We have just posted the latest project report on Global Giving‘s website:
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/new-orleans-citizen-participation-project/updates/
May 2013 Project Report
By Keith Twitchell – President
We are very happily celebrating the final step in the City of New Orleans’ formal adoption of both policy and legal code that establishes the Early Notification System of the NOLA CPP model in our city. First passed in policy form by the City Planning Commission last July, the policy document and amendments to the City’s Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance were unanimously adopted by the City Council on May 2. The policy is officially called the “Neighborhood Participation Plan” by City Planning.
What these changes mean is that going forward, virtually any public or private sector project that requires any action at all by the City Planning Commission must be brought to the nearby residents and neighborhood association first, before the City Planning process can begin. This a truly groundbreaking step in terms of protecting New Orleans neighborhoods against unwanted development, and the biggest achievement to date in this project.
While this also has positive ramifications for businesses, it will not be until the full NOLA CPP is implemented that the full benefits to businesses will be realized. Good developers are already meeting with residents and neighborhood associations, and the new mandate will give all sides a chance to get together, solve problems and find common ground. This should expedite the rest of the city’s decision-making processes, which go much faster when all parties are in agreement. However, business owners remain vulnerable to individuals who may appear later in the process, identify themselves as stakeholders, and demand changes and/or delays in a project. In New Orleans, sometimes these individuals are legitimate; many times they are not. Currently, there is no method for authenticating these individuals. The full NOLA CPP model does include a method for identifying, authenticating and including all stakeholders at the beginning stages of a project. Thus, one major next step for the project is working with business interests 1) to inform them about the new mandate and facilitate effective communication with residents and neighborhoods and 2) to enlist them in supporting adoption of the full CPP model.
We will also collaborate with the Planning Commission staff, the Neighborhood Engagement Office and our partners at the Neighborhoods Partnership Network on other aspects of implementing the NPP.
Simultaneously, our work to map neighborhood boundaries in New Orleans continues. We are nearing completion of our second (of 13) planning districts, are making good progress on another two, and are about to start up in three more. We also continue to work with the Neighborhood Engagement Office to enroll residents in the New Orleans Recreation Division Commission’s new Community Advisory Boards, which are the first formally established structures for resident input in the city’s history. And our Neighborhood Association Manual has now been downloaded over 160 times, been circulated in printed copies, and is being used by several resident groups to help start new neighborhood associations.
Finally, we are advancing work on our Latino Community of Interest pilot project with our partners Puentes New Orleans. Following up on the well-received Latino community survey, which examined Latino residents’ priority needs and issues as well as their barriers to civic engagement (the report is currently being translated into Spanish), we are preparing a new survey that will take a more detailed look at issues, concerns and needs among Latino residents regarding health care and education. We will be working with many of the Latino leaders who assisted us with the first survey, and also with the City’s Department of Health, in designing and conducting the survey. It is also likely that Puentes and Committee for a Better New Orleans will present on the first survey at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, which will take place in New Orleans in July.
While it is tempting to take a few breaths and celebrate a little longer over the adoption of the NOLA CPP Early Notification System, the other projects are keeping us much too busy — and the new momentum is much too strong — for such a luxury. Our Citizen Action Team and other key partners will be meeting soon to discuss a comprehensive strategy and specific next steps for moving ahead with adoption of the full NOLA CPP model. We have a great opportunity to speed up the already-accelerating pace, and must take full advantage. As always, we are extremely grateful to our many supporters, here in New Orleans and across the country and world. You enable our work and inspire our dreams.
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