Tagged: city council

A newly-elected New Orleans city councilman, whose district includes the Lower 9th Ward, has withdrawn a package of ordinances that would have required tour buses to pay special fees to access the neighborhood.

Councilman James Gray, who took office last month, says he needs more time to research the issue introduced by his predecessor.

Currently, the city has an ordinance in place that bans tour buses from the Lower 9th Ward. It was passed after Hurricane Katrina to keep tour buses from impeding cleanup and recovery efforts when levees failed during the 2005 storm.

Officials with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration have made their pitch to City Council members about a possible funding source to address a problem the city has struggled with since Hurricane Katrina: broken street lights.

The source would be an increased franchise fee charged to Entergy New Orleans — a fee that would be passed on to customers.

The New Orleans City Council is giving a break to bed-and-breakfast owners who are late paying the room tax rate of 50 cents per day for each occupied room.

The Times-Picayune reports that the penalty has often been much more than the amount due.

The late penalty was at least $500. Council President Stacey Head told the council that the tax for a typical B&B averages less than $60 a month.

The New Orleans City Council has rejected a 25-foot height waiver sought by a developer who wants to build an apartment building in Faubourg Marigny.

The Times-Picayune reports developer Sean Cummings said the decision "kills the project."

Without the ability to build the modernistic, six-story building to a height of 75 feet, he said the $20 million project isn't viable.

The council rejected the waiver on a unanimous vote.