New Orleans Issues Notification of Future Property Demolition

The City of New Orleans has begun issuing notification to property
owners of structures, portions of structures, or partially or wholly collapsed properties that floated off their foundations, as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita, and are now on public property including streets, sidewalks or rights of way.

Pursuant to a Consent Decree between the City of New Orleans and plaintiffs in, Kirk, et al v. The City of New Orleans, notification will be published in the Times-Picayune newspaper for three (3) consecutive days, beginning Monday, Feb. 6, 2006, and will also be posted www.cityofno.com. The City will also send notification by U.S. Mail to the last known address of the homeowner, if the address of the homeowner can be determined.

Owners of properties that are blocking public streets, sidewalks or rights of way shall receive notification at least seven (7) working days prior to demolition action.

Owners of properties that floated off their foundation and onto public
property, but not into a street, shall receive notification at least ten (10) working days prior to demolition action. For those properties or portions of properties where the address is not ascertainable, notification in the newspaper will include a description of the block where the structure is located and the bounding streets. Additionally at www.cityofno.com, pictures of the structures or portions of structures will be available for review.

After the notification periods expire, demolition of structures and/or removal of debris will commence.

In addition to properties referenced above, a number of properties in the City of New Orleans were inspected and determined to be in imminent danger of collapse. The Department of Safety and Permits is completing their final review of those properties. Once that list is finalized, notification to owners of those properties will begin. The City of New Orleans will issue a release when notification commences for those properties.

A number of residents have reportedly made requests to the City of New Orleans to have their properties demolished.

Beginning Monday, Feb. 6, information and forms will be available on www.cityofno.com, for those property owners requesting demolition. This program is available for private residential property owners only.

For those property owners who do not have Internet access call the 311 call center or 1-866-607-2472 for more information. The City of New Orleans anticipates receiving numerous requests. Please be patient. Each request will be evaluated to determine if it meets City and FEMA guidelines.