City Planning Commission.

For decades, these events have created opportunities for tens of thousands of New Orleans Indians and their businesses, while generating positive media exposure and a critical tax revenue that supports the essential city services of New Orleans. In recent years, including following last year's Super Bowl, our major clients have made clear that the city must do more to offer newer hotels to compete with similar cities who are now bidding upon the events that may have come to New Orleans for many years. The competition is definitely getting stronger. There have been a handful of new dome stadiums opened in the last several years, creating more competitions in cities that have never been in our competitive set. In the near future, several additional new dome stadiums are going to be built in cities that, again, haven't been in our traditional competitive set, but want to compete for the major events that New Orleans has hosted for the past 50 plus years. At the same time, these cities have created modern convention centers connected with headquarters hotels. So this becomes an important element for events like the Super Bowl, Men's Final Four, Women's Final Four, where there is a need for space for media centers and fan events that are associated with all the large events. So New Orleans needs this transformational hotel project. And if we plan to compete for future events like Super Bowl, Men's and Women's Final Fours, College Football Championship Games, and our favorite local events, the Mardi Gras, Bayou Classic, Essence Festival, French Quarter Fest, Jazz Fest, we need to make sure that this hotel is built. Thank you. When I ask you your time, just go ahead and finish your sentence. Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you, Commissioners, for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Jim Koch. I'm the President and CEO of New Orleans Ernest M. Morial Convention Center. The address is 900 Convention Center Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 71130. I appreciate the Commission's time and attention to this matter, and I want to begin by recognizing that today's action is fundamentally about land use and zoning, specifically whether this site has the appropriate planning framework to support its intended use. As you know, today's discussion centers on the Army of New Orleans and redevelopment of the former sugar mill site adjacent to the Convention Center. This project will transform a long-vacant industrial property into a productive, innovative site that supports the New Orleans economy, strengthens our position as one of the nation's leading convention center inventories and markets. The item before you establishes the Convention Center Hotel Overlay District, bounded by the Convention Center Boulevard, Andrew Higgins Drive, South Peter Street, and the Mississippi River Heritage Park. This overlay creates a tailored regulatory framework governing permitted uses, including height, floor area ratio, zoning, curb cuts, signage, lighting, and other key development standards. I would also note that questions related to project financing, incentive structures, or other approvals are being considered through separate processes and government bodies. Those are important discussions, but they are distinct from the land use decision that the Commission has made. From the Convention Center's perspective, this project is best understood as core hospitality infrastructure. A headquarters hotel that is functionally tied to our ability to compete for national meetings and conventions marketplaces. Peer cities across the country have made similar investments, and this type of development has long been contemplated as part of New Orleans' convention strategy. I want to briefly focus on height as it is central to the success of this project. The proposed height enables the appropriate mix of guest rooms, ballrooms, and meeting space required by today's convention customers. These elements are not interchangeable. They work together to allow us to attract and retain large-scale events that drive visitation and economic activity across the city. Importantly, this is achieved while maintaining our commitment to preserve existing parking and avoiding expanding the footprint into the Mississippi River Heritage Park or encroaching on New Orleans Drive. Priorities we know are important to our surrounding community based on extensive engagement with neighbors and stakeholders. We also believe we can seek enhancements to the Mississippi River Heritage Park experience in partnership with the City of New Orleans. At its core, this project supports the Convention Center's responsibility as a public asset to remain competitive, generate economic impact, and to support jobs and opportunities for the community. people of New Orleans. The Convention Center is a self-sustaining engine of economic activity, and maintaining that position requires thoughtful and long-term planning. So we recognize that large-scale developments often bring broader questions and perspectives, and those conversations are important. Our role, however, is to ensure that the Convention Center continues to serve the city effectively for decades to come. New Orleans has always been a city built to host and maintaining that leadership requires continued investment in the infrastructure that supports it. The Omni New Orleans Project represents exactly that, a responsible step forward that respects our heritage while positioning our city for further long-term economic growth. We all embrace the city of New Orleans as a great American city, and great cities plan responsibly for the future. We believe the overlay district is just an appropriate and necessary tool to do that. So I want to thank the staff for thoughtful and thorough report, and I appreciate the commission's careful consideration. I have a question.

So we heard that the staff recommended a height limit of 200 to 250 feet maximum, and what's the position of the Exhibition Hall on that? So I'll defer to the designers with Omni, the developer, relative to the building proper. However, I can tell you that the concept of 1,000 guest rooms with the additional ballroom and junior ballroom space are critical from a customer standpoint. And that's what they've asked for, is the scale of rooms adjacent to the center. Now, are there any other objections that the Convention Center has to the kind of docket other than the change of height? Again, I'll defer to our development team relative to the specifics within the document. But as an overall, it appears that the staff generally understood and accepted the filing of those objections. Thank you. Thank you. Mike Smith, and then Mr. Sherman, and Avery Bourdain. We're done. Welcome. Hello. I'm Joe Smith, and I'm 1-0212, area drive. That's better. Most people don't. My name is Mike Smith, and I'm at 1-0212, area drive, Dallas, Texas. I'm Executive Vice President of Real Estate and Development for TRT Holdings, the parent company of Omni Hotels. And I want to first say that we appreciate the opportunity to be here and the time that the city team has invested in this project. This is a public-private partnership, and Omni is proud to have a long track record of successfully delivering headquarters hotels like this in other cities across the country. In those partnerships, we take a long-term approach with a strong emphasis on design quality, operations, and delivering real economic impact. And we're proud time and time again our public partners always say that we've exceeded their expectations. It's been nearly 50 years since a hotel of this scale has been built here in New Orleans. And with this project, we see a transformation of opportunity to strengthen New Orleans' competitiveness as a destination. Over the past several months, our team has worked closely and collaboratively with both city staff and the community, and we've listened. We've made meaningful changes to the project, including removing the hotel from the park to preserve green space. We've added over 325 parking spaces to help keep cars out of the neighborhood, and we've designed the circulation of Port Ecceche so that the traffic is directed away from the convention center boulevard. We've also made commitments to the convention center to ensure that this truly functions as a headquarter hotel and delivers the impact that the city is seeking. Projects of this scale and complexity require a zoning framework that can respond to these commitments in a coordinated way. We're honored to have the opportunity to bring this project to New Orleans, and we're committed to being a long-term partner and a good neighbor. Thank you for your support, and we respectfully ask for your approval. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman, it looks like you've got four minutes. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Good afternoon, Commissioner Mike Sherman, 800 Verona Street. I'm really proud to be here on behalf of Omni Hotels and Resorts for what is truly a work-in-your-ear lot today, a transformational project. Let me start, Commissioner Steele, with answering your question. We have complete and total agreement with the staff report with just one change. To include all the program we need and fulfill our commitments to the community and the neighbors, we believe a floor area ratio of 12 is the appropriate way to regulate this hotel. That's a height of 300, a little less than 320 feet at the top of the hotel. There's a penthouse that gets up to 337. So the hilting is 141 by comparison. This is a site-specific overlay that we are requesting. This is not a rezoning. We are already permitted for what we're trying to do with the hotels. This is not about whether a hotel belongs. It's a text amendment to support transformational developments, what the city's always done. It used to be called a CBPCD, Central Business Plan Community District. There's plan developments. Lately, the tool is an overlay district. It's not precedent-setting. It's a single site. And staff really does get us 90 percent of the way there. But we need your help for that final 10 percent to adjust the height to a floor area ratio. I know how important community feedback is to this commission. I want the commission to know that Mike Smith and the Omni team stopped and redesigned the entire project. The initial site included a piece of the Mississippi River Heritage Park. There was not as much parking as neighbors would have liked. The entrances to the garage were on South Peter Street. The Omni team did a complete redesign of this hotel to get completely off the Mississippi River Heritage Park, have the speed ramps enter from the Port of Pechere, add 325 spaces of parking. We have many design changes today in direct response to community feedback before we even applied to this planning commission. So staff's recommending 250 feet. And this is the only disagreement we have with staff. Two-fifty was an average height along Convention Center Boulevard. It was a great analysis. But this isn't an average project. This is a transformational project, and we've got to include the massing necessary. If you look left, if you look right, this is in the staff report, you see FAR 12. So half the CBD is regulated by floor area ratio. Avery will talk a little more about that. Half of the CBD is regulated by height. Look left. It's FAR 12. Look right. It's FAR 12. Look the other way. It's an ugly parking garage. But FAR is the right way to regulate this site. Floor area, we're about 10.8. The FAR 12 is more than enough. If you want to put a strict height limit, the Hilton's 341. That's fine by us as well. But FAR 12, we believe, is intellectually the right way to do this. What our request is at the end of the day is support of the staff recommendation subject to an FAR 12. That's the request.

Because without that, we need a bigger footprint. That doesn't work. Without that, we'd have to take parking out. We can't do that. We wouldn't have enough parking. That breaks students' neighborhood. And if we take programming out, we do not meet the requirements of a transformational hotel. So we appreciate your support. We appreciate staff support. Excuse me. We ask for your support. And we're here to answer questions. Can you give us a visual of the closest then that would be if this height is going to be on the waitress? So we're two blocks diagonally from the Hilton Hotel. That's 341. We're shorter than that. And actually, staff's recommendation is for a 1.6 million square foot hotel. We're only a million square feet. If we did a big cube, it would be a whole lot more square footage. Because floor area ratio regulates mass, we're actually smaller with less square footage than even the staff recommendation. And one of the important points about this, the base zoning is a 75-125. The Omni architects, after listening to the community, designed the podium at 118. So the pedestrian experience has a podium level that is experienced as you drive by, as you walk by, at the same scale as the environs. What protrudes up is just a very thin tower where the hotel rooms sit. And that is a glass tower, different material, so it would never be confused for historic. So now you have two components to this building. And that was a way to make sure it fit in with the CBD, but also achieve the program. And you're talking about the Hilton? That's right. Right. And what is the height level of the federal pipeline? If we have it in the report, I'll pull it up for lunchtime . Carol Burger. Good afternoon. I'm going to be talking about the new building. We just want to extend gratitude. I want to touch a little bit more on FDR. It is as simple as taking the floor plate of the site and multiplying it by that factor. That allows an architect to be more flexible. It can result in a better designed hotel here. The request is in the existing language and the existing FDR map. We took the proposed project and compared it to what it would look like if we just said 250 feet and maxed that out. If we did that, we would build one million square feet. It would be a more obtrusive experience of the ground floor. It would get up to 1.6 million square feet. We are only at a million here. It would be a lot if we had a 250-foot flat building height. The FDR allows you to mold your square footage for a better design. It is a great tool for design. One of the principles that stood out to us is the world's meeting place. Support appropriate development immediately adjacent to the Superdome and convention center by creating a major venue zoning district. Another great quote from CBD is different from development in other parts of the city. It is well documented in height on the site. We think we fall within master plan. principles in that regard. So again, in conclusion, we respectfully request that we adopt the staff report with just the change to the F.A.R. 8. Thank you. Good afternoon. Peggy Geiger, 800 Grown Trees from Strategies. I'd like to briefly walk through the zoning framework for this request and most importantly, how the majority of our requests are supported by staff. The site is currently zoned CBD2 where hotels already have permitted use. So this is not about introducing a new use. It's about ensuring the zoning framework can support a complex project of this significance. That's why this overlay district is being requested. The overlay creates a coordinated framework that allows a high quality, thoughtfully designed project to move forward in a way that simply wouldn't be possible through the base zoning alone or through piecemeal adjustments. You've already heard about the height approach using F.A.R., so I won't spend time on that, but I do want to focus on many areas where staff supports our request. First, design standards. As you can see in the renderings in your reports, this is a beautiful, highly considered project that takes its cues from the surrounding context. The adjustments we've proposed provide the flexibility needed to achieve that level of design, and we are in agreement with staff on this component. On loading, circulation, and curb cuts, while curb cuts are typically restricted in parts of the CBD, allowing them here is critical to making the site function. It directs traffic to commencement center boulevard and away from neighborhood streets, and staff agrees that this results in a better, more thoughtful circulation plan. On bike, parking, lighting, and signage, staff supports our request that the requirement for 100 bicycle parking spaces in the base zoning is a bit excessive. Staff also agrees in the adjustment of the standard building mounted lighting height to allow for respectable decorative lighting and allows for us to adjust the signage to reflect the scale and character of the project. So aside from the height framework, our request is met with the staff recommendation of approval. And ultimately, this overlay is what will allow Omni to deliver a cohesive, well-functioning, and truly beautiful project that adds to the convention center and the city as a whole. Yeah. So that's the reference. Hi. Mr. Berger, you have two minutes. Two minutes? Okay. Okay. Hi, I'm Daryl Berger. I'm 6,000 St. Charles Avenue, founder and chairman of the Berger Company of New Orleans. Can you turn the mic on? Yes. Okay. Do I need to repeat that? Yeah. You're good. Thank you. I've been developing real estate here in New Orleans since 1972. That's 54 years here in the county. And over those years, I've seen some remarkable positive things happen in our city.

