Business & Labor
An Interview with New Orleans' Master Planner, John Beckman
(archrecord.construction.com - 02/22/06)
Interview
by Angelle Bergeron
Last month, John Beckman, principal
with Philadelphia firm Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT), presented
a master plan for rebuilding New Orleans (RECORD, February
2006, page 26). WRT was asked to devise a plan for the urban
planning committee of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission
(BNOBC), Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s team of professionals quickly
formed to address the city’s woes in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina.
ARCHITECTURAL
RECORD: How did the Bring New Orleans Back Commission
end up choosing a Philadelphia-based planning & design
firm to advise them on urban planning?
John Beckman: WRT has been involved
in New Orleans off and on for over 30 years. In 1974 we rewrote
the zoning ordinance to permit creation of a downtown development
district. We also worked on plans for the warehouse district,
which used to be skid row. We completed a master plan for
City Park just before the hurricane. Joe Canizaro (local developer
and BNOBC Urban Planning Commissioner) was on the board of
the group that led the original Downtown Development District,
and he suggested I come down and meet with the BNOBC.
AR:
Who is paying for your services?
JB: Neither the city nor the
commission is funding our efforts. Some of the work is paid
for by private funds. Some is on an at-cost basis, and we
have donated an enormous amount as well. There is no city
more wonderful in the U.S. than New Orleans and if you can’t
step forward now, when are you going to?
AR:
Many people greeted the plan with distrust. Why is that?
JB: There is a lot to be angry
about. It is a clear case of negligence by the federal government.
When you look at the dollars that were expended after September
11, they were completely out of proportion from what happened
with Katrina and Rita. Clearly planning before the storm could
have been better – from lack of funding to restoration
of coastal wetlands. This needs to be an equitably, and efficiently,
managed resettlement of the city so the people who do come
back have the services they need. It’s a matter of phasing
and timing because everyone is not going to come back right
away. The only piece of our action plan that was rejected
was the moratorium (four months long, to assess which areas
are most feasible to rebuild) on building permits.
AR:
Is the committee working on design guidelines for new construction?
JB: Not yet. Our plan recommends
that the interim guidelines be developed quickly. We also
recommeded updating the city’s master plan, giving it
the force of law and placing the control of land use, land
development, zoning ordinances, and building codes with the
city planning commission. We felt it was important that these
activities be taken out of the political realm.
AR:
What types of zoning – for uses and densities - is WRT
planning?
JB: That’s going to come
out of the neighborhood planning process. The action plan
we prepared (at www.bringneworleansback.org) was a recommendation.
There also has to be significant input by the city planning
commission.
AR: How
is the neighborhood planning process being convened?
JB: We’re setting up teamsof
residents and leaders supported by professionals and experts
– planners, urban designers, architects, cost estimators,
civil engineers, etc. Many neighborhoods have already started
their planning. The professional teams are largely set up
at this point.
AR:
Are there any more solid facts about how many residents have
returned and how many unsalvageable houses there are?
JB: The best estimates that I’ve
seen are that there are now approximately 150,000 New Orleans
residents. I do not have an estimate of the number of homes
that are unsalvageable. The city and federal government have
given damage reports, but many home owners are appealing their
accuracy. Most people would feel more comfortable with an
actual inspection of their properties.
AR:
How are you determining future population estimates?
JB: It is estimated that by September,
2008, New Orleans will have 250,000 people or so. The biggest
constraint is habitable housing. My gut feeling is that there
may be more people than that because New Orleans is such a
rooted place and has such a powerful pull.
AR:
The plan talks about bridge financing and other means to help
people to get their houses back. Any prognosis for those,
especially since President Bush has repudiated the Baker buy-back
plan?
JB: The Baker Bill (which calls
for the federal government to buy large swaths of land for
redevelopment) would have been very helpful, and it was a
big disappointment that it was rejected by the White House.
Congressman Baker has indicated that he will propose another
version. When I presented the plan to the Louisiana Recovery
Authority (on Jan. 13), Baker said everyone who opposed the
bill said they would support it if it were modified. There
are also CDBG (community development block grant) funds, FEMA
funds, U.S. Department of Transportation funds, and various
housing agency funds. Another appropriations request must
be submitted to the Federal government by July 1. The reaction
of the mortgage, insurance and finance industries will be
key because if they don’t provide financial backing,
people won’t be able to rebuild.
AR:
Has this planning process been handled the same as any other
would, or have the scope and enormity led you to use other
methods?
JB: We have done plans for larger
cities than New Orleans, but there were many factors that
made it unusual. For example, the lack of data. The city’s
computer system was knocked out, so we didn’t know how
many houses were destroyed, or how many people there were.
There were no schools, very limited government to interact
with and a very small population. When we do a city-wide plan,
it usually involves hundreds of people and many meetings.
We did this in an incredibly compressed time frame, with an
enormous sense of urgency.
AR:
How will your plans be affected by the release of FEMA’s
flood elevation maps? (The maps are supposed to be released
by the end of March)
JB: Those maps will specify what
elevation the first floor of a building needs to be. Absolutely
no one knows what will come out of that process or even when
the maps will be released, and it is obviously extraordinarily
frustrating for the people of New Orleans.
AR:
What effect do you expect the municipal elections (scheduled
for April and May) to have on the urban planning committee's
progress?
JB: I hope and expect that the
citizens and elected officials of New Orleans will continue
to focus on preparation of a long term recovery plan. I believe
everyone understands the stakes involved in building a better
New Orleans based on the best of its legacy - a place where
everyone can return and a place to which new residents will
move.
AR:
How are you identifying displaced residents to include them
in the neighborhood planning process?
JB: There are a number of sources
for information, including the FEMA list. A second way is
working with city governments in the cities where there are
larger concentrations of residents. We are also contacting
not-for-profit organizations as well as housing and social
service providers. We can compile those and get a pretty good
outreach list.
AR:
The committee’s plan supported creation of a third-party,
professional management redevelopment team, the Crescent City
Rebuilding Authority. What is happening with that?
JB: There were three major ways
we thought that might be established – through the Baker
Bill, state legislation, or reorganizing and enhancing the
New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. The answer has not been
derived yet.
AR:
Some people have expressed concern about Joe Canizaro, a successful
developer, chairing a committee that may ultimately have a
great deal of input into which areas may or may not be developed.
How do you feel about that?
JB: No decisions have been made
by anybody about what can and can’t be developed. That
is one of the common misconceptions floating around. The facts
are that the Mayor created the commission to give advice and
named people who were able to step up and fill the role. The
people essentially dropped everything to give the city advice.
Every one of those people has tremendous personal accomplishments.
They sacrificed a great deal to do this civic work and all
are subject to criticism, as am I. What is the alternative
idea is the question I would ask. Anything can be improved,
and that plan certainly can. It’s also worth saying that
Joe Canizaro did not need to do this. He didn’t need
this aggravation.
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