LRA plan calls for more compact and regionalized development

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

State hurricane recovery leaders unveiled a long-term plan that calls for high-speed transportation, concentrated development in established cities and towns and better regional government planning.

Louisiana Speaks, a long-term community planning arm of the governor’s Louisiana Recovery Authority, used case studies from other cities, the plans of other state and federal government agencies, polls of southern Louisiana residents and professional planners to produce the plan.

“It is a road map to Louisiana’s future,” Donna Fraiche, a member of the LRA board, said Wednesday.

The $4 million plan, almost entirely financed by private investors, calls on the Legislature to give the Office of State Planning more powers and more money after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

It seeks to persuade parishes to start thinking regionally while persuading residents to give up some individual property rights so fewer homes will be built in flood plains and encouraging developers to focus their efforts in already-established areas.

“The future can and should be by design, and not by default,” said Peter Calthorpe, the project’s lead planner.

However, the blueprint lacks specific price tags for recommended projects or the money to carry them out, which LRA board member Sean Reilly said could take up to a decade to secure.

Some of the more immediate projects suggested include:

• A high-speed public transit link between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, possibly started with seed money from the LRA.

• Establishment by the Legislature of two trust funds to compensate developers for giving conservation easements that preserve wetlands and to provide incentives for reinvestment in urban areas.

• Identification and amendment by the Legislature of zoning laws and other codes that impede further development of urban areas.

LRA officials hope that since the state has a plan that combines visions from various parishes and cities, Congress could be more willing to send the state more money.

“This gives us the ammunition to go to Washington and start fighting for additional money,” Reilly said.

But the necessary legislative actions could be a hard sell, especially for conservative lawmakers and those who live outside the hurricane-affected southern part of the state.

Rep. Mike Powell, R-Shreveport, said he doesn’t believe Louisiana residents have softened their stance on private property rights, pointing out that they voted overwhelmingly last year to amend the state Constitution to limit local governments’ ability to seize private property.

“New Orleans may well need extraordinary measures to deal with development issues in flood-prone areas,” he said. “But we don’t need to act with such a broad brush that affects private property rights or the local control over zoning and other land-use issues.”