The construction, the opening of the Superdome, all three phases of the convention center, the creation of a magnificent downtown central riverfront, the creation of the modern hospitality industry, powerful office and hotel gardens along Poitras from the river to the Superdome, the revitalization of vibrant historic neighborhoods, including, just by way of a few examples, Marnie and Bywater and Treme, the magazine street garden and Old Bounteers and others, and the creation of an entirely new neighborhood in our community in New Orleans East. But over the arc of my lifetime, I've also seen things that have created tremendous and severe challenges for our beloved city. A population that has decreased over the space of my career from well over 600,000 people to under 400,000. Significant challenges on both lower and upper Canal Street and in our traditional CBD as long-time commercial tenants have departed. The loss of many of our corporate citizens, particularly in oil and gas and banking, creating a void in job opportunities and corporate leadership. And if you're correct, that while wonderfully architecturally regulated by our BCC, is in dire need of infrastructure investment and strict enforcement of the law. So, I give that historic perspective not only as the oldest guy in the room at my table, to just say that like most New Orleanians, I believe we're at a crossroads in the future of our city. We currently have new and exciting political leadership, which is always a time for optimism, hope and creative new ideas. One thing is for certain though, if we don't make significant investments and bold investments in our city, we will go backwards, not forward. So, I would urge that you consider the staff report, which we greatly appreciate, to modify the height as requested and I thank all of you commissioners for, as someone who's been here half a century ago, for your wonderful service to the city. Thank you. Thank you very much. Hi. I'm Richard Kemp. My address is 300 Galleria Parkway in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm with Rule Joy Trammell-Rubio, who is the architect of the project. The design intent of this hotel is supposed to reflect and be inspired by the warehouse district context. The building podium, which we've talked about previously, responds to the materiality and texture that is seen in the neighborhood, the rhythm of details and the proportions of the neighborhood. It is a contemporary building, yes, but we feel it is grounded in the character of the local context. Our podium structure, which we talked about previously, is what defines the pedestrian experience of this project. It is complementary to the surrounding buildings in terms of form and scale and is in alignment with current zoning framework already. The podium also activates the street experience on both Convention Center Boulevard, Andrew Higgins, and the park through the use of glass and placement of our active use spaces. The lobby, free food and beverage venues, the pre-function for the meeting spaces are all in this podium. And what that means is there will always be constant movement at the base of the building to reflect and be seen by the people that are on the sidewalk. The hotel tower is intentionally light and slender. It's meant to feel separate and distinct from the podium, and its reflective nature means it has minimal presence on pedestrians. We work hard to get the relationship of the building podium right with respect to the neighborhood. The experience of the street is both defined by and enhanced by this podium and not the tower. I want to tear out a question. So, if you were to have a floor area ratio of 12, what is the lowest height you can live with? I think the lowest height that we can live with is what we're proposing. In order to... 337? I don't remember. 336 feet plus or minus, yes. In order to get... Could you get a lower height with a different floor area ratio? You would get a lower height, but I think that would come at the expense of the experience. You're getting a more massive building. You're getting a greater presence on Convention Center Boulevard, and we work purposely to minimize the effect on the street, on the front door. And so, as you start lowering mass, it's counterintuitive, but we feel those moves are detrimental to the building. And then Stephanie Turner and Ben Roberts after that. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Linda. Linda? Yes. I have really bad handwriting. For the record, I have really bad handwriting. I serve as Director of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility at the New Orleans Linus M. Morneau Convention Center. My address is 900 Convention Center Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130. I'm here today to speak in support of the proposed zoning request for the Army New Orleans. I oversee a sustainability strategy, including our LEED certification, which is our green building standard. We have two gold certifications in the building so far at the Convention Center, and I oversee environmental initiatives. Sustainability has always been a priority, and we're constantly making changes to elevate our environmental practices. Recent upgrades to the sustainability of the building include HVAC upgrades, LED lighting, water and landfill stations, and the pool roof, which reduces the urban island effect in the neighborhood. We also achieved an 84% recycling rate on the first phase of our renovations, and continue to do so largely because of our LEED certification environment. We understand what it takes to implement and maintain high-performance sustainable facilities. With Army New Orleans, we are committed to working with our partners for sustainable practices. This commitment from Army, which they have committed to this, is meaningful. Sustainability has been considered early, and they're aligning the project with standards that we recognize.

This project reflects a coordinated, forward-looking approach to development along a riverfront, one that supports economic growth while also prioritizing environmental sustainability. Thank you for considering this project. I also want to thank the staff for the thoughtful and thorough reports. This is a transformational project with major benefits for the city, and I support it. Stephanie Turner, Ben Roberts, and Cole Parsons. Good afternoon. I'm Stephanie Turner, Senior Vice President of Convention Sales and Strategies at New Orleans & Company, and our address is 2020 St. Charles Avenue. I'm here to support the development of Army New Orleans on Convention Center Boulevard. Of the nearly 19 million visitors who come to New Orleans each year, 30% come to attend a meeting, a trade show, or an exhibition. With our current inventories of hotels, we compete with cities who are investing billions in new hotel properties or new and expanded convention centers. The growth of our city's strongest industry requires evolution and investment. Meetings and conventions are the foundational layer of our tourism economy. In 2025 alone, our convention sales team booked more than 1.7 billion room nights into the future as far out of this 2040. That's more than $400 million in direct sales that will amount to billions of economic impact in the years to come. Despite our success, the national convention and meetings industry is more competitive than ever, and we need the Omni Project to help us win the most important meetings and events and conventions over other cities. The Omni Project, as designed and presented to you, prevents our city from losing market share and propels us forward and keeps New Orleans competitive. While we are so grateful for your work and appreciate the support the staff has provided, it is essential that the Headquarters Hotel, as designed and presented, be approved. A Headquarters Hotel with at least 1,000 rooms is necessary to provide transformational impact soft for our community. The hype reflects Omni's design, and it's essential in delivering the full Headquarters experience. Guest rooms, ballrooms, and meeting spaces that make this project transformational. The design was achieved through meaningful neighborhood engagement and compromise following discussions with neighbors and members of the community. Omni's commitment to keep Sharpening intact and avoid expanded footprint along Andrew J. Piggins Boulevard is the result of finding a balance and working with the community. This type of investment is critical. On behalf of New Orleans & Company, I express my strong support for the Omni New Orleans as presented to the City Planning Commission. Thank you for your time. Ms. Jackson, I have a question for you. With booking into 2040, how many hotel rooms then are you factoring in that are going to be built in New Orleans if you go ahead and book all of these conventions? We don't, because you would never book any meeting. And so these long-term meetings are constantly evolving as things happen in our country. When our customers see what's happening competitively, they look to you and say, Well, what's happening in New Orleans? We've been there. We've come there. But what's changing? What's evolving? And the true landscape requires that you have things closer, more convenient, across the street, of larger scale. To be able to compete nationally, as J. Cicero spoke about, other major events is a huge part of our competitive landscape. And for us to be able to grow. Our compact footprint's a great thing, but it's also bound. And it hasn't had a significant hotel of that size in over 40 years. So, very important. Thank you. Ben Roberts, Cole Parson, Byron Robbins. And I'm going to introduce Commissioner Jackson, who is a part of our commission now. Welcome. Welcome. Ben Roberts. Good afternoon. Ben Roberts. I'm the general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn, New Orleans Convention Center, 1001 South Peter Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 711 New York. And I'm here to support the proposed Omni Hotel site. I work in this district every day and see how hotel development directly affects employment, tourism demands, and revenue. I'm here to support the Omni New Orleans project, including zoning and tax amendments. And thank you so much for your thoughtful and thorough staff report. The Convention Center corridor is one of New Orleans' most important economic engines for the city and for the region. Our new Omni helps the city attract larger conventions and higher value events like the Super Bowl. These are important anchor events for my hotel. More conventions and higher value events like this mean construction jobs now, permanent hospitality jobs in the future, and expanded tax revenue that supports city services. We believe this type of investment for our city not only benefits our community, it sets us up for long-term success and increasingly competitive landscape. Thank you again for your review and comments. Cole Carson. Brian Roberts. Madeline. Colleen. Jorge. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Cole Carson, the managing director of the Eliza Jane Hotel. So, again, here to support the proposed amendment for the Omni Hotel as a whole. Again, as we mentioned earlier, this is truly transformational not only for our city but for our region as a whole. It's not very often we have a billion-dollar investment that's all said and done. We truly want to be the best in our community. Thousands of construction jobs, potentially thousands of jobs operationally for this hotel, which, at the end of the day, what it's all about is a way of life for our people. And so, as a New Orleanian who lives in New Orleans and Lakeview, I raised my own family, so it's about our people, it's about who we are, and this is what we do in our culture. So, at the end of the day, we're at a crossroads.

Do we fall behind, or do we do what we do best and show the world who we are? And this would show that and resonate with all of our people, not only from an economic standpoint, but transformationally, a potential Super Bowl, the Final Four, and there's even conventions that we're potentially losing out, even as we speak now, that have these headquarter hotels that book in for their convention centers. And, obviously, we've all done the research, but you can see what they've done in other conventions in other cities, and it really has taken entire districts and entire areas that were overlooked or underutilized and made it the premier destination. So, it really is an opportunity of a lifetime for all. Brian Roberts. My name's Brian Roberts, General Manager, Head Dinner This Week's New Orleans Convention Center 1201 Convention Center. I'm here in support of the project as well, like my fellow hoteliers and a neighbor to many of the residents in our community. I believe that this is best for our city. It's best for where we are, where we're going, and where we need to go. The project's going to allow us lots of construction opportunities now, lots of permanent jobs for hoteliers, and the programs that we provide to those that may be interested in our industry. It's imperative at this point that the industry push forward. Our city is counting on this as the economic industry of New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana, maybe the state as a whole. Projects like this allow us to push forward, to be competitive on a national scale, to ensure that we get tremendous opportunity, and then ultimately be able to show up and to do as we did this year with the Super Bowl. So, I encourage everyone to consider this project, to look at the benefits that it will provide to our city, to our community, to the neighborhood that I'm proud to be a neighbor in, I'm proud to work in, those that live and work with us, and also that would patronize our city as well. Tax dollars will provide city services, city services that we need, that will allow us to continue to compete nationally, not just in our industry, but also as being a great city in our country. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today, and I hope that you'll continue to consider this project. Thank you. Madeline Talianzich. Oops, I'll let you hold this end. Hello. Hi, I'm Maddie Talianzich, a project manager for Event Consultants, LLC. My address is 429 Florida Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana. We are a boutique event planning company that's operated by a group of women born and raised in New Orleans. Our events range in size from intimate board meetings to large customer-facing conventions all over the world. We plan a few smaller events every year in New Orleans, only small because we don't have something like this project. A new convention hotel with 1,000 updated sleeping rooms right across the street from the convention center is a huge selling point to me as an event planner. There's plans for a ballroom and junior ballroom in the hotel for meetings, but the bigger draw for our even larger clients is the possibility of a sizable room block at the hotel with easy access to the larger meeting spaces at the convention center. This saves my client money on transporting hundreds of attendees, client dollars that can go right back into our local economy. We do a lot of business in Florida's big convention cities, but I believe that New Orleans has a lot more to offer culturally to event attendees than these places. A new convention hotel represents a significant investment in our wonderfully unique and diverse city. New Orleans can play an important role in strengthening the convention center and the city's ability to compete, bringing more visitors, supporting local businesses, and driving long-term economic activity. I'd love to bring more business to the place that I call home. Thank you. Alita Coconut, Terry Dreyer, and Matt Wolfe. Alita Caporata is not speaking. Thank you. Terry Dreyer is speaking. Terry Dreyer, and then Matt Wolfe, and Vernon Henley? Bernard Henley. Bernard Henley. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Terry Hogan Dreyer. I am the managing partner at Nano Architecture Firm. I know some of you are on board here. And I have been in business for 25 years. It's my 25th anniversary. We are also the firm that has been working in and near the convention center for the past five years, and we will continue for the next five to seven. We're the architect of record for over $150 million of project work that's going on. The attention to detail that the convention center allows and does and puts forth is pretty phenomenal. They're always looking at small businesses and how they approach their work. They're looking at how the design is going to affect the possibilities for the local neighborhoods, and that they create holistic opportunities for all involved. I think it's incredible the work that they've done with their DBE program and their SEB program, and that's a lot to be said. This Omni Hotel is going to be transformational, and the master planners and architects have been thoughtful in their arrangement, integrating scale and porosity into the sitting and the articulation of the building. The setbacks are in keeping with the scale and the height, and I think that they've done a really good job of working with neighborhoods today. This is critical for the economic future and viability of the city of New Orleans and for our strong international tourism leadership. For our city and state to compete and bring the joy of our culture to the world, we need this convention center hotel. It's going to provide $213 million of economic impact, 1,400 permanent jobs, and $15.2 million in annual net city revenue.

