Can an homeowner rebuild in New Orleans?

Factual Questions
1

I caught a bit of the anniversary of Katrina coverage. They showed loads of neighborhoods that looked totally wrecked after a year. Other communities were rebuilding to some degree. That got me wondering if New Orleans has some unique problem with rebuilding. I went looking using Google but I mostly get articles on Federal cash and the general corruption of government.

My question really boils down to what is possible for someone that wants to take the riskof rebuilding. Can a single homeowner with; trade skills, money or good credit legally rebuild in the face of a neighborhood composed mostly of driftwood.

Could he get;

  1. a demolition permit,
  2. a building permit,
  3. and an inspection (sign off) of the work?
2

As a native Louisianan, I think your questions are the same ones on the mind of federal, state, and local officials. There are still giant areas that no one really knows what they are going to do and they can’t know until engineers and government can come up with a long-term plan. There is a parish (county) next to New Orleans called St. Bernard that was effectively closed down by Katrina and may never recover.

I think your question depends on where in New Orleans you are talking about. They are more than happy to let people rebuild their homes in the French Quarter, Garden District, and Uptown areas although total destruction wasn’t the norm, people have more money, and those areas are important for history and tourism. They are still working out what to do in the (typically low-lying poorer areas) where virtually every structure was damaged or destroyed and there are no services in place and no immediate plans to restore them.

3

Thanks. Has the city suspended permitting in the worst hit areas while some committee decides how the city should be redeveloped? I can see how that could be the case. The city is being replanned and those in the destroyed districts are caught in the lurch.

I imagined it could also be a “chick or egg” situation where no one wanted to rebuild where no neighbor was rebuiling, the power company had no working lines, the schools were shut and business were bankrupt. Of course none of those entities would sink capital into the area until there were kids, workers, customers etc.

It sounds like its really the first point. The city is replanning the area and won’t let anying get ahead of the decision.

Am I understanding you correctly?

4

That is the basic idea but it isn’t “some committee” that is deciding it. It is large parts of state, federal, and local governments consisting of separate entities that may not have goals that are always consistent and may in fact be contradictory.

The problem is that the situation in Southern Louisiana really is dire with the Mississippi River forced into a man made channel that she really doesn’t want to stay in, millions of acres of wetlands eroded, New Orleans sinking, possible effects of global warming, and at least a temporary increase in large hurricane. I am sure that you can see this is not a good mix.

No one has taken a clear lead on what should be done. New Orleans can sit there crippled right like it is right now but another Katrina could hit two weeks from now. The Army Corps of Engineers could build a new levy system to protect against a CAT 4 hurricane but that levee system would dwarf the largest public works project in U.S. history, Boston’s Big Dig (16+ billion) and cost many times that and take upwards of 30 years.

It truly is a monumental problem and I think that people that aren’t directly affected just wish the nightmare would vanish. Actually fixing the problem is going to take enormous resources even in national terms. As it stands now, each group is trying to buy time in their own way. The system of dependencies that result from that mean that many areas are virtually frozen in time.

5

I live just outside New Orleans (on the “Northshore”) and am successfully rebuilding (countertops in early October! whee!).
As I understand it, the mayor of New Orleans has stated that anyone can rebuild anywhere. The city won’t stop you. However, and this is the key of course, they may not be getting around to helping you. Utilities, inspections, permits, etc may be kind of slow. But if you are determined, you can rebuild almost anywhere.

The real situation is that after a year of living away from home many people in the worst-hit neighborhoods are beginning to realize that it makes no sense to rebuild. The state is offering up to $150K (and in La. that will buy a modest tract home in a nice area) to either rebuild or move to another part of the state. So many neighborhoods won’t come back in the form they were-nor should they. And that is the plan of the government. They couldn’t come out and say this is crazy no you can’t build in a bowl surrounded by water, but they can procrastinate until the same thought occurs to the residents.

BTW, just my opinion and while I live here I am not in any direct way tied to New Orleans-haven’t been in the city since well before the storm, I believe the city will come back strongly-but in ways no one can predict. It certainly won’t be the old city, it won’t be the Disneyland tourist spot some are advocating, but it will be unique. Keep an eye on this place, it is going to surprise people.

6

My BIL is in the section of the city where the main breach was. They just moved back in and have all services back. I understand they are one of the only houses with a CO so far in their neighborhood.

7

I’m not following this. Are you saying that the permits and inspections are ignored or just slow? If the permits are slow, that would seem like an ideal priority for a politician. With big chunks of the city wrecked, the permitting office should be heavily staffed and open long hours. Or is the mayor telling people to get the construction done and worry about the fees and paperwork later? If that’s the case, it seems like a big can of worms to rebuild without the permitting and inspection process. A lot of people could get ripped off by really crap builders.

8

I was in New Orleans in late April and early May for the jazz festival. At the time there was a labor shortage, largely due to lack of housing. Big areas of the city were uninhabitable. Many schools and hospitals were closed. I assume things haven’t gotten much better since then.

