News Roundup

Trump Lawyer: N.O. Needs More Planners

City Business
September 20, 2006
By Deon Roberts Staff Writer

NEW ORLEANS — The city needs to hire more planners, says a local lawyer for a proposed Poydras Street development involving New York businessman Donald Trump.

Lawyer Edward Suffern is one of nine business leaders sending a letter to the New Orleans City Council asking for 40 more staff members for the understaffed City Planning Commission. The new hires would cost $1.4 million, according to the committee.

Zella May, a member of the committee, said the letter will be submitted to the Council on Thursday.

“I want them to have it before their meeting tomorrow,” she said today.

The letter, also signed by Stephen Braquet, Angelo Farrell, Bill Hines, Larry Schmidt, Peter Trapolin, Steven Villavaso and Kurt Weigle, says more planners are needed to speed up the processing of project applications to help rebuild New Orleans.

“We respectfully submit that the appropriate staffing and sufficient financial budget for the CPC is imperative for the timely processing of land use and zoning applications and the strategic rebuilding of the city,” the letter reads. “While in the short term, such funding may appear difficult based on the city’s current financial constraints, this funding is necessary to accommodate the timely rebuilding process and redevelopment of the city. The future long-range financial return and benefits to the city through economic redevelopment and expansion are anticipated to be significant.”

After Hurricane Katrina, Mayor C. Ray Nagin eliminated roughly 3,000 city positions. CPC’s staffing fell from 30 budgeted positions to nine.

As a result, developers and property owners are forced to wait as long as nine months for a CPC hearing. A project submitted for CPC approval today won’t be heard until June. Before Katrina, the wait was roughly six weeks.

Business leaders have been concerned about the delays, saying it could cost the city projects.

On Thursday, CPC Executive Director Yolanda Rodriguez said the city gave her permission to hire at least three more staff members, which will help. But the CPC still needs as many as 31 more employees to eliminate a growing project backlog, she said.

The letter, which makes salary recommendations based on “planning departments in peer cities,” calls for:

• four more principal planners at a cost of $54,400 each for a total cost of $218,000;

• six more senior planners at a cost of $45,000 each for a total cost of $270,000;

• 20 more planners at a cost of $36,330 each for a total cost of $726,000; and

• 10 more support staff members at a $20,250 each for a total cost of $202,500.

“This committee has formulated the above recommendations with the goal of facilitating the rebuilding of the city in an expedited manner. We submit that the staffing and anticipated budget are commercially reasonable and are necessary and appropriate at this time,” the letter reads.