Those are real numbers, and as a person who's on the ground now working in conventions, not just here but in other convention centers, the competition is pretty incredible, and we are now up against those convention cities that we were never up against before. And for us to remain competitive... and bring our beautiful culture. I think it's important that you all look at this as an opportunity for our city. Thank you. Thank you. Matt Wolf and then Bernard Finley. And those are all the cards that I have in support. So if you have a card here, or you're here in support, and you're not a part of here, you need to come up here. Otherwise, we're gonna move to the opposition. Matt. Good afternoon. My name is Matt Wolf. I'm the Chief Marketing Officer of Greater New Orleans, Inc. We are located at 104th Street. I wanna start by thanking the City Planning Commission staff for the thorough and thoughtful report on this project. This is exactly what a development of this scale deserves. Gino, Inc. is here in strong support, and we wanna be clear about what this project actually represents. More than $550 million in private investment from outside money into our city. Not public money. This is an outside company looking at New Orleans, doing its homework, and betting on this city's future. Attracting this kind of capital is what Gino, Inc. works on day in and day out, and this kind of commitment goes to cities with momentum, with promise, and with a clear trajectory forward. If we say no to this, we send a different message entirely to the world. This is a vote of confidence in New Orleans, and we should treat it as one. The numbers speak for themselves. $213 million in economic impact, 1,400 permanent jobs, $15 million in new tax revenue, 27 new convention center events each year. This strengthens our ability to compete, support local businesses, and drive long-term economic activity across the regions. This project has been planned with care, with zoning tailored to the complexity of the site, and a development that's intentional and well-integrated into its surroundings. Outside investors are choosing New Orleans. This commission has the opportunity to say yes alongside them. We urge your approval. Thank you. Bernard Henley. Bernard Henley, owner of... Bernard Henley, owner of Henley Construction Group, and my co-founder, my co-founding contractor in New Orleans. Just so you guys understand what this project has in New Orleans. I got my start at Newport. The first commission did four years there, then as a project manager there, and became a senior project manager at the Four Seasons Project. And from there, I went to Austin as a senior construction manager for Tesco, and came back to start my own company, and I'm currently owning a convention center as well, and completed a year of planning and demonstration at the Four Seasons. As long as you all have these jobs available, people can continue to extend their careers without them. You start looking at it sort of very quickly. And the biggest part, part of what I've noticed, everyone starts to look at MEP firms, and they're like, oh, we've got to grow our plumbing workforce, and what have you. The investment made in the New Orleans Career Center and the Urban League, and all these different offices that have 50, 30, 30 kids, 50 kids every afternoon, and they're not really electrical and plumbing, it ends up happening. If you don't have the opportunity to get a start, they're gone too. So if you want to grow the workforce, allow them to work on large projects like this, and continue to grow the business like this. Thank you. Thank you. I have a pardon, sir. Mr. Tucker? Ms. Tucker. I apologize. No worries, no worries. Thank you all so much. My name is, I am Christian Tucker. I'm the President and CEO of ILSE Engineering. We're a full-service civil engineering construction management program managing current here in New Orleans. We work on several very different projects across a lot of different agencies in this city. The Convention Center is one of them. We work in tandem with some great partners that are right back here behind me. The thing that I want to quickly say right quick, I think Bernard touched on it really well, about growing companies and growing the workforce. There are very few opportunities in New Orleans right now. I've been in business for a short 17 years, and this is the least opportunity I've seen. Not just for small disadvantaged businesses, but I mean for small businesses as a whole. This city has a reputation for only choosing large firms and money going to large firms, and that same money not being regenerated here in this economy. Right now, there are large firms that are doing the right thing. There are large companies that are doing the right thing, and there are agencies that are doing the wrong thing. I'm speaking here in support only because I'm a part and watching, and I'm witness and a testament to agencies doing the right thing in the right way. It's not just about growing the workforce like you talked about. Right now, it's about maintaining what we do have. And in this city, there are not enough projects going on to be able to maintain what exists. So where there is opportunity in the very short windows that there are, where there is funding, and where the pieces are moving together the right way, it's a huge, huge opportunity for loss. So I thank you for letting me speak today about it. I'm speaking from a firm that's, we've been at 55 people over the past five years, and I've had to lay off six to eight people in the past two months for lack of opportunity in this city, for lack of funding for projects in this city, and for lack of agencies that actually do their business the right way. So again, anything to be able to spurn and boom opportunity and to do with partners that understand where you're coming from. Thank you for your time. Yes, sorry. 4298 Elysian Fields Street. Thank you.

All right, we're gonna move into opposition. Troy McLean and then Mariel, and then Mariel, and Gary. Please remember to take your name and address. Troy McLean. We're on South Peter Street. We're a part of the Women's Association. Thank you for calling the Women's Association. Could you please put slide 56? That's one review we've been able to see because of the front step. We're using two walls instead of a single setback that shows up on the slide. I know that the staff did a good job looking at everything. I don't think we're gonna account for the actual area that the building's gonna be to. Years ago, as you said, there'll be two lanes in each direction to the right. This is gonna be the only thousand-room hotel that has one lane of traffic in each direction. All the others have at least three lanes of traffic in each direction. That's important, because we have our hotels in there already. You pull up on them, you're about to pull up to a double car, and you don't wanna have people do that here. There's no traffic right now. No municipal park buses. We're gonna try to have tours come out of there. We want municipal buses. The water pressure in the area is frequently at 20 to 25 PSI, especially when cruise ships move in. This has been a promise for training. It was super important many times to promote it. I've seen no impact from this study on how many new water lines and sewer lines we'll have to put in by the city in the next month. This is basically parking a cruise ship every day, and I expect us to have no more pool water garages every day unless this is a rescue by the city. Based on what the commissioners offered to give the army, it's like $20 million a year for this. That's essentially a $55 per room every night for 1,000 rooms. So essentially, tax credit dollars that are from other hotels' tax money is going to have to subsidize that. You don't want $15 or $55 a room per day for paying the army's profits. The height, in this part of the height study, years ago it took six years to get that in place, and this is the total opposition of the total that we're working with. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, I'm Mary Nell Lowler-Beatley with the Preservation Resource Center at 923 Chocotilla Street. I would like to thank the CPC staff for their extensive analysis of this zoning docket and the development team for meeting with us several times over the last year. We are glad that the convention center is following the permitting process and gathering public input on the development of their headquarters hotel, which we hope will be a strategic benefit for the city. Today, the PRC is here as a neighbor of the proposed development and as an advocate for the warehouse district, which the PRC successfully listed in the National Register in the 80s, making its revitalization possible using historic tax credits. After reviewing the staff report, we appreciate the recommendation to somewhat limit the proposed size of the hotel and the conclusion that an FAR of 12 would result in excessive height that is out of scale with the surrounding 80 to 90 foot tall historic buildings, including the federal 501 building, which I think falls in that category. The report, however, does not include any considerations regarding a required setback to the hotel's primary tower. The most recent rendering show the tallest part of the building, the L-shape looming directly over the park and also facing the historic district. Setbacks in historic districts help align new construction with the existing streetscape by making the bulk of the height and massing less present. The current zoning designates a two-tier approach with a 75-foot maximum for the base adjacent to the property lines and 125-foot limit for the setback portions. We ask that the commission consider a similar two-tier recommendation to require the maximum height of the Omni Tower be set back on a base that is more to scale and visually compatible with the surrounding historic neighborhood. We respectfully ask that the commission defer this application to further consider requiring a setback in the CPC recommendation. Thank you. And then, Lenny White, Mike Jays. Hi, my name's Kea'aka Perry. 2019 Martin Luther King Memorial Award winner. Please stand. I'm a member of Uniting Your Local 23. I'm a homeowner and I have a child in the public school system. I love our city and I'm completely against giving Omni this brand new zoning district because of me or him. We don't even know the whole story because Omni and the Commission and Authority are trying to rush the zoning forward without telling us the entire price tag for the project. from everything that we have heard, it sounds like a terrible deal. I'm proud to say I'm home. I own my home, but it's getting harder and harder. Since 2019, the price of groceries have gone up over 40%. The price of electricity in Louisiana has gone up over 37%. And the homeowner's market is really scared right now. The new site at actually say last July that Louisiana has the second highest home insurance prices in the country. And homeowners like me in New Orleans Metro spend more than 70% of the area's median annual income on home insurance coverage that I was paying 3000 something a year. Now I'm paying 10,000 a year. It's hard and hard for me to make ends meet, but I still do everything the right way. I play by the rules. Why is it convincing authority proposal to making a brand new set of special rules for army? As I mentioned, I have a child in public school system. Because it was in a hotel deal to build a massive consequences for our city, not just for us, but for the future generation. We need to take care of. We need to take care to make sure that we get it right. Okay, but the truth is we have no idea whether we're getting it right because we're because the developers are trying to get it done piece by piece and not being transparent at all about how much this is going to cost us. And I don't think so.

It's funny way. Yeah. My face and Joseph positive. Good afternoon. What? And I remember you're not here. You're not here. 23 to tell you on this you believe we are. Why are we thinking about giving on the assumption change on top of all the other giveaways that are on the table, especially when we don't know exactly how much this deal is going to cost taxpayers like me. Maybe the convention center authority and I may think that taxpayers will stop paying attention and lose interest. If you try to get this terrible deal over the finish line, be like it. I'm here to tell you all that's not going to happen. Don't give this project a huge development bonus before we know what the entire project is going to call. Yeah, you can't be giving a wealthy our state. No hotel developer. All of these zoning bonuses and giveaways. Not right now, when it seems like our city infrastructure is falling apart. It's only April and we've already had six water main breaks this year. The executive director of the Sewerage and Water Board Agency said that we don't have the funds to fix the system at once. And 33 miles of water mains are more than 100 years old. How much worse is the water main crisis going to get? And we're talking about bending over backwards to change the zoning rules so that Omni can build their hotels as they want, towering over the neighborhood and then go get their hundreds of millions of dollars of tax breaks on top of that. I work in hospitality at the Superdome and sometimes in the slow since everything is getting more expensive at this time at the time. So I believe when I when I tell you that we have a part of a crisis, this mess, they mess up my car and we have thousands of power. Thank you. That's your time. Can you please state your address for the record? My address is 35 43 down the K Street. I live in the Broadmoor area. Thank you. Anybody living in the Broadmoor area, you know, you're ready to swim. Thank you. Thank you. And then Joseph right. Cliff above and Monica Ferraro. Those are the cards that I have left. Any address? So good afternoon. My name is Mike James. I'm an organizing director. 23 New Orleans. My address is 45 24. Mhm. Every union for hotel and hospitality workers in New Orleans. We're concerned that the city could hand over hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies for large out-of-state corporations. Hotel project. Working people in the city struggle to make ends meet, and the city is having to cut services to the budget. This hotel project can't be competitive without the massive development plans. Be a zoning change. Maybe I need to go back to the drawing board and figure out a project that because it stands. This is a terrible deal. Make no mistake. This proposed zoning change is simply another subsidy on top of all the tax cuts. The site's current zoning already allowed me to go to the hotel. And this zoning change would change the rules for how they can build a bigger hotel, whether or not it makes sense for the warehouse. Mhm. And neighbors have raised concerns about the height and size and other impacts to the neighborhood of this hotel at the community engagement meeting. One community member is concerned about past construction and spoke to a lack of trust. I believe the summary of that package reply they got was we hope you can end your trust. Well, you can't earn. You can't earn our trust by moving this project or piecemeal. Price tag for taxpayers. We all know that New Orleans faces a huge budget deficit. 222 million employees. Projections. New Orleans have the slashes budget by 150 million. And it's just before last week that the city's credit rating was dropped to the very lowest level of investment. The ratings for investing teeth said it's structurally balanced operations, findings are pretty. What our city is facing a rumor calls one of the worst financial crisis in its modern history. How can you give this deal away? Thank you. That's a good question. So you are a union of hotel and airport worker. That's correct. And you don't want this hotel. We have a major concern about the public financing of the hotel. So so am I missing something? But wouldn't some of you? Is it wouldn't some of your people be employed there? Or is it a non union hotel? I'm trying to understand. Sure. Connect to the hotel would create jobs. But what we're asking is, why did this hotel hundreds of millions in public subsidy to build this hotel? Okay. Thank you. Hi, my name is Joseph. I'm warehouse worker. I'm a proud union member. Among many of the people that I work with are hospitality workers who are working second jobs in hotels and restaurants in a quarter, and they amount to something like 80,000 people in the city who put their blood and sweat in order to build a life for themselves and expect that perhaps they could retire with some degree of comfort. One in three Children in New Orleans lives under the poverty level. Orleans Parish has the highest rate of senior hunger in the United States. These are the realities that we're dealing with that working class people dealing with day to day in New Orleans. And so I'm urging this body to put the brakes on this project until we really understand what the impact is going to be on working class residents of New Orleans. We're talking about a potential loss of tax revenue in the amount of $669 million. We're talking about an already lost tax revenue in the hotel occupancy and food and beverage taxes, which have already been jacked up going directly into the pockets of the developers. All that's on top of the nearly $200 million that goes into private tourism corporations. Now, I'm not in opposition to the hospitality and tourism industry. I think that those 80,000 people deserve to live, to live, to work at living wage positions. They deserve good transportation. They deserve good child care, all of which could be financed with the money that we're talking about sacrificing to these private developers.

