In the wake of a recent series of building failures in New Orleans, City Council members have introduced a proposal to hire an engineer to advise the city on how it should better implement structural reviews of buildings.
“We cannot idly sit by while structural threats in our neighborhoods pose significant risks to public welfare and quality of life, lead to business interruptions and property damage, and require first responder resources to mitigate safety concerns,” said Councilmember Helena Moreno, who sponsored the measure with Councilmember Lesli Harris, in a Wednesday (Jan. 28) statement. “It remains critical that we pinpoint strategies to improve building inspections, address any legislative or regulatory impediments, and determine a course of action to protect our residents and businesses.”
The proposal comes on the heels of a string of building collapses in the city, with at least seven buildings collapsing in the past year. The too-frequent collapses have not only brought attention to the danger of blighted properties across the city but have also raised questions as to whether the city is doing enough to ensure that structures across the city are safe and up to code.
On Wednesday, representatives from the Preservation Resource Center, which works to preserve the city’s historic architecture, as well as top staffers from multiple city agencies appeared before a joint meeting of the council’s Quality of Life and Special Development Projects committee to discuss Moreno and Harris’ proposal. They emphasized that the collapses could not all be attributed to the same factors.
According to a presentation by Danielle Del Sol, the executive director of the Preservation Resource Center, the collapse of a building on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard could be attributed to longtime owner neglect, with the building sitting vacant and exposed to the elements for years, while the partial collapse of Turner’s Hall, headquarters of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities on O’Keefe Avenue, likely was due to both bad stucco, which trapped moisture that eroded the brick structure, and vibrations caused by nearby traffic.
Del Sol also said that structural issues in historic buildings may not always be noticed, noting that the humid and subtropical climate of the city posed threats to structures, from high winds, moisture and termites.
“I don’t know how the structural reviews happen right now, but I think it’s imperative that everybody who does those structural reviews has an intimate understanding of historic materials and how they age and what warning signs are,” Del Sol said.
Still, in many cases, the buildings that collapsed had histories of code enforcement violations, leaving some to wonder why the city didn’t take more decisive actions to prevent potential collapses.
Anthony Davis, director of the Department of Code Enforcement, said that his department catches the majority of buildings before they get to a condition where they are liable to collapse, but that the department faces an untenable workload.
“Code Enforcement is doing our very best to try to abate buildings that are in very bad condition,” Davis said. “But given the volume of blight that still exists across the city, there may be a time or two when this anomaly does take place.”
Davis also noted that bureaucratic red tape could often hinder the city’s ability to act, as his department gets caught up in lengthy adjudication processes with building owners who refuse to pay their fines or comply with needed demolitions.
Due to the wide-ranging discussion of building collapses, a number of solutions were floated, from monitoring street vibrations to calling on the state legislature to help with streamlining property notices to publicizing revival grants that help low-income homeowners repair their homes while preserving their historic architecture.
However, for now, the council is focusing its effort on the search for an engineer or engineering consultant who can help the city figure out what questions it should be asking when it evaluates the safety and stability of structures.
The proposal will go to a vote before the full City Council at its regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 30.