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- 1.Federal and State Authority and Actions
- 2.Conflict with Local Zoning
C.Housing RefugeesHurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of persons in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Approximately 1.5 million households did not receive postal delivery after Katrina.77 Many refugees stayed with friends and family; tens of thousands were housed in hotels in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. Approximately 34,000 persons were still housed in hotels in Texas alone as of November 30, 2005.78 Federal, state and local officials worked to provide trailers, recreational vehicles and mobile homes as temporary housing. Although officials were armed with authority to provide such temporary housing, local land use requirements and ordinances often interfered with its placement. These issues are explored below. 1.Federal and State Authority and ActionsThe Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) has authority under the Stafford Act and the regulations thereunder to provide housing for refugees in various ways.79 It may obtain and pay for hotel accommodations for eligible individuals. Originally, FEMA planned to pay for hotel rooms for up to ninety days. This period was extended by FEMA, and then further extended until at least February 7, 2006 by federal court order.80 FEMA may provide temporary housing (travel trailers and mobile homes); housing for at least 40,000 families has been made available in New Orleans alone. Other federal agencies also made accommodations available. According to information from the Department of Homeland Security website, the U. S. Forest Service (for Katrina victims) and the U. S. National Park Service (for both Katrina and Rita victims) waived campground fees and limits on the number of days a campsite could be used in National Forest and National Park campgrounds by evacuees, relief and recovery workers and families. The U.S. Department of Agriculture waived certain eligibility requirements for its rural housing program, to make 30,000 housing units available for refugees made homeless by Katrina.81 Louisiana statutes give its governor wide authority to take actions to provide temporary emergency housing, 82 but the authority does not give the governor explicit authority to override local land use laws. In contrast, California’s governor’s may issue orders to provide temporary housing and may suspend “any public health, safety, zoning or intrastate transportation law, ordinance or regulation” for 60 days to provide temporary housing.83 In addition, the California Department of Housing and Community Development may provide emergency housing for low and moderate income persons.84
FEMA presumably also would recognize limitations on temporary housing units imposed by private land use restrictions, such as recorded covenants, conditions and restrictions, although the author has not found a regulation or reported case on this point. It seems unlikely that FEMA would place travel trailers or mobile homes in a subdivision over the objection of the homeowners' association. Many other examples of zoning restrictions and controversy in parishes around New Orleans appeared in local press reports. One news report recounted an ordinance approved by the St. Charles Parish Council on December 5, 2005 that limited the term for which emergency housing sites could be in place to a maximum of three years, and forbade placement of mobile homes or modular housing, while permitting only travel trailers and recreational vehicles. The ordinance permits temporary housing at business sites for two years.87 Another report recounted opposition to temporary housing expressed by local residents at a meeting of the Jefferson Parish Council on December 14, 2005, quoting some as arguing that “compassion should not infringe upon the rights and quality of life of residents whose homes were not ruined by Katrina.”88 A proposal that a 180-room hotel in Alexandria, La. be leased to FEMA to provide temporary housing for refugees was blocked by unanimous action of the Alexandria City Council on November 8, 2005.89 In early January, news reports cited actions by two parishes to prohibit placement within those parishes of travel trailers or mobile homes to house refugees.90 During December, 2005, controversy continued in New Orleans over placement by FEMA of mobile homes and travel trailers in the city. Placing trailers in city parks and playgrounds was criticized by many residents, particularly after plans were announced to place trailers in Annunciation Square Park in the Lower Garden District. A proposal to place temporarily 400 houses built by Habitat for Humanity on a golf course, to house police officers and other critical city employees, with the houses ultimately to be moved to other sites, was rejected.91 The City Council passed an ordinance requiring the consent of individual council members before groups of trailers could be placed on sites within their districts. The ordinance was vetoed by Mayor Ray Nagin, but the veto was overridden by a 7-0 vote. The Mayor then announced that his emergency powers allowed him to bypass the ordinance. 92 The dispute was apparently partially resolved by Governor Kathleen Blanco’s intervention in early January, after which sites were found for approximately 15,000 trailers, but later in January the Governor was still negotiating with City Council members to find sites for another 7,000 trailers.93 Directory: resource -> collection collection -> Application for candidacy status collection -> A chapter of the kappa beta delta international honor society collection -> Example of a Letter of Application for Candidacy for Business and Separate Accounting* Program Accreditation collection -> Northeastern Council of Business Schools & Programs (October 14-15, 2016) collection -> Defense of Investment Professionals: Securities Litigation in the finra arbitration Setting By collection -> Airborne Topographic Lidar collection -> Jurisdiction over the Parties or Their Property (jop) collection -> Riparian Water Boundaries Titles and Rights Download 262.64 Kb. Share with your friends:
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