And that's why I'm here urging you to take very seriously the conditions that real people face in the city. And what would an investment of working class people really be in the city? Thank you. Okay. Oh, yes. Thank you. Four minutes. And then that's our last speaker. I've heard a lot of paid supporters come up here, but not really anybody that lives in the neighborhood that doesn't have financial interest in this project. Many of the issues that we brought up in previous meetings, I don't think have been addressed satisfactorily to many of us residents in the area. The hotel talks about having, last time I understood it, 300 parking spaces in the neighborhood. Because parking is a big issue there. What they potentially are going to take away, I've counted, is about 192 spaces. So their net gain is less than 110 parking spaces, if my numbers are correct. They've not addressed, we've talked to them about building a parking garage. It's something we have not seen any concrete information about that. Traffic, 1,000 new hotel, the amount of traffic we face right now, anytime there's any kind of essence festival, water brawl, whatever. It's gridlocked. It'll take 30 minutes to get from the expressway ramp to the parking lot, which is the block before the front of our building. I have not seen, though we've requested an independent traffic study to see what that's gonna do to the traffic. So before the council or the committee makes their recommendation, I ask them to defer at a minimum, if not deny, but to defer until the parking issues are addressed. I didn't see that when I skimmed the report. I didn't think I'd make it here, so I'm a little bit unprepared and nervous. So the parking and the traffic study should be presented to you all for consideration. They talk about the size of the hotel, that's another matter. The infrastructure is a support, it is a big issue for us, I believe, in the neighborhood. Many times I've heard the word transformational. It's definitely gonna transform the Warehouse District from a residential community, a small business, that it is today, something that is never intended to be. I would ask you to vote like you've lived in five minutes. If you can't deny it, delay it until these other issues can be addressed. Thank you. I will ask staff maybe just to comment on the traffic study. There was a traffic study done for the street closure portion of it that resulted in basically saying there would be a little bit of change to the traffic, but not a lot. But I don't think it was looking at the new development, it was only looking at the street closure, if that makes sense. So I don't know if there was another one that was done. And yeah, my- I have a question. Okay. The two current hotels, if you've got anything going on, they're double parked, the roads are blocked. They're gonna talk about adding egress for deliveries and stuff in the back of the hotel right up against where one of the other hotels are. It's hard for us to believe that it's done. But if you've got mills, roads, landfills, lots, and then a bakery, and federal fiber mills, I feel like those are the critical condos right there that are gonna get packed in. I agree that the traffic in that area has just gone bonkers. And it takes like 30, 45 minutes to get from the Lower Garden down to that area. And so you have to go to camp, you have to go over because all the trucks coming out of the interstate, so. And they're probably not taking one of the streets. Is that gonna help or hurt? I don't know. The traffic center would be able to identify taking the street away. Would it flow traffic better? Or is it gonna congest more? I don't know. Thank you. I think as we move- The bakery condominium is one of those too. Right, I said the bakery. You know, when you start your rebuttal, I mean, definitely infrastructure and potentially conversations that you've had with the city on that, as well as, I don't know if you wanna talk about the factory or what you know about- Sure. Anything else that we'd like to hear addressed in the rebuttal before we move? Yeah, I was gonna ask about the parking spaces and if the parking spaces were required or you're adding on in your parking garage. I also wanted to know if you did any kind of a shadow study to see what the shadows are being cast on the buildings and parks and the other buildings, the bakery buildings, or how that affects them. The tops. Good afternoon, Commissioner. It's Mike Sherman again on behalf of Omni. I'll do my best to get you to these topics and we have team members that can dive into further depth. We do two traffic studies. The local traffic engineering company, Urban Systems, completed both. They've been submitted to the Department of Public Works. Staff is correct. The first traffic study was relative to the road closure of John Churchill Chase, but there's a second traffic study that was also submitted to the city, relative to the entire effect of the project, which found acceptable standards. We'll continue to work with DPW on any improvements to the traffic infrastructure in the vicinity. With traffic as well as water, really all of the utilities, I'll point to water because that's the big one that Mr. Complete spoke about. At Omni expense, at Omni expense, there's going to be millions of dollars of infrastructure improvements in the vicinity to upgrade the infrastructure. Some of that is because there's broken water sewer and drainage lines. Some of that is because of capacity issues. So one of the benefits to the community is that the streets will be pulled up, and the infrastructure beneath will be completely replaced at Omni expense. So one of the benefits is improved infrastructure. On design, I've heard comments on design, so this is interesting. Today, we're here for a text amendment to allow the zoning envelope, and our submittal on design will go before the HDLC for an advisory review, and then to the Design Advisory Committee.

So I heard the PRC's comments, and we look forward to following up with them. We appreciate them meeting with us throughout the project. I'm really proud of this, and I know this is important to Omni and important to the city. Not one penny, not one penny of city sales tax will go into this project. So you can't really say this very often. The state of Louisiana is the public participant in this project, not the city of New Orleans, not the Orleans Power School Board, not the Regional Transit Authority. So the public incentive package is sales tax rebates primarily from state entities, not the city of New Orleans, not the Orleans Power School Board, not the Regional Transit Authority, not one penny. Not one penny of city funds are going into this project at all. Quite the opposite, actually. If we're fortunate enough to be approved, $5 million building permit will be paid to the city of New Orleans in the next 90 days. $20 million of sales tax, half to local tax entities, coming to the city of New Orleans, Orleans Power School Board, the taxing bodies this year. Not a penny of that gets reinvested into the project. We're not, the projects could even be paying property taxes. The property tax calculation is set at the comp set of similar hotels. So they're not off the property tax rolls and getting a break, where they're not paying taxes like many new projects are. They're paying property taxes based upon the comp set of hotels. I don't, one comment I don't understand, and someone's been improperly briefed, this project has been so heavily studied in terms of the public participation. There's a 32-page BGR report released in December. It's been the front page of the Times-Picayune. There's been a ton of discussion on the public incentive package. There are additional approvals to go. That's not before the board. But in terms of transparency, I've actually never seen a more transparent project that was scrutinized by experts at the Bureau of Governmental Research, experts at the state of Louisiana. And keep in mind, the bulk of the tax incentive package is from state taxing authorities reinvesting into this priority. So I did wanna touch on that. There was a question about employees, and I wanna keep focused on what's before you, except to say that, if the future employees- I'm gonna ask you this question before I talk to the Times. Sure, I'm just answering questions. Right. Future employees want to unionize. There's a legal process. They're certainly welcome to do so when they exist, if the hotel can be built. There was a question I had to respond to on the shadow study. Do you wanna ask me the question? Just how does it impact, because of the massing of that was talked about in the PRC, that was one of my questions of the massing. The LSU faces the warehouse district. Why was the LSU not on the other side? And why would, because the shadow would fall away from the actual residence. I don't think, is there an answer? There is. So two things are done by the design, thankfully, the way the sun rises and sets in the orientation of the hotel, we do not put our neighbors in the shade. The convention center and the hotel get the shade, not the neighbors. We have shadow studies on different times of the day, different times of the year. But because of the way the sun rises and sets, it's not putting the neighbors, the five girls with the bakery locks, in the shade for extended periods. Talking about parking or every transport, the traffic setting, yeah. Traffic study, there probably are a couple of things that additional traffic infrastructure upgrade that would need to be done in Omni and convention center expense in the vicinity. Looking at street directions in the vicinity to make sure traffic comes out of the neighborhood, not into the neighborhood. So the traffic study, which is DPW's hand, that'll be part of the design advisory committee and planning advisory committee approval process. We'll have continuous feedback and dialogue with DPW, those studies are complete. I think my question was of how many parking spaces we have on the site. So parking's gonna be filled in three ways. We're 325 on site, it's interesting with Uber and Lyft and ride share, we actually have surplus parking most of the time. So we'll be able to include employee parking in there when not in peak periods. We do have two plans for both peak events. So think of an event where people are driving in versus flying in, and there's an adjacent parking garage, the kind of blue one, and there's convention center parking lots. And the Omni design team is, operations team, excuse me, is working with both the convention center and multiple nearby lots for peak periods. But for the average daily demand, we're more than sufficiently parked. In the CBD, we don't have parking requirements, so 100% of the parking is voluntarily applied, committed by Omni, not by City of Oman. And even though it's not required, it does create a burden on people. And my last question is, there's a net difference in what the staff has suggested and what you are asking. So what is that net difference of height? I calculated it as 76 feet, is that correct? The net difference is 36 plus 86. So yes, but I'm like 10 feet, 37 feet. And did you calculate any kind of a net benefit of that extra 87 feet that would convince us to think about this much? Sure, I thought that was one of the great things in the staff report. I'm pleased to make a commitment here that the convention center working with Omni can fulfill, which is a significant public improvement to the park. So we've got local traffic and urban systems on the water sewers, local engineer, shrinking and flattening. And when we have local design firm on landscaping, Spackman, also Michaels, SMM, I may have passed up one of the names. You're a good example. But they completed the DDD park study just last year. It's not even final yet.

And substantial public input went into the Mississippi River Heritage Park based upon community input. So I can truly say that both the convention center and Omni are agnostic as to what the community wants there, except to say that we already have the design firm on contract working with Omni to make sure that for the community, they will have an approved public park as a community benefit. With that extra use and speed that we asked for. So we are technically not asking for any bonus at all. We're trying to be as transparent as possible and following the master plan, which suggests that convention center adjacent zoning is appropriate. Our request is for a text amendment, not for a zoning bonus, not for variance. But as staff noted, what are the community benefits in terms of infrastructure, economic development? Tonight, I can tell you if you're interested and you wanna come, over 200 local construction companies tonight are gonna be at the convention center meeting with the Omni team before any bid is issued to try to network with local companies and find out what opportunities they can get scaled up. The same thing will be happening on individual jobs. And that will be a continuous cycle. The people of New Orleans will build this hotel and that starts tonight. So Ms. Tucker's comments were very well stated, incredibly well received and a driving vision behind the project and we'll hold us accountable to that. But what I do wanna say is that in addition to the economic development benefits, in addition to all the financial benefits to the city without costing the city any money, the public park improvement was something in addition to infrastructure improvements for the near neighbors. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? So just for the record, as far as the hotel, as far as the union goes, are the union being helped build the hotel? Will they supply the laborers and the christians? So I wanna give a very precise answer. The building trades will all be present tonight, okay? So they're all RSVPs that will be present tonight. A project of this magnitude will naturally have a very significant amount of union labor on it because of the $605 project in New Orleans. The building trades are always involved. They have been on every major project. So the question is, will there be union workers on the project? There certainly will be. Is that an answer to your question? Yes, because I wanna make sure that they're involved and that they have a seat at the table and that they have the opportunity to meet without it. Yeah, so there's multiple unions and the short answer is yes. And the staff's recommendation is modified approval, which you all are asking for and therefore area ratio will be increased. Yeah. Our request is to support the staff recommendation subject to a floor area ratio of 12 so that we can fully deliver a first and a half century transformational project. Thank you. I have a question for staff. Okay, I think we're done with the public. Any more questions on here? Thank you. All right, Commissioner Lee. So, question for staff. Can you speak to the issue of adjustment of floor area ratio and adjustment of height and why staff thought it was important to put the parameters that you did and staff's view of what they're asking for? Yes, yeah, I'm happy to provide some kind of clarity in this because staff did consider the public benefit and staff is just essentially doubling the recommended defensible height for all of this because also the 125 height limit is included in the setback. The actual height limit at the street front is 75 feet. So, this is doubling, the staff report, you know, essentially doubles the existing height limit as a setback. Additionally, using the FAR as a measurement for height is like an archaic way of measuring height in the warehouse district in this area. It's a remnant of the way it was, it used to be measured when projects like in the 70s when Hilton and all that kind of stuff was built when a lot of these really tall structures were built. And so, now that there have been like multiple very thoughtful height studies, that's why an FAR is just not appropriate as determined by all of staff's research analysis. Can I elaborate on that as well? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, so, if you look at the height study, it's articulated in the zoning ordinance. There are areas that are currently regulated by FAR and there are currently areas that are regulated by height. So, FAR is a density measurement and not a height measurement. So, the implication is that where a property is regulated by FAR, there's unlimited height, right? So, it's about the density. As opposed to the areas that are regulated by height are limited to the height. I think the way the height study was set up is that there are certain areas, particularly around historic districts, where height was deemed to be the more appropriate way to measure because of the low, the generally low scale of the warehouse district. And so, that particular parcel was included in the area that was regulated by height as opposed to density. Across the street with the convention center, largely built upon, but the other areas where you see the FAR regulation are gonna be on the major thoroughfares like Poitras and Loyola, where the issue is more density as opposed to the impact of the height. And so- Do you want this? No, no, no. You did? Yeah, if you wanna just clean that up. That illustrates it pretty well. Thank you. Sorry. So yeah, so I don't have an answer to that one. Isn't there a, do I read it wrong, but isn't there a FAR, even though the staff recommended a height restriction, isn't there an FAR of what belongs to something? Yes, there is an FAR in here. Oh, yeah, we just adjusted, like in theory, if at their requested height that's existing would result in that- That would be an effective FAR. An effective FAR, yeah. But as staff, sorry, I'm gonna ask you this now.

