Finally, someone with some sense....

This was found in the editorial and opinions section of the Saturday paper....you know Saturday, the day of the week with the lowest circulation.

Oh well about the timing...I am still pleased with this one.

It's called a measuring tape

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Lisa Mazique says she had no idea that the 19th-century Greek Revival house she plopped down on Clio Street was, by law, too large for her lot. And she says she had no idea that she didn't have the proper permits for the move.

But those arguments aren't acceptable.

Ms. Mazique is no run-of-the-mill would-be home renovator; she is the director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. That is the quasi-city agency charged with expropriating blighted houses and turning them over to buyers who are willing to refurbish them.

The expropriation process is a maze of regulatory red tape, and Ms. Mazique has been its manager for some time. She of all people should know that there are rules and regulations to follow in moving a historic building or renovating a bedraggled old house. Plus, anyone with a tape measure could have figured out that her massive two-story house wouldn't fit properly in its new location. "I didn't know" doesn't wash.

The fact that the city's Safety and Permits office erred in issuing a permit to move the house without requiring the corresponding foundation permit for the new location is worrisome as well. If the agency had done its job, it would have been apparent that Ms. Mazique's house would crowd the Clio lot. Now its bureaucratic sloppiness is causing grief for her neighbors.

The most aggrieved neighbor is Sean Clark, who has worked hard to refurbish his Clio Street home. Now, Ms. Mazique's ramshackle house is perched precariously close to his tidy home while she tries to get renovations under way. Ms. Mazique says that will happen soon, but more than 18 months have gone by with no resolution.

Meanwhile, Mr. Clark is unable to convert to a traditional mortgage, as he had hoped to do. Nor can he get insurance for his lovingly renovated house.

Whether Ms. Mazique blithely made this move without thinking of the requirements and consequences or just decided to go ahead without the proper permits and seek forgiveness later, she has done Mr. Clark a great disservice. This is an awful way for the head of a public agency to conduct business.