supermarket, when no retail businesses, including grocers, have been signed on to the ICI NOLA plan, and there is no guarantee that one of retailers included in the project will be a supermarket.

The Bywater is a beautiful and diverse community. The historic architecture is a national treasure. The success of its integration of people from different races, classes, backgrounds, and incomes should be a model for city planning in this country where segregation is still rampant. I ask that the Bywater be given the opportunity to thrive in its natural state before handing it over to developers.

Thank you,
Jane
Burgundy Street
New Orleans, LA 70117