So as staff, you did not look at setbacks or any kind of, I mean, you used the total height of the setback and not of the actual setback. Yes, yeah, and we could have, so in analyzing the three most similar properties, that would be the Marriott Connection Center, which is nearby, and then the original Harris Hotel on Poitras, and then Loyola's next to it. One of them does have one of those setbacks, which is recommended in kind of other areas in the city, including having been considered at this setback. How did staff end up at the 200 to 250, as opposed to 267 or 281? Yeah, it's a crunching of all the numbers. There are lots of charts and everything. There's, we went, I guess, I suppose a little general, but 250 is like a very generous maximum. It's over a doubling. So at a 250 or so height limit, would they still be able to get the same volume of meeting spaces, et cetera, et cetera? It might be a few, like somebody described, but would they still be able to get the same amount of total usable area? So staff understands after meetings with the developers and iterations of this, that it was important for, structurally, we're not, I'm an architect or engineer, but that structurally, it would have been difficult, it would be difficult to build above the ballrooms. So that's why they didn't want to have the hotel above the ballrooms. I'm not sure if it could spring a couple of extra floors. I had done analysis on paper about shifting some. I'm gonna ask the architect, I'm gonna ask the architect. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Yeah. Can I ask you, at a lower height, can you still get the functionality that you need? No. Is that an absolute no, or is there some no, but if? It's not a feasible solution, given the moves that were made to get the hotel off the park. It results in us having to stack multiple ballroom spaces on top of each other, which is difficult enough as it is, and you start looking at a clear-span ballroom of 160 to 180 feet, then you try to land a tower on top of that. It makes the problem go away. Okay, thank you. If, yeah, if we, if, in theory, we accept your staff's recommendation with a height, you know, as a, with a, if the height is requested by the applicant, is there another body that would then look at the step back as the HDLC or, you know, the VRC? Are they going to look at the design in more detail, or is that something that you have to do? So we, the HDLC, because it's a city-owned, or, sorry, state-owned entity property, does not have purview over this. They've already reviewed it and made comments on the demolition aspects, but in the design review, I think it's, yeah. Yeah, I think what should be clear is that this is creating a zoning entitlement within which the design is to happen, so understood that the design is fairly well-made, at least, you know, to some extent, this is only creating the height and volume. The actual design review happens through the Planning Commission's Design Advisory Committee, and Mr. Sherman referenced that. That involves HDLC, DWR, and so on. And so my question to the architect is that, is there any step back that can be, that can happen? Potentially. We would have to. to study it. But we're also, we're up against a sub-programmatic requirements that make the project feasible. It would be difficult. Thank you. Ms. Bergen, is there anything else that you'd like to add that we just have clarity? I was trying to grab a group of notes on the webinar's address. I think, but I hope, I just did want to stress that the public benefit, everything that everybody has kind of discussed here, was included in the considerations in the staff report. So, like, that's why it's a very generous kind of number. To try to get different job rates so we could bring in more jobs. Can I make a motion to approve the staff report, with the exception of the height restriction? The height, as requested by the client, in view of the general, you know, the general economic impact that this project will have on the city of New Orleans. And just to clarify, the text in the report is height is limited at 213 feet. I assume what you're saying is that will be replaced with height is limited at 12 FDR. And then second, any discussion? Comments? We have a motion on the table. Yeah, I'll make a comment because I think there's a lot of opposition. So, I think it's a different, there's a lot of merit on all the sides, and there's certainly, the staff report was extremely thoughtful, and I would love to see a lower building that could work, but I am going to take the statement at face value, and if it just can't be done, I think that the impact of the project, even though I'm tired of hearing the word transformational, I think the impact of the project and the benefit makes it worth it, and that's the only way to get it done, and that's why I'm seconding the motion. So, the motion is for modified approval and improvement and increasing the density to 12. All right, let's go ahead and vote. Commissioner Steeve? Aye. Yes, and Commissioner Josie Fuente? Yes. Commissioner Kepler? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Mitrino? Yes. All right, the motion carries. And now we're going to move on to Zoning Docket 030-26. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you. All right, Zoning Docket, agenda item 030-26. Thank you, everyone, for coming, and for those that are staying, take care. Thank you. All right, Zoning Docket 030-26 is a response for a zoning change from an HB1A historic urban neighborhood business district and a conditional use to permit a standard restaurant in the HB1A East Prescription Co-Related District. This request would allow the existing, legally non-conforming restaurant, Cafe Bonneau, or Bonneau's, to be officially permitted as a standard restaurant in tandem with the zoning change to an HB1A historic urban neighborhood business district.

While standard restaurants may generally pose a negative impact on residential areas such as uptown, the proposed conditional use will be operational in nature. The site features a historic, inertial structure that has been in operation since at least 1989, and no modifications or additions to the building footprint or facade are proposed. Provided that the siting qualifies under the historic, non-conforming use policy, and the HB1A would be a more accurate and effective reference to the classification of the site, staff recommend approval of the requested zoning change. Staff also find that this additional use request meets the standard for approval in regards to the floor, the cost of initial affordance, and is consistent with the master plan. In summary, staff recommend approval of the vote to request the zoning change, and conditional use to permit a standard restaurant in HB1A historic urban district subject to subdivision. As a note, staff received a list of proposed subdivisions from the Municipal Association of Bonneau, and the applicant's past deadline. The commission may choose to suspend the rules for this meeting. Thank you, Skyer. Hello, I'm Heather Geiger, 800 Brown Street, Sherwin-Chadley. We understand there was a meeting last night that took place between the neighbors and the Council Member's office, and Claire is here as well, so we are here to request a 30-day deferral. I think it's the May 12th. Okay, well let's roll through and see if there's anyone else here to speak. Is there anyone else here to speak in support? I'm just coming in confirming that there was a meeting. We had a meeting. Claire Leanne. We had a meeting about 55 neighbors, I would say, last night. We just had scheduling issues, so we couldn't do it until yesterday. So, I think, you know, it was well appreciated all the input from the neighbors. We had a good talk for an hour and a half. We would love just 30 days for everyone to digest everything. For the neighbors to get themselves in order, for us to get ourselves in order. And thank you for suggesting the first referral. We appreciate that. We had a fine meeting. Thank you. No other questions? Okay, so then we do have a card in opposition. Is that Taylor? Yes, it's me. Okay, do you want to speak? I don't need to speak. Well, we haven't voted yet. Okay. You're welcome to, or you don't have to? No, you don't have to. Well, I'm happy to, so I'll say what it is. Sure. Go ahead. You can say your name and address. And you read the meeting. Yes, I did. I'm Taylor Galyon, and we own the properties of 415 McKinney Street and the Double Shotgun, 5421 to 423 Laurel, immediately next door to Catherine River. I'm going to skip this part about the meetings, about the room meetings, because a lot of this is about deferring the vote. So I was at the meeting last night. There was about 50 to 60 people there. It was a very thoughtful discussion, and there was a clear majority of neighbors that stated their preferences between no change at all and date restrictions, maintaining work-intensity use, and the restaurant hours and the 3 p.m. matching. So one of the reasons I came down was to see if we could push it to May 12th, because we knew we were behind, and we are. So sharing strategies has been very successful. Thank you. Anyone else here to speak on this matter? Move for deferral. Second. Yes. Yes. Any discussion? No. All right. Yes. To May 12th. Commissioner Wintry, yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Pepper? Yes. Commissioner Joseph? Yes. Commissioner Steeve? Yes. The motion carries. Thank you. Thank you very much. It's nice of you to listen to our recommendations, and this is what we wanted. So we'll see you on May 12th. Thank you very much. All right. We are moving on to zoning document 038-26. Zoning document 038-26 is a request for a conditional increase to permit commercial short-term rental to land in the American and Mixed-Use District in the Kennedy and Lodging Interim Zone District. The subject property located on 18th Avenue Chatham Court Highway on West Lane Avenue and is currently developed as an elevated single-family building. The proposed commercial short-term rental has been previously licensed and operated for several years. There are not any proposed changes to the property and have been utilized. The MME district is an exclusive feature where residential uses are found close to water-related non-residential uses such as fishing camps, seafood processing facilities, and marinas. It is fair to indicate that this commercial short-term rental is an appropriately identified use for the district's purpose. Therefore, staff recommends approval of zoning document 038-26 subject to two providers. Thank you. I think we have a applicant here. And please come up and talk and state your name and address and we're going to ask you to fill out a card for us. My name is Mike Sullivan. Okay. And you're going to have two minutes to talk unless someone's going to concede their time to you. You're good for two minutes. Well, I'm Mike and Danielle Sullivan. My address is 210 Rory Fork Extension, Gatlinburg, Tennessee. And we're here today to answer any questions you might have. Thank you to staff for all of their work in getting us to this point through the process of trying to get a commercial short-term rental permit. Our intention with this property is to give us an amazing place to hang out for probably a couple of months a year and subsidize it a little bit so it doesn't get into my retirement years. And that's really the bulk of it. So if you all have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them. It's not nearly as exciting as they ought to be. Are you on the late Catherine side? Yes, I'm late Catherine. How far from the Chef? How far from Chef into her path? About four miles I think. It's two miles from the Wrigley's. Is there anyone else here to speak on this matter? Okay, I do have a step. Thank you. Thank you.

I know that staff recommendation is equitable with supervisors. Can you remind me, I feel like we have approved some of the SDRs in Lake Atkin as of late? Or is my memory not so correct? So the staff recommendation has been for approval. You may be thinking there were two out on Breakwater Drive in the municipal layout. However, the commission has not acted on those. But the staff's position is that in those two, as in this one, they are outside of the city board and are designed for more recreational-type uses. And that SDRs are compatible with some of those designations. Thank you. I mean, basically what they do is it says that, the first one says that you don't get, they're kind of common providers for SDRs. You don't get a waiver you haven't asked for. A waiver you haven't asked for. And that you have to complete the process through the reporting of your plans. And there was no opposition? There's no opposition today? All right, commissioners. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Any discussion? If not, let's move forward. Commissioner Poje? Yes. Commissioner Whitley? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes, ma'am. Commissioner Kepper? Yes. Commissioner Dosa-Ducha? Yes. Commissioner Steeve? Yes. Thank you. Did you build out? Yes. Very special around here. So thank you. Thank you. Excuse me, sorry. Next is Zoning Stock at 039-26. Zoning Stock at 039-26 is a request for a planned development to permit the expansion of an indoor amusement facility in an E2MU, Historic Urban Neighborhood Nice Use District, and to rescind an existing conditional use, allowing an indoor amusement facility, as this was obtained under the former zoning ordinance, which previously allowed such uses only as conditional uses. The site is currently developed as a broad viewer. The owner is seeking to expand the theater's footprint to add two additional screening rooms. While indoor amusement facilities are permitted by right in the E2MU district, this development includes a 6,500-square-foot addition to the already existing 10,788-square-foot movie theater, which is 7,288 square feet greater than what is allowed. The planned development process seeks to allow unique exceptions to use and allowances for properties that provide a significant public benefit in order to encourage the preservation of historic properties that maintain the character of the city. Types of substantial benefits include historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and open space and recreational amenities. The staff finds that the request's design exception, which is to allow the property to be greater than 10,000-square-feet in floor area, would provide this benefit. The development is an adaptive reuse of the existing structure that preserves the building and provides space for community to congregate. The staff finds that the proposed use is consistent with the master plan and meets the standards for approval in Article IV of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. Staff recommends approval of Zoning Docket 3926, subject to two exceptions and five provisos. Thank you. Flora Barth. Flora Barth, 1,000. Flora Barth, 1,000. Yes, here on behalf of the Broad Theater, thank you, staff, for the report and the recommendations for approval. Looking forward to have more theater spaces at the Broad. I've been here very often, personally. It's a great place for that area. There's two things we would like to discuss, though, and two of the provisos. One proviso regarding three extra bike spaces. The main entrance already provides more than 20 bike spaces, and the way that this is being built, there's just no room on that new lot to provide any more bike spaces. And also, where the addition is being built, it is being built into the lot line. So while it is meeting the lines for stormwater management, you cannot essentially, as it is proposed, possibly leave that terminable space for farmland. I'm not sure where to go with the bike spaces. So for the bike spaces, you have the possibility to add a queue on the right-of-way, as long as folks are not on it. That is possible if it doesn't have to be on the site. So what is the difference between what's already provided and what's required? It's something that we're thankful for. That's something that we need to look at. Oh, yes, we do want to look at it in more detail. Yeah. And for the permeable space, so the proposal is suggesting that some permeable space could be added onto the existing parking lot, even though it's on a separate lot of record, since the proposal is an extension of the existing prop theater and will be essentially, you know, the same authority sharing the same development site, that some of that permeable space could be provided. I mean, I feel that's just something we have to look at. I don't think they intended to do any renovation on the existing front entrance portions of the theater for the existing parking. Okay. Ron, there's someone else that's up on the screen. Yes. But that same logic I would take to the bike placement. If we have 25 spaces on the other lot, and we try to squeeze every three on a public right-of-way, it seems like that is unnecessary, just to be straight on that. So if you're using that logic, it's the same thing, the same with the permeable. That whole place is permeable, the parking lot on the other, you have to make that compilation, that was a separate lot. And then the reason there's a difference over here, and it's important to understand, is that there's two different ownerships here. Where it is rented from the broad right now, where they need to buy and run the place, and on the other side, that is his lot. He purchased that lot. So we're on two separate lots of revenue here. I mean, I think our position is that the ability to do the planned development is premised on having a building that's going to be actively used. So that's lot one, and then the expansion is on lot two, but we're viewing them as one site.

