Housing Demolition Is Halted
Demolition of three public housing complexes, scheduled to start this weekend, was halted Friday amid complaints about the scarcity of housing for the poor after Hurricane Katrina.
The Housing Authority of New Orleans, run by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, agreed to postpone the start of the demolition pending a hearing on Thursday before the City Council.
Opponents of the plan had filed a lawsuit contending that the Council’s consent was required by the city charter.
Work crews had been expected to start demolition on Saturday under the housing authority’s plan to replace 4,500 federally administered public housing units with mixed-income, mixed-use development. Demolition at a fourth complex, B. W. Cooper, can continue because the City Council
approved demolishing 14 buildings there four years ago, lawyers said.
Rachel Wisdom, a lawyer for the housing authority, said that because the city ordinance was vague, the agency agreed that the Council should take the matter up.
The Council backs redevelopment, but with caveats. On Nov. 1, it passed a resolution to support a Congressional bill that calls for phased redevelopment and one-for-one replacement of public housing units. By comparison, the federal plan envisioned quicker redevelopment and a reduction in the number of public housing units.
The proposal has prompted lawsuits, Congressional legislation and street demonstrations in a city where housing for the poor has been scarce and homelessness has soared since Hurricane Katrina. Advocates for current and former residents of public housing say the redevelopment plan would not make enough housing available to allow the thousands of displaced residents to return.
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