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City inflating damage, lawsuit says

Section: Business

Michelle Krupa

Plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that seeks to halt the demolition of nearly 2,000 privately owned properties condemned by City Hall allege that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's administration has systematically boosted the damage assessments of hundreds of the homes to expedite their razing.

Most of the properties are in areas where demolition permits normally cannot be issued without the consent of the Housing Conservation District Review Committee, a board charged with protecting structures across a broad swath of the city, according to a brief filed Monday.

The lawsuit alleges that in order to avoid appearing before the review panel, city officials in January began arbitrarily hiking the damage estimates of more than 300 properties to at least 70 percent.

Under an exception authorized by the City Council after Hurricane Katrina, any property with a damage assessment of 70 percent or higher may be torn down without the board's review.

Nagin spokesman James Ross said he could not comment on the claim "because this relates to an ongoing legal case."

The brief is the latest development in a lawsuit filed in August by a Lower 9th Ward pastor and five New Orleans homeowners who claim that the city illegally ordered the demolition of their gutted, salvageable homes under a law aimed at properties that pose an "imminent health threat." They have demanded that the city rebuild the structures or compensate them for their losses.

Three city officials, including Nagin, and a historic preservation expert are expected to appear today at 10 a.m. for an evidentiary hearing in the case before U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman.

Also receiving subpoenas last week were Mike Centineo, the city's director of safety and permits; Winston Reid, the code enforcement director; and Walter Gallas, head of the local office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Plaintiffs also may call Recovery Director Ed Blakely as a witness.

The demolitions are paid for with federal money.

Housing reviews sought

Plaintiffs in Monday's filing also contend that city officials have failed to schedule hearings before the housing review committee for about 1,200 properties within the protected area that carried damage assessments of less than 70 percent, including an unspecified number that already have been demolished.

They assert that such an action violates property owners' constitutional rights.

The Housing Conservation District covers a wide swath of the city that generally extends south from Interstate 610 and Florida Avenue between the Jefferson and St. Bernard parish lines.

It was created to protect buildings in old neighborhoods not already under the jurisdiction of the Historic District Landmarks Commission or the Vieux Carre Commission. Relatively new neighborhoods -- such as Lakeview, the Lakefront, eastern New Orleans and most of Algiers except for Algiers Point -- are outside its jurisdiction.

In deciding whether to allow a demolition, the committee considers a structure's condition and its architectural and historical importance. It also looks at how long the property would remain vacant after demolition and how plans for its eventual use would mesh with its surroundings.

Separately, plaintiffs in the filing Monday allege that 131 properties located in designated historic districts were granted demolition permits during the past 11 months without a mandated review by the Historic District Landmarks Commission.

Listing was a surprise

Among them is the home of Chanel Debose, who found her address, 3519 Washington Ave., in a docket of properties listed recently in The Times-Picayune as slated for demolition by the city, even though it was determined in January 2006 to be only 37 percent damaged, according to an affidavit signed by Debose and included with Monday's filing.

Debose said she doesn't know how her home, which "is already 99.5 percent repaired," received its current 88 percent damage assessment, and she wants the city to hold a public hearing so she can dispute the matter.

"My fully repaired and beautiful home could be demolished at any time because of the city's mistake," she said.

Unlike properties in the much larger conservation district, city law calls for all homes in historic districts, regardless of damage assessment, to receive Landmarks Commission scrutiny.

In addition to neighborhoods already under the commission's jurisdiction, the City Council agreed last year to require that the commission's staff review applications to demolish hurricane-damaged buildings in several neighborhoods that are on the National Register of Historic Places but are not local historic districts. Affected neighborhoods included Carrollton, the Garden District, part of the Lower Garden District, Central City, Mid-City, Parkview, St. Roch or New Marigny, part of the Central Business District and a sizable section of Uptown above Louisiana Avenue.

"The city is systematically avoiding historic review for properties and instead authorizing demolition," the plaintiffs' brief states.

Data comes from records

The analysis cited in the lawsuit was conducted by Matt McBride, a former Broadmoor resident who lobbied to have his neighborhood designated as a historic district after the storm. Culling data from the city's Web site and a third-party Internet depository of New Orleans property records, McBride reviewed damage assessment and demolition permit records of nearly 9,000 residential properties, he said.

The analysis does not specify whether the demolition permits were requested by property owners or by city officials seeking to raze blighted houses.

The demolition of New Orleans properties condemned because of damage from Katrina was put on hold Sept. 30 when the Army Corps of Engineers quit overseeing the task and transferred the responsibility to local officials. For nearly two years after the flood, the corps, working at the behest of FEMA, had overseen the demolition of about 4,300 storm-damaged properties identified by city officials.

During that period, FEMA, in line with federal regulations, conducted historical and environmental reviews of each property that City Hall inspectors had tagged for the wrecking ball, agency spokesman Ronnie Simpson said.

Under the new scheme, the city has hired its own demolition contractor and will have to come up with money to start the work, though it expects to be reimbursed by FEMA. The agency has set aside about $30 million to cover costs.

Simpson said, however, that reimbursement will hinge on whether City Hall conducts its own historical review of each property and provides paperwork to prove it, as required by federal rules.

"Every house that federal funds are used to demolish has to have a historical and environmental review, so even if (damage) was above the 70 percent that the city set, if they want to use federal funds, it has to have a historic review," he said.

It was not clear Tuesday whether the city intends to funnel condemned properties, including those in designated preservation districts, through a separate process to comply with the federal mandate.

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