And so I think, you know, the staff has the ability to grant variances or exceptions based on either the non-criteria hardship or determination that the exception facilitates the adaptive reuse. I think for both of those, we don't find that to be met because the alternative to digging up pervious surface on the original site is to use the term of the expansion to dig up the permeable space there. Obviously, that affects the program of the space, but there is no hardship that we can identify presented by the site that prevents compliance, nor does the adaptive reuse require non-compliance. So that's what our position is. Well, did you mention that the existing parking lot was all in the entire perimeter? Pretty much. Yeah, we were just there. We'll look at it. We'll have to look at all this stuff. Thank you. Mr. O'Neill, any questions? Tell me a little bit more about the required three additional parking spots. I was just mentioning that if there is no room to add them on our site, that bicycles, for instance, in the public driveway can be provided on a sidewalk, subject to approval from the Department of Public Works. And if they weren't able to obtain approval from APW? They should. They should if it was not technically possible for them to do so. Then again, we'd have to look at the parking lot somewhere along the sidewalk. And the number of parking spots is determined by the square footage? Is that right? Okay. And that's why there's a former abundance of bicycle parking there already, because a lot of people do come and have bicycles. So we have 25 bicycle spots currently. We're happy to look at three more from the non-department. My only concern would be the parking on the sidewalk right there, because the sidewalk, I don't really, you know, I would assume that APW might have a concern And you currently have 20 or 25? 25. And that's what the report reflects? I thought I read 20 somewhere. I don't know. That's what you told us yesterday, when we said there's economic stuff to have, because we just wanted to make sure that we got the right information. There's 24 issues. 28. I think, just for clarification purposes, the scene theater has no bike parking requirement. So the three is an addition to the zero. So it's not, you may need to rephrase the provisor to look like that, but there's, with the provisor, there's only three states that might require it. Yeah, that's why the provisor only says three that are required and not a specific number. But if it would be okay, we could show that there's already this department on the other block. So that's okay with you guys? That's okay with you guys as written? Not as written, but as written. Is there a motion? I don't think there's anyone here to speak on this. I make a motion to approve this particular matter as written. 03926, there's two exceptions and five provisors. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Commissioner. Any questions? No comments. Okay, let's go ahead and vote. Commissioner Steeve? Yes. Commissioner Josie Dupa? Yes. Commissioner Pepper? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Richie? Yes. Commissioner Poche? Yes. Thank you all. Did you see a lot of the cards? Okay, if you don't mind, just grabbing one from this paper over here. And then... Welcome. Zoning Docket 04026 is a request for additional use for commercial short-term rental in an HUMU. Historic Urban Neighborhood Mixed-Use District and the Transient Logic Interim Zoning District. The applicant proposes no structural renovations. And while the site is in an HUMU that would otherwise allow commercial short-term rental by right, this development requires additional use as the site is in a Citywide Transient Logic Interim Zoning District, which allows such uses only as conditional uses. The staff finds that while the proposed use is consistent with the master plan, it does not meet all of the standards for approval in Article 4 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, nor does it satisfy the approval standards written in the Interim Zoning District. Ultimately, there is a discrepancy between what is currently permitted in the zone in this district and the realities of the surrounding lanes deter staff's recommendation for approval, therefore staff recommends denying it. Hi. Please state your name and address. Can you just speak up? Okay. My name is Debbie Eastley, and I live at 1719 Burgundy Street, and I represent 2613 Merage LLC. We constructed that house in 2017, and it's been an Airbnb ever since. No residential. It is across the street directly, McDonald's, parking lot, drive-thru, cars. I have this picture from Google Maps, and you hear the intercom. And we've been doing Airbnb since, and we changed it to an LLC this year or a couple months ago, and then even though we had our license, they said I had to reapply. So that's because even though it's the same owner, we just changed it to an LLC. And so now I don't have a license, and it's never been a residential. No residents have lived there. So I'm just asking to continue. What's the zoning? Was there a reason you changed it to an LLC? I'm sorry? Was there a reason you changed it to an LLC? Just for tax reasons, the owner did. And he wouldn't have done it if he knew this, because he's still the LLC partnership. So it's been a road. Is your license expired? Yeah, it expired, and that's how I found out. When did it expire? It expired in December, and I've been doing all the N&P participation meetings, getting all the paperwork ready for this meeting today for the last three months. So we're offline. So I think just regardless of what happens here, what we have seen, the planning commission gets referred from the short-term rental bureau who issues licenses, and they will refer applicants to the planning commission when they think there's a zoning entitlement that's needed.

But the fact of the matter is that you have what's considered a zoning nonconformity, which means even though the law now says it requires counsel approval through a conditional use process, you've got a license, and you've been operational within the last six months. So as long as you're operating or are within six months of operating, you have this nonconforming condition you can't keep alive. So, you know, not our call to make, but I think they probably referred to you in error, because I would imagine that the zoning nonconformity still exists, and a change in ownership does not affect a zoning nonconformity. So all of that is to say, like, putting the commission's action here aside, I would encourage you to pursue that with the SDR Bureau, and I can get in touch with you separately to maybe explain that a little bit better and help facilitate that. I just want you to know that that is an option as well. Would a deferral from us? I'm confused. I've talked to her. Yeah, I mean. I'm just confused. Should we just vote on that? She's making a bit of a mistake. Yeah. But the concern about deferring it is that she's kind of under the gun in the six months. I think we should just approve it. I think I will work on that separately. Okay. So we're going to make a motion. Yes, do we have any other questions? I can make a motion. Thank you. We can make a motion to approve zoning document 040-26 for approval. Is there a second? Against staff recommendation. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Jackson has second. Is there any discussion? All right. Let's go with Commissioner Steeve. Yes. Commissioner Joseph-Gibson. Yes. Commissioner Tepper. Yes. Commissioner Jackson. Yes. Commissioner Guthrie. Yes. Commissioner Kidd. Yes. Now, this is good for you. We're going to have the staff and the staff help you. We know that this is complicated. We hear you on this. And I apologize to the city for that fact that it is complicated. But we think this is more of a technical error than anything else. So we have gone against staff recommendation and approved this review. And then they're going to talk to you directly about the next steps. Okay. This is Mike. Mike, come here. I need your card, yes. I don't know the docket number. We have a wonderful staff here that's going to help advise you. Yes, I got it. All right. All right. Let's move on to zoning docket 041-26. Zoning docket 041-26 is a request initiated by city council motion N-26-72, which is a condition to rezone undeveloped area along the corridor on Strickland Park from an SRS single-family residential district to a designation that encourages commercial use and aligns with the neighborhood commercial future land use map designation. The subject property consists of multiple lots under separate ownership, including huddles and city price-of-way, and has remained undeveloped despite its long-standing residential zone and likely due to limited access in its location with an increasing commercial corridor. The surrounding area has transitioned over time from primarily residential to more of a mixed-use pattern that includes commercial living space and residential designations. In response, the future land use map was amended in 2025 to designate the site for mixed-use development, rendering the current SRS zoning inconsistent. While the motion that council provided suggests several commercial districts, staff finds that the SMU suburban neighborhood mixed-use district is most appropriate as it allows for a blend of residential and commercial uses and provides flexibility for future development. The rezoning would allow for the future consolidation of the property, including incorporation of the price-of-way, and it would enable viable development of a long-vacant site. Overall, staff finds that the request meets most approval standards and is consistent with the master plan of the future land use map and would support a more functional and context-sensitive development pattern. Therefore, staff recommends approval of the zoning change. Thank you. Shane? No, actually, a couple more. All right, so there is a city council motion, so there's no one here speaking. All right. To the point of information, does the request for a zoning change need to specify the zoning that it wants to be changed? I realize that you all recommended SMU, and that's what we'll vote on, but... I think we've done that beforehand. I think we've been given, like, options, specific options before, but I can't remember off the top of my head. So there'll be nobody here to make a motion to move approval in accordance with staff recommendation to SMU? Yes. Is there a second? All right. Any discussion? All right. Let's vote. Commissioner Steeve? Yes. Yes. Yes. Commissioner Pepper? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. All right. Moving on to zoning stock in 022-26. Subdivision 2226 is a request to subsidize lots 55 through 62 into lots 56A, 59A, 61A, and 62A. This request is located at 16750 Shepparton Toll Highway. This request requires commission review and is specified as a policy B subdivision because the site is over two acres in size. This subdivision will help facilitate the future sale of the site for commercial development. The request is not in conflict with the master plan. Therefore, staff recommends approval subject to one standard provisor. Thank you. I don't believe the applicant was able to make it today. Their child got out of school early today. So they're not able to make it. All right. So there's no one here to speak. We have a candidate for approval from staff recommendation. Commissioner Steeve with a motion? I move for approval in accordance with staff recommendations. All right. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Poche, a second. Any discussion? No. All right. Let's vote. Commissioner Poche? Yes. Commissioner Witry? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Now we'll move on to subdivision docket 025-26.

Subdivision docket 025-26 is a request to reconfigure two existing lots at 2.71 feet of depth to the existing lot at 4200 Stephen Gerard Avenue. The larger of the two lots is owned by Walmart Real Estate Business Trust. The smaller is owned by an individual property owner. The stated reason for this reconfiguration, according to your application, is to accommodate Walmart's intention to sell a 63 by 2.71 foot section of its property to the smaller property owner. The two proposed lots meet conventional street frontage and other requirements in their respective SRS and C2 zoning districts. The proposal presents no threat or impediment to public health, safety, or welfare and would be in accordance with all applicable subdivision and zoning regulations and is also consistent with the master plan. It should be noted, however, that the shifting of lot 1's rear line will cause the lot line to no longer coincide with the zoning district boundary and the future land use classification boundary. These conditions will need to be resolved via a minor map adjustment through the City Planning Commission. Accordingly, the staff recommends tentative approval of SB 2526, subject to the two provisos listed in the staff report. Thank you. Mr. Shane. Yes, ma'am. Good afternoon. Shane Huon, 700 Canal, Walmart, Tipito, Louisiana. I represent Walmart. Walmart staff did a great job. It's basically just a lot line shift. Both parties are in agreement with it. I'll answer any questions you may have. Do you all have any questions for Walmart? Yes? Can I just clarify one thing on the adjustment and the changes to the zoning and the loan? The minor map adjustment is a process that's administered by the Department of City and Permits, and it's up to them to determine whether it's appropriate for consideration. The alternative to that would be a rezoning, so I would include that in the motion just as a backup. I don't think it will be needed, but just in case. The Flum Amendment would be subject to the City Planning Commission. Quick question. I just want to understand the process for the mapping. It's up to the discretion of the Department to make that decision? Correct. So it couldn't be administrated? The minor map adjustment process is an administrative process. If the Department of City and Permits does not believe that it qualifies for consideration, then the only other alternative would be to rezone it, which I think would be overkill. Rich? So you're proposing that if there is a consensual approval, that we need to add those two terms? Yes. Subject to having a minor map adjustment or rezoning? Which is part of one of the provisions, right? I'm sorry? That was one of the provisos in this? I believe it was. Was it one of the provisos? Yes. Well, I think, to your point, I don't think that's written in commonplace. I don't think it changes the zoning piece. Right. So I just wanted to make sure that that was in there. A motion to... Go ahead, go ahead. So another motion to rezone? To do tentative approval. But then subject to... The rezoning and the minor map adjustment. Put the chair seat. I can't make a motion, but I'm helping, assisting. Any discussion? Commissioner Projet? Yes. Commissioner Woodford, yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Kupfer? Yes. Yes. Commissioner Steele? Yes. Thank you all. Thanks for coming up. Have a great afternoon. All right. We have the cannabis, tobacco, and nicotine study. Should we go ahead and approve this subject matter? Yeah. Sure. Are you coming to speak on that? On the cannabis? Not cannabis. You're here for the study. Correct. There is a second? Okay. All in. Commissioner Zeke? Yes. Commissioner Dosa-Duca? Yes. Commissioner Kupfer? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Projet? Yes. Yes. All right, so we're going to reorder. We're going to reorder these subdivision ratifications so that we can just open up the study. If anyone is here to speak on the subdivision ratifications, I don't think so. Okay. Yeah, as usual, this is a list of subdivisions that are being redistributed by staff. So you are electrified to make sure that it is approved and ready for approval. I move to approve. Thank you. Commissioner Projet, is there a second? Second. All in favor? Commissioner Zeke? Yes. Commissioner Dosa-Duca? Yes. Commissioner Kupfer? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Projet? Yes. Okay. So then the last group of submissions is the cannabis study. We have at least two people here to speak on that matter. If you want to speak, you can send a card out. Okay. Good afternoon, commissioners. Today I'm here with Laura Bryan, Ava Monet, Rachel Hogan, and Charles Rowe to present the Cannabis, Tobacco, and Nicotine Study. This study was initiated by former Councilmember DeRusso via Motion N-25-470, directing the City Planning Commission to prepare a comprehensive study to identify the impacts of retail establishments which sell cannabis, tobacco, and nicotine products, and to provide recommendations regarding new definitions, new standards, signage regulations, use permissions, and density restrictions. The City has been slow to provide regulatory guidance as new products have emerged and the industry has changed. Currently, the retail sale of cannabis, tobacco, and consumable hemp products are defined within the overarching retail goods establishment category. In order to create specific use permissions and standards for these types of sales, drafting their own use permissions and use standards is necessary, similar to how the retail sale of packaged alcohol use is written into the zoning ordinance. Although the New Orleans City Code includes the Smoke-Free Air Act, those regulations are not mirrored in the comprehensive zoning ordinance. The Smoke-Free Air Act states new tobacco retailers are prohibited within 300 feet of any school, library, park, child care center, or place of worship.

