Earl Schmit PO Box 791120 New Orleans, LA 70179-1120 March 1, 2014 I am writing to ask for your support. email me at midcityparkinglot@gmail Dear Neighbor(homeowner or renter), Volunteers of America Greater New Orleans, Inc. currently owns a vacant lot on Cleveland Avenue behind its administrative office located at 4152 canal St., New Orleans, LA 70119. They have requested Conditional Use Permit approval for a parking lot on this vacant lot on Cleveland Avenue in which they propose to place 32 additional parking spaces. They also propose to add video cameras facing south directions on Cleveland Avenue as a security measure. For the reasons which follow, we strongly object to this Conditional Use Application. CONDITIONAL USE MUST BE DENIED. Conditional Use approval for a parking lot at this Cleveland Avenue location should be denied for multiple reasons as being incompatible with existing uses and the neighborhood. By way of background, a historical residential structure was located on the subject lot for decades. This residential structure only recently burned down, and Volunteers of America recently purchased the vacant lot and chose not to rebuild a residential home. Instead of rebuilding a house, Volunteers of American proposed a large parking lot whose external effects on adjacent properties and on the surrounding neighborhood cannot be effectively mitigated by any conditions which could be imposed by the City Council. The proposed parking lot would adversely affect the adjacent properties and the surrounding neighborhood in the following ways, among others: (1) REDUCED PARKING ON CLEVELAND AVE. Volunteers of Americans efforts to alleviate their parking concerns will worsen the parking concerns of the residents on Cleveland Avenue. VOA plans to enlarge the apron for entering and exiting their parking lot which will take away street parking for residents on Cleveland Ave. Cleveland Avenue already has limited street parking available for residents. (2) TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON CLEVELAND AVE. Cleveland Avenue is a narrow street. When cars are parked on both sides of the street, heightened caution must be used when driving down Cleveland Ave. due to its narrowness. VOAs proposal, which would entail dozens of cars entering and exiting their proposed parking lot at all times of the day, will create a bottleneck funnel on an already narrow street. Emergency and Services vehicles already have difficulty in maneuvering down Cleveland Avenue, and the proposed parking lot will greatly worsen the existing situation. (3) DRAINAGE PROBLES. Cleveland Avenue already has drainage problems causing street flooding even in moderate rainfalls. VOAS proposal would convert virtually their entire lot, which now has natural soil covering and a natural permeable surface, into an entirely impervious concrete surface. As a result, virtually all the rain falling on this lot would become urban runoff and worsen the flooding problems on Cleveland Avenue whose drainage cannot now even handle moderate amounts of rainfall runoff. (4) PARKING LOT SECURITY. Roughly 80% of the criminal acts at business offices, strip malls and shopping centers occur in the parking lot. VOA proposes to add security cameras facing both directions, but the addition of security cameras in cameras in parking lots in the last few decades has not shown any decrease in the 80% figure of criminal acts occurring in parking lots of business offices. It is also important to note that VOA has not proposed security personnel for the parking lot as a crime deterrent. (5) LIGHT POLLUTION. To the extent that VOA proposes sufficient lighting for its parking lot security and for its CCTV surveillance cameras, such lighting will cause light pollution in the form of glare and illumination levels inappropriate for a residential neighborhood. Many medical researchers consider light pollution to be one of the fastest growing and most pervasive forms of environmental pollution, and there is a growing body of scientific research that light pollution can have lasting adverse effects on human health. Residents of this neighborhood do not want artificial light from parking lot floodlights spilling on to the adjacent property. Obtrusive lighting form the parking lot would turn night into day in the surrounding area, and lighting that is sufficiently bright for the safety and security of VOAs staff and customers becomes a nuisance to the neighborhood. (6) NOISE AND EXHAUST POLLUTION. VOAS proposed parking lot will greatly increase the noise pollution and exhaust pollution in this quiet residential neighborhood. The constant starting, stopping, entering and exiting of cars into and out of the proposed parking lot will adversely affect the character of this residential neighborhood. At the hearing on this proposed Conditional Use Permit application, we intend to demonstrate how VOAS proposed use is not compatible with present and future uses and is not consistent with the goals of the citys plan for Mid-City neighborhood re-building following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The city has made great strides in improving the quality of like for Mid-City residents and has stemmed the exodus of residents following the levee failures that flooded the area in August 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. The proposed Conditional Use does not fit the character of the neighborhood, is not consistent with the residential family-oriented atmosphere of the neighborhood, and threatens the residents quality of life. We strongly believe that voting in favor of the Conditional Use will be an inappropriate precedent to establish within this community. We ask you to do what is right for the Mid-City and vote against the Conditional Use Permit application of VOA. Sincerely Earl Schmit Thank you for your support. email midcityparkinglot@gmail phone number 504 908 4866 My Property location 4148-50 Cleveland Av. New Orleans copies to: email the MID-CITY NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION AND CITY PLANNING COMMISION [email protected] MID-CITY NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION Improving Mid-City Since 1975 Jennifer Farwell, President, phone# 504 535 4364 email [email protected] Bonnie Garrigan, Director of Communications, phone# 504 504 975 5378 email [email protected] Roux Merio, Director of Quality of Life, phone# 504 957 0095 email [email protected] PO Box 791023 New Orleans, LA 70179 Neighbor (homeowner or renter), I need your voice. Email (midcityparkinglot@gmail) a brief statement of support to denied the VOA conditional use. Face Book Midcityparkinglot leave a message. Post your concerns. Feel free to email the offices of MID-CITY NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION Please make copies to give to your neighbors. I need a lot of hel
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 05:32:31 +0000
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