With money flowing into several major public and private development projects in New Orleans East, city officials are now seeking to understand whether changes to local zoning rules could help improve a retail landscape plagued by?decades of disinvestment.
The City Planning Commission is set to hold a public hearing Tuesday at City Hall to discuss ways to curb concentrations of beauty supply stores, nail salons, tire shops and discount retailers in the area. The hearing is part of a study, set to be released next month, that was commissioned by the City Council.
City Council member Oliver Thomas, who represents most of New Orleans East and co-sponsored the motion in February?directing the planning commission to embark on the study, said he wants to try and better balance the retail mix in the area and hopefully make it more attractive for families to move there.
New Orleans City Council member Oliver Thomas, photographed Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune)
“We’re seeing?the proliferation of certain kinds of businesses that take up the potential space for other business and economic opportunities,” Thomas said.
Big projects
The look into the retail landscape of New Orleans East comes as residents are hoping new economic investments slated for the East will help boost its appeal.
After more than a decade of false starts, a private developer has been handed the keys to the abandoned Six Flags amusement park, with plans to turn the site into a recreational hub with a?water park, youth sports facilities and other attractions.
U.S. Rep Troy Carter D-New Orleans?recently announced a?$61 million grant?aimed at improving biking, pedestrian and vehicle safety along Interstate 10 service roads in the East. And a master plan to redevelop the historic?Lincoln Beach?off Hayne Boulevard is underway — a $23 million project that's expected to be completed over the next several years.
“It is one of the most significant economic catalysts that you would want to come in your community,” Carter said of Lincoln Beach.
The former Six Flags theme park in New Orleans East.
Still, residents in the area?regularly complain of vacant storefronts and a lack of businesses, adequate public transportation, recreation and employment opportunities.
“I go to Metairie or Chalmette for almost everything,” said New Orleans East resident Amari Williams. “If I need clothes, if I have to make groceries, if I want to take the kids somewhere fun, I know I won’t find everything I need here,” she said.
Aside from a Winn-Dixie on Chef Menteur Highway and a Wal-Mart on Bullard Avenue, there are no other grocery stores in the Black-majority area that's home to roughly one-fifth of the New Orleans population.
Discount stores like Dollar General often fill in the gaps when residents are shopping for food and basic goods.
"They want more variety, more retail, they would like to see different opportunities," Thomas said.?
The Planning Commission study?is expected to result in proposals for zoning changes. That could include requirements that certain types of prospective store owners apply for a conditional use permit and undergo a public hearing before opening up shop, similar to the process for fast food restaurants or large childcare centers in residential areas.
It could also impose distance limitations to prevent businesses from concentrating in the same places.
City Council member Eugene Green, who co-sponsored the motion and represents a sliver of New Orleans East as part of his Gentilly-based council district, said one of the biggest barriers to attracting business in the East is a perception issue.?
New Orleans City Council member Eugene Green speaks during a City Council meeting July 21, 2022.
Particular neighborhoods?in New Orleans East have some of the highest crime rates in the city and 911 response rates are typically slow. But reports of crime often lump the East together as a whole despite its massive land mass.?
Green said he'd like to see more local investments to combat negative perceptions of the East.
"There could be more art supply stores, framing shops, or a museum. Bookstores. Places that add to the character of New Orleans East," he said.?
“People in the community desire a different mix of businesses.”
Note:?There is a Walmart with a grocery on Bullard Avenue. A previous version of this story contained an incorrect number of grocery stores.