How do you reboot a city? The population of the city can’t increase until things are repaired, but how can the repairs be done unless people can move there? Even if the environmental and funding problems are solved, the city can’t grow back to its pre-Katrina population all at once. It will take years. I think a reasonable rebuilding plan should have year-by-year projected population counts. Does such a plan exist?

9

I’ll share with you what I know about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and rebuilding in mapped floodplains.

Take for example, my Dads’ home in New Orleans. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Flood Insurance Map (FIRM) showed it to be in a zone A4. This means a 100-yr flood zone, approximate flood depth 4 feet. Sure enough, the home was flooded to about 4 feet.

The Stafford Act, which brought into being the whole idea of FIRM’s, was enacted by Congress in the late Sixties. Existing homes which were in the mapped floodplain were “grandfathered” in … that is to say, those folks could buy flood insurance at the same rate as anyone else; penalties (in the form of increased premiums) for their finished floors being below the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) were waived.

Several floods and several tons of money later, the NFIP took a new approach. According to the newer legislation, one can rebuild to the same finished floor elevation as that of the old house provided that the expenses for rebuilding are less than 50% of the value of the home.

That means that homes (like my Dad’s) which were “substantially damaged” (greater than 50% of value to rebuild) MUST be elevated above the BFE. Simply put, for Dad to rebuild according to NFIP guidelines, he must elevate his finished floor above 4 feet.

So, you may say to yourself, what happens if a homeowner can’t or won’t abide by the ordinance? The building department is supposed to enforce the Flood Damage Prevention ordinance. Any community which participates in the NFIP has to adopt the ordinance. If you bring a permit application to the community, it is bound by its own ordinance to refuse granting a permit if your construction is below the BFE. If the City of New Orleans means to uphold its ordinance, that means that a lot of lower income people will not be able to rebuild, because rebuilding to a higher elevation is too costly. Also, if the City refuses to uphold the ordinance, the NFIP might yank each and every flood policy in the City.

The rumor I’ve heard in the floodplain management industry is that New Orleans is refusing to uphold its own ordinance. The repercussions of that could be quite broad, in terms of seeing thousands of homeowners in the New Orleans area unable to purchace flood insurance because NFIP is going to pull the plug. I’ve also heard of one Mississippi gulf community which has refused to adopt the newer BFE’s which came out post-Katrina.

In terms of real life, we are caught in quite a quandary. The NFIP is a good program, and the ordinances can provide for safety from flooding as far as elevation standpoint. The question is, should we be preventing Granny from rebuilding on her slab which may be several feet below the BFE? Is that helping Granny or hurting her? Should dwellings be built in the floodplain in the first place? If a community decides to raze all damaged houses, what is to be done with the displaced people?

A couple of good links:
http://www.fema.gov/mitigationss/briefRotate.do

http://www.fema.gov/mitigationss/bestPracticeDetail.do?mitssId=1825

10

I have always questioned the wisdom of building on a floodplain. I can certainly understand why an insurance company would not want to insure a home built on one unless certain conditions are met. An insurance company makes money by taking chances - they take the chance that whatever I have insured my home against will not happen. If you build your home on a floodplain, that element of chance is removed. It will be flooded - the only remaining variables are how often and how badly.

I was also under the impression that (in New Orleans) a lot of the homes were not owner-occupied. The people who actually owned the homes may not feel the pressure to rebuild (or may not be financially able to rebuild more than one home at a time).

11

You CAN’T BUY flood insurance in any coastal area of Massacxhusetts now. If you can get it, it is expensive and only for limited coverage. Anybody living at or near a coastal area ought to be warned-the insurance industry has taken several major hits, and has indicated that it will not take any more. In Florida, the state is the insurer of last resort-and flood insurance from them ain’t cheap. My advice: DON’T! :eek:

12

The NFIP provides flood insurance for every community which participates in the program. If one cannot buy it in coastal Massachusetts, then the communities must not be participating in the program.

The flood insurance I’m talking about is not private insurance; it’s federal flood insurance. Here’s a link to the NFIP’s home page:

Also, here’s a link to a story about relocating out of the floodplain:
http://www.fema.gov/mitigationss/brief.do?mitssId=1429

90, Certified Floodplain Manager

13

According to this article, the NFIP does insure properties in Massachusetts. So, I’m not sure what you are referring to:

Sorry about the hijack.

14

Isn’t all flood insurance federally-issued? I’ve read that normal insurance companies don’t offer flood insurance on their own. They’ve crunched the numbers and know that it’s a bad risk for them.

15

That’s my understanding as well, Diceman, but I hestiate to say “there is no private flood insurance” because I don’t know that for a fact. :wink:

16

Well… there are upwards of 40 schools open as of last Thursday (9/7). I know… I was in New Orleans for most of August working to get them opened.

And, yeah, from what I could tell, people are free to rebuild wherever they want. It’s kind of screwy- you’ll have people rebuilding their homes with their FEMA trailer in the yard, and next door on both sides will be derelict shacky homes that haven’t seen any maintenance or anything in over a year.

The labor shortage is still going on- the Wendy’s on St. Charles (about 3-4 blocks out from Lee Circle) had a sign advertising a $125/week bonus to work there. That isn’t chump change when you’re talking about working at a Wendy’s!