Despite this being in the City Code, the City does not issue its own license for tobacco sales. Thus, there is no formal process to ensure the City Code distance requirements are met. Moreover, there are no distance requirements from travel-friendly locations written into either the City Code or the comprehensive zoning ordinance. for the retail sale of medical marijuana or consumable hemp products. According to information from the state, there are over 600 locations that sell tobacco for nicotine, 240 locations that are licensed to sell consumable hemp products, and two licensed medical marijuana retailers with two satellite locations each in the New Orleans area. Tobacco licenses are issued by the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, or ATC. The license issued by ATC covers all types of tobacco products, including traditional cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pouches, vaping, and alternative nicotine products. Having one definition and license type at the state level prevents local regulations from creating distinctions between the different tobacco products. Additionally, when the state issues their licenses, local regulations are not considered, such as distance requirements and the Smoke-Free Air Act. New definitions and new standards in the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance for retailers specific to these products would mitigate current and future negative land-use impacts on surrounding neighborhoods and could prevent negative impacts on public health and welfare, particularly for youth. Okay, what about regulations and licensing? Cannabis is the first one we're looking at, and the Louisiana legislature passed laws that created the current medical marijuana cultivation, consumption, and sales framework to allow consumption of medical marijuana for therapeutic purposes statewide. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry regulates marijuana cultivation and production, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners regulates prescribers, and the Louisiana Department of Health oversees the regulation of the state's medical marijuana retailers. So the cannabis is the general marijuana. Consumable hemp. The state allows the sale of products which contain small amounts of THC and or CBD to be sold at general retailers statewide, including grocery stores, pharmacies, and other retailers, but not gas stations and bars. In addition to the consumable, LDH also regulates the packaging of the products to ensure that they are not particularly appealing to children or share the likeness of a candy product that can confuse children, like Skittles or Chips Ahoy. The types of THC or CBD is noted on each product's packaging. Louisiana ATC regulates consumable hemp to a lesser degree providing additional oversight and managing retail distribution. Alternative nicotine products. Alternative nicotine products are defined as any non-combustible product containing nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether it be chewed, absorbed, dissolved, or ingested by any other means. Alternative nicotine products are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Control through the licensing process of the same as tobacco products, with one notable exception. The ATC manages a registry for all vapor and alternative nicotine products, including electric cigarettes that are allowed to be sold in Louisiana, as well as products that are prohibited. And lastly, tobacco. Of all the products included in this study, tobacco products are the most widely used. They are sold locally at 300 to 600 retailers, including gas stations, bars, pharmacies, grocery stores, convenience stores, and other locations. Legislatively, they are commiserate to alternative nicotine products, with the exception of the required ATC registry. So just for some examples to put it in perspective. Cannabis, like we said, is a medical marijuana. They can be sold at the pharmacies or the retailers with therapeutic use. They come in the form of flowers, which are buds, pre-rolled, vapors, concentrates, tinctures, and accessories. Consumable hemp. Products like drinks, the Louie Louies, Crescent Nines. They can be gummies, teas, or any other type of ingestible. Alternative nicotine products. There are litany of alternative nicotine products. They can be in the form of nicotine pouches, salts, e-liquids, or vapors, vapor devices. And tobacco are the more traditional smoking or chewing tobacco, which includes cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, etc. And these are just some examples that you may have seen on your store shelves. You may have seen them at gas stations. You may have seen them at passing. You may have seen them in the kids' living room. But those are just some examples of the products we're going to be discussing today. As presented in the study, staff categorized eight distinct types of retailers relevant to the study. Medical marijuana retailers, also colloquially known as dispensaries. These retailers are permitted by the Louisiana Department of Health to sell medical marijuana to patients with a prescription. There are two permits issued on Luke's Parish, and each is allowed a satellite location. Smoke shops are retailers that specialize in nicotine products and consumable hemp. This retailer is notable for its intensive use of signage. Convenience stores will feature tobacco and consumable hemp products as part of a much broader retail strategy. So these products do not constitute a large portion of their sales. Additionally, coffee shops. Some coffee shops in the cities have been able to secure permits for consumable hemp retail. This was before HPE 952. This allowed the permit issuance to restaurants or bars. Typically, these retailers will carry hemp seltzers and is notable for selling hemp products in an all-ages environment. Gas stations typically sell tobacco and nicotine products. Notably, consumable hemp is disallowed by state legislation at gas stations.

Grocery stores may often carry cigarettes, but have now increasingly begun to carry hemp seltzers. These products are often sold near the alcoholic beverages. Some bars and restaurants were likewise able to secure consumable hemp retail permits before HPE 925 went into effect. Incidental retailers is a term that Stapp has coined to describe a retailer that does not fall within any of the previous categories. T-shirt and gift shops, such as those seen in the French Quarter, qualify as incidental retailers. As of 2025, there are 608 active retail tobacco permits in Orleans Parish. You can see their distribution throughout. The Louisiana Department of Health, or ADH, is the sole regulator of medical marijuana retailers. While ADH ensures compliance with state law regarding medical marijuana, it does not enforce or provide licensing for consumable hemp products, which are issued and overseen by the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control under separate statutes. State law permits 10 medical marijuana retail licenses statewide, each of which is allowed up to 2 satellite locations, for a total of up to 30 medical marijuana retail locations throughout Louisiana. The New Orleans area has 2 primary retail licenses with 2 satellite locations each, or 6 total retail stores in the larger New Orleans area, with 3 located in New Orleans proper. Retail locations are restricted to 5 miles between another medical marijuana retailer and a municipality with more than 350,000 people, but can be leaved under certain circumstances. Under local zoning regulations, medicinal marijuana retailers are considered a retail goods establishment. Retail goods establishments are widely permitted throughout the city, including in residentially zoned areas, under certain circumstances. Although permitted by local zoning regulations, retail goods establishments that sell medical marijuana may not operate without proper licensing from the Louisiana Department of Health. As part of the licensing process, applicants must attest to meeting local zoning and distance rules. The City of New Orleans does not require a separate local license to sell medical marijuana, and local regulations do not contemplate this type of sale. Currently, recreational marijuana remains illegal under state law, however, there is a proposed House Bill HB 373 to create a pilot program for medicinal marijuana retailers to opt into selling recreational marijuana to qualified customers. If this bill is passed, it would go into effect on January 1, 2027. At the time of this study, the proposed pilot program has not been acted on and is not in effect. Consumable hemp retailers who sell consumable hemp products, such as THC, new seltzers, and gummies, must receive a consumable hemp retail license from the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. There are currently over 2,200 such retail locations statewide, including grocery, convenience, and other retail outlets. There is not a separate zoning use category for the retail sales of consumable hemp in New Orleans in the New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance beyond the underlying retail goods establishment use, and the City of New Orleans does not issue local licenses in addition to those acquired by ATC. Tobacco and alternative nicotine products are issued by the Louisiana ATC. Louisiana defines tobacco products broadly so that ATC license covers all types of tobacco products, including traditional cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pouches, vaping, and alternative nicotine products. As previously noted, having one definition and license type prevents local regulations from creating distinctions between the different tobacco types. For example, the City cannot regulate cigarettes and vapes differently. Similar to the retail sale of consumable hemp and medicinal marijuana, the New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance does not explicitly address tobacco. The City Code does briefly address tobacco sale location distance requirements through the Smoke-Free Air Act, but because the City does not issue its own license for tobacco sales, the City has limited ability to ensure compliance. For best practice, the staff analyzed municipal codes and zoning ordinances from peer cities that have already codified the aforementioned needs. Across the board, consistent trends were found in how cities manage the distribution of these products, particularly through crudely defined land-use categories and distance-based restrictions designed to protect public health and physically child-friendly uses. The first municipality that we used was Chicago, Illinois. Chicago established one of the more detailed cannabis frameworks in that the City uses a seven-zone system that controls where recreational dispensaries may be located and prohibits them in a defined downtown exclusion zone. Retail cannabis uses are limited to commercial districts, while cultivation and processing are restricted to more industrial areas. For tobacco, Chicago defines retail tobacco stores using an 80% revenue threshold and requires separation distances of 1,000 feet from other tobacco stores and 500 feet from schools. Key takeaways would include defining multiple cannabis uses and maximum distance requirements. The second would be Richmond, Virginia. In 2025, Richmond implemented detailed regulations for retailers. that sell tobacco, hemp, vape, nicotine, and alternative nicotine products. Stores meeting a 10% threshold in floor area, display area, signage, inventory, or revenue are classified as retail sales of tobacco and hemp and must obtain conditional use approval. These establishments must also maintain 1,000 foot buffers from residential, school, places of worship, and similar sensitive uses. Richmond's approach indicated added restrictions by way of requiring conditional uses by way of requiring conditional use as well and establishing signage restrictions to reduce use exposure. Third would be Atlanta, Georgia.

So the state of Georgia does not allow for recreational cannabis and has some exceptions for medicinal marijuana, however, the latter is not regulated in Atlanta's city code. In 2025, the city adopted definitions and standards for vape shops, however, distinguishing them from traditional tobacco retailers. Vape shops are subject to 1,000 foot separation requirements from other vape shops and from schools or child care facilities. Finally, Nashville, Tennessee, which recently created a new land use category called beer and cigarette markets to regulate stores selling alcohol, nicotine, CBD, THC, and other similar products. These uses are limited to one per parcel and must be separated from residential areas and child-focused uses by at least 100 feet, this being the most restrictive of any of the municipality staff research. Nashville also limits window signage to 25% of the facade and prohibits perimeter lighting to control aesthetics and mitigate visual clutter. The primary takeaway and a consistent theme across all municipalities reviewed is the importance of creating and adopting standalone land use categories rather than relying on broad retail definitions. This approach allows specific departments to clearly distinguish among different types of cannabis and tobacco retailers and provides greater flexibility when establishing tailored regulatory standards. Retailers would qualify for specific land use classifications based on sales or floor area thresholds, which allows jurisdictions to determine the appropriate category according to how much of a favorite product the retailer sells or whether it is a primary merchandise. With standardized definitions in land use categories also comes the need to implement this distance-based separation of standards. These requirements help municipalities mitigate over-concentration and reduce public health impacts by establishing buffers between these retailers and child-focused or otherwise sensitive areas, including but not limited to playgrounds, places of worship, schools, and other residential districts. In addition, incorporated signage regulations into future land use categories would align with practices observed in other cities. These regulations commonly address window coverage and limit LED or neon signage to reduce visual clutter, maintain neighborhood character, and minimize advertising exposure to young people. We need more. Reach to the chair. Careful. Can I switch? That's fine. Oh, I'm sorry. It's the slide. Can I switch? It's okay. It's okay, we got it. Look. Can you give me a hand? Okay, so. Okay. Based on the information and our best practices from other cities and competitions with state leaders, Stafford presents the creation of three new sites in the CDF, smoke shops, marijuana retailers, and a retail sale of tobacco and nicotine for the consumable type. The smoke shops are locations that specialize in the retail of tobacco or nicotine products, including alternative nicotine-created products, and the sales of paraphernalia supplies, which some of you are ingesting these products. Marijuana retailers to codify the new use of medicinal marijuana retailers that exist in New Orleans and require full compliance with state regulations. And the retail sale of tobacco, nicotine, consumable hemp. And this will be an accessory use to another primary use, such as a retail goods establishment operating as a pharmacy or a grocery store. They could request a retail sale of tobacco, nicotine, and consumable hemp use in addition to their primary use. Staff recommends setting a distance restriction between these new uses and child threats in public places, specifically operating places like worships, schools, daycares, parks, playgrounds, and public libraries. This could be 300 feet, which is what is required in the smoke-free air ordinance for tobacco licenses, or a larger distance if any changes are made to that provision of the city code. Staff recommends limiting the smoke shops between each other to 1,000 feet distance, and we recommend putting a neon LED or illuminated sign in each of the smoke shops. OK, this is a map showing the child-threatening public places in the city with a 300-foot buffer attached to them. It's hard to see up here, but you can start to see the gray areas, which would not be covered by this buffer. The site recommends permitting the new uses in districts which allow packaged alcohol sales. It also recommends standardizing the measurement method for distance requirements for alcohol and tobacco, which differ right now, and establishing a city license for marijuana and tobacco sales, and coordinating with ATC and LDH for enforcement and alignment. Next slide. This map shows the zoning districts in red, where smoke shops, marijuana retailers, or ancillary sales of tobacco, nicotine, or consumable hemp could be permitted. Note that this is illustrated for reference, but should a text amendment be requested by the council, staff may make changes to the proposal. So in the appendix, we included a proposed use chart that would have the permissions for these new uses, but that would be up to the council if they wanted to move that forward, or up to staff to move that around for us to reconsider. So next steps, okay. The process today is a hearing whereby CPC considers this study, if approved, this study would be transmitted to the city council, and then it would be in the hands of the council to determine if they would like to move forward to make any amendments to the CZO based on the report. If they would like to make any changes, they would request a text amendment to the CZO by motion, and that request would come back to CPC staff for a formal report, and then to the commission for consideration, or went back to the council for final review and decisions. And that concludes our presentation. Was there a discussion on doing the 500 feet? Yeah.

So we are recommending, actually, that it is expanded from 300 to 500 feet, however, the Smoke-Free Air Act right now is at 300 feet, and we want to ensure a consistency between the two regulations that the city would accept the same thing as the CZO. And the health department, and it's easier to call the department, it speaks a little bit more to this, has indicated that there probably will be amendments to this Smoke-Free Air Act, which it was adopted in 2015, so it's outdated at this point, and they might make changes to incorporate some of these other pieces. Right now, it's really only specific to tobacco, and so we would want to make sure to work with them to make sure that anything that we put into the CZO's ordinance, we are exact. But we believe, from a land use perspective, that 500 feet makes sense, it is kind of the average of what we've found as a best practice, and 300 feet is small, so about, you know, it's the length of a block, essentially. So this would provide a little bit more buffer, but ultimately, we just want to make sure that it's best to some of the Smoke-Free Air Act. Any other questions about this study? This is for me. And can I just make an affiliation? So on page 34, it mentions that an agreement and a license, we can't personally do that. It would require state legislation, which doesn't currently exist, and I just wanted you to know that. Yeah, thank you. That it's not there, and then I can do something. Thank you. Ms. Ellis. Or Alice, I guess. Hi, I'm Daisy Ellis. I'm an undergraduate student with a degree, but I'm here working on the health department. I want to support this study. Thank you to the CDC team for your work on this. The health department has a strong interest in being able to regulate tobacco and nicotine use regularly through the buildings. We know that tobacco and nicotine use, it's a huge cause of chronic disease for young people in our city. Nine out of 10 daily smokers begin before they're age 18, and the average onset age for nicotine use here is about 13. So kids are getting introduced to this very young, and the evidence shows that being exposed to these products, like in convenience stores or at personal signage, does have a measurable effect on increasing their likelihood of using these items. So we are highly in support of creating districts and domes where these items can be sold to high-increased amounts that youth are accessing them. We also are in support of the recommendations mentioned on changing distances, and on updating the smoke-free air acts and the zoning code to match. I work very closely on enforcing our existing smoke-free air act, which, as Rachel said, is 10 years old. It has some loopholes to make some of these new products that weren't around when it was created, and we found that because it's in the municipal code, sometimes it can be hard to keep and enforce as it is a location issue. It's a weird spot where there's a distance restriction in our municipal code. So from the health department perspective, public health workers have new access to these products and our ability to do our job and enforce where these products can be sold, having this in the zoning code, and having these recommendations, we are highly supportive. And I'm happy to answer any questions about the tobacco and the tobacco market as well. Is Zin, is that what it's called? Yes. And that would be considered under this as well? Yes. So currently, the smoke-free air act doesn't address those. It only addresses traditional tobacco products. A Zin would be an alternative nicotine product since it still administers nicotine to your body, but it's not like a tobacco weed, and it would be included in these recommendations. Thank you. More questions? There's a lot of knowledge here. Did you have thoughts on other products besides tobacco that were covered this time? Yeah, I think our primary focus in the health department has been on tobacco and nicotine just because we know that long-term smoking and long-term tobacco and nicotine use is such a leading cause of health issues in our city. In terms of cannabis, smoking of any type is discouraged by the health department, so we would like to regulate that as well. We do agree with reducing weed exposure to these products as well. I would be very happy to see that cannabis products also taken further away from schools and youth-oriented facilities. I don't think there is currently as much research out about long-term health impacts of the cannabis drinks and things like that, but it is still an addictive substance. issues, so from our perspective, as long as we can zone these to adult-only areas and make sure that the city isn't really over-saturated, that would be the best. Do you support the balance of the square feet? Yes. Yeah, 10,000. We have an opportunity here to, I know, maybe enlarge the state too, but we can also do that. Yeah, I mean, from a health perspective, the more distance, the better. We want to be cognizant of our business partners and industry in the city and be realistic about economic impacts on us. But from the public health perspective, we could zone everything to be half a mile away from each other. We could do that if we could take tobacco 1,000 feet from the school. I'm just thinking about the one in Haroldton that's right by the library. I don't know what distance is there in Salem, but I think there's just a little bit that I can see. Yeah, and so that was zoned as a refocused establishment, and so when it came in for its permitting, it received the refocused establishment permit, and the state doesn't – well, one, there's nothing in our city code that addresses medicinal marijuana distance from those child-friendly locations. And the state doesn't look into anything, and so there was nothing written at that time to prevent it from being in that location. I have an issue with the stories right now, too.

The smoke-free area addresses tobacco sales within 300 feet, which, as we just said, is very, very close to schools, but it's only tobacco sales. So sometimes we had businesses open. They say they won't sell tobacco. So they get an occupation license, and then they start selling vapes. They enter all this other stuff, and they have a state license, and we have our hands tied. If we were to have somebody code now, that would allow us to restrict those items. Brad? I don't have anyone here in support outside of that. I have information only on Brad Wellens. State your name and address, please. I'm the regional manager for the weekend campaign for Tobacco for Living. So I would really only be speaking as it regards to tobacco products, vaping products, and cross-products, as they cross into other products, such as marijuana, usually with vaping, and vape products. I'm the regional manager for tobacco enrollment for TFL, the regional campaign for Tobacco for Living. And we were created by state law to advise and do research related to tobacco control and best practices within tobacco-related diseases, particularly related to tobacco-related cancer. We work very closely. I also work for the Regional Public Health Institute and the Regional Cancer Research Center in that same role, different pieces of tobacco. I would commend the staff, Robert and Eric, your staff, that have been outstanding. I mean, it is one of the, y'all have done, gotten all of the pieces that should be there. Unfortunately, we can't comment on the recommendation until the text amendment has actually become part of the recommendation by the council to the BPO or, you know, to outline the next steps. But it was an outstanding study. We have done, we've looked at all of these best practices nationwide. That is part of our mandate to keep up with CDC and what other jurisdictions are doing in terms of tobacco control. And this is really how cities, particularly municipalities, and states like Louisiana, what we call cancer alleys, which is where a lot of the states still have different or not statewide tobacco control regulations, but it tended to devolve down to the parish and the inner city. So, I commend the health department for what they've done. We were very, we work very closely with them. We were part of the, one of the organizations that got the Smoke-Free Air Act passed 10 years ago. We're very proud of that. In fact, one of the things that we talked about with the Smoke-Free Air Act has been read directly to, in that 10 years, 5% reduction in lung cancer in William and Garret, and a 2.5% reduction in all other cancer, tobacco-related cancer during that 10 years. So... That is your time, unless you all want to do another stat to share all those stats. Yeah. So, basically, I'm here to kind of help you all answer any questions you may have. Or, you know, like I said, it's an outstanding study because it follows the best practices that we see in other areas. We work with Nashville on developing this. And one of the ways we have been tied with Nashville is the way the musicians are tied into the Smoke-Free Air Act. So, we work with them very closely over the years. And this is sort of what we're seeing, as the staff rightly pointed out in the study. These tobacco products and alternative mixing products, product-to-product have happened so great. And we're working with the health departments to try to keep up with, okay, so what can we do? As the law department points out, because the state has a second level of jurisdiction, we call it prediction. And so then, as a municipality, what can we do within that jurisdiction to keep up? What we're finding is we're finding zoning, distance, and retail licensure changes. But as the report rightly pointed out, because the ATC only has one license, there's these huge loopholes that need to be addressed through definitions and other things. Largely to address the youth-facing epidemic that we're seeing. But also, other alternative nicotine products, one of the largest gains in nicotine are the tobacco pouches and the non-tobacco. We've got synthetic nicotine products that are not only in half tobacco flavors. So this is where we are. If you need any additional information, we're here to help. And we will support the health department. Do you find that there's anything missing from the study that would be germane to the consideration before we transmit it to the council? Yeah, that's a good question. The thing that the study, and I've read it, but again, we haven't had a chance to completely go down step-by-step from there. I think that one thing we studied, it kind of infers all the way through. But looking at flavors, because that is really, and because you have the distancing requirements, the distancing requirements are generally directed at youth. And so flavors, and it's going to depend on how you define what those flavors are and what products they are. For example, if the definitions are written in such a way that it isolates the vaping product, and you can write it as synthetic nicotine, alternative product, however you want to do it, then the flavored product is covered by changes in the retail distancing requirements. Or it could change to require vaping shops that that could be sold and not at your corner retail store or at your grocery store. Those would be reserved for traditional tobacco products. As we've discussed with the health department, that is a big step forward. And it is a way that generally the state would like to say that they are the only ones that control youth. Because the city prohibited from doing something like other cities have done and banned what they call vaping. And the only exception to that flavor, if unfortunate, would be menthol-flavored cigarettes. And they are the traditional tobacco products. But they're the only traditional tobacco product that's still out there. Thank you so much. We do have two cards. Thank you.

We have two cards in opposition. Susan Johnson and Ryan Bowen. How's that? How's that? Okay. Susan Johnson, 2822 LePage Street, Town of Carrollton Lodge. Historically known as neighborhoods. I'm not pleased to be here. The reason I'm involved with the cannabis business at all, I mean, the cannabis issue, and that's my focus here rather than smoking nicotine, is that no cannabis is purely a zoning question. No cannabis purchase. An old eye clinic next to Nick's library, which, you know, that's my old, that's my hometown neighborhood. And within 1,000 feet, 2,000 feet of churches, schools, and right around, right in the vicinity of residences. So the sale of cannabis, as we've discovered, we didn't need a pilot program to figure it out, is a transformational experience in the historic neighborhoods and any neighborhood. I think that's not commercial. And from my point of view, and Mr. Bain is going to be able to provide a little texture on what it's like to live next door to one of these places, marijuana retailers, that they should really strictly be in commercial. Strictly commercial, not HB1, but commercial. And, in fact, this is the only retailer, there are just 29 out of a possible 30 across the state, as you might know. 1407 South Carrollton is the only, is the only retailer that's near residences. And just one thing I wanted to point out, if you'll allow me, is a question is, was the federal status of cannabis ever mentioned in the project? Because it's still... of Schedule I controlled substance. And back in 1970, when that act was passed, pot was a lot weaker than it is now. I mean, just another point is that prescription is not the right term, that's a federal term, and recommendation is used instead, that's a state term. So, otherwise, hours were, those hours are excessive, and I'm sure that's the department's main presentation, and I won't take up any more of your time. Cannabis should not be sold around in residential areas. Thank you. Thank you. Ryan Bone. Hey. How's it? Good. Thank you. Please state your name and address. You are the last speaker of the day. My name is Ryan Bone, 8009 Willow Street. So, I live adjacent to the parking lot of the 1407 Clayborne, or Sarkeroton Cannabis Dispensary. There are about five or six residential lots that directly, about that property, mostly backyards, but two, I have another one with a directed side of our lots directly above it. The other neighbor, of course, is the next library. I'm not in, I think my recommendation's admirable. I just think that they need to be increased, the distancing, I support what Susan said about having it not being struck blanket by right in HUB1 zoning, should be commercial zones, or at least not near residential properties, because there are some HUB1s that are just, like, on the street or something like that, but there are no residential lots. The hours, I also support, I also would recommend that I propose to what they have been laid out here. Currently, they are nine to nine at 1407, very loud at night, I have two kids, three and six, and that's bedtime, that is car lights, that's music, that's people talking, that's people smoking weed. We've also heard a lot about the Clear Act. I can smell pot in my house every day. My kids and me have to go outside, we've gotta go outside in our backyard, which is one of the reasons we bought the house, and there are, you can smell pot in the yard, we're not free from that, nor are the other neighbors. There's trash, there's noise, there's loitering. Consumption, both by customers, and I would say even more so by the employees, right? And there is zero enforcement provided, no one candidates for any of these things, and it's hard for me to understand why we're doing this study after these things have been permitted. The way that they were permitted was very much not the proper mode, and it is not a retail-based establishment, so I'm opposed to that designation as well. They also violated the square footage for the non-conditional permit process, that's another issue. And so I think all these things need to be taken into account in these studies. Ours are huge, non-residential lots, really important, it has really affected us, and when we bought the house, this was not legal in the state of Louisiana. It has very much transformed our neighborhood, and like I said, there are five or six people directly attached to this. I wrote a letter that every single person in the square block, bounded by Carrollton, Willow, Jeanette, and short sign opposing, and confirming all the issues we've had with the staff and with the customers, everyone in our neighborhood, the immediate neighborhood that's been affected by it is opposed to this, and again, not opposed to necessarily to the sale of cannabis. As Susan said, this is the only one in the residential neighborhood, and the city of New Orleans, I think, really screwed up by not seeing this on the horizon when it was legalized at the state level, and knowing what could happen. And since this is very admirable, but since it grandfathers in existing establishments, it has no teeth for something like 1407, and so I think that also needs to be reconsidered, and that is a real issue. Yeah. I have a question. Would you, staff, would you mind putting the next slide up on the screen, please? Thank you for your comments. So, as you know, we're voting today as to whether or not to transmit the study to the city council to take further action. What do you wish to see? Why are you opposing this specifically? What do you want to see in the study before you would like to submit it to the local? So, from my perspective, it's not likely to improve our situation no matter what changes, in the sense that if you are grandfathering in establishments, I'd like to see that removed, if possible, of course, that's a long shot. I would like the hours to be recommendations, at the very least, to be changed.

That would be something that would give us a document to refer to, some kind of leverage, to at least improve the situation in our neighborhood currently. I would like the recommended hours for something like 10 to 5, 9 to 5, something like that, that would at least prevent wandering around neighborhoods. It's much harder to control those things after it's dark, right? And people I've come to sat on our porch and smoked pot, they walk by, they litter, I've seen people smoke employees, smoking joints in front of my house when I'm getting my three-year-old out of the car. That's, you know the neighborhood, that's not the kind of neighborhood it was. And so, if we had something like a reduction that we could point to, even if our local shop is grandfathered in, you could say, in our conversations with them, they haven't been particularly, they don't play ball with us so much, but that would be something at least we could point to. These are the recommendations. This is what has been, for the city of New Orleans, is asking for any new businesses. And there won't be new businesses, right? There's only 30 possible in the state, so these recommendations are all well and good for a new page shop, for a canvas store, if they're not willing to change the brand signal. But if you do those things, it's something we can at least point to. How many canvas shops are there in the city of New Orleans? Only six, that was two? There's three in New Orleans proper, and six in the area, and so the way that the regulations work is that you can have one, we can have 10 total in the state of Louisiana, but each one can have two satellite locations, so you have a total of 30, and they're supposed to be distanced at least five miles from one another, but there are exceptions to that, which is why there are some in New Orleans that are closer than that five mile distance. Is there a, maybe we have to delete the more important ones. This might be good for SDRs, where you can pull back some of the regulations. Are you asking for the canvas, or for the? For the canvas distance. Well, there's a max on, but there's. There's a max, but it's something that's already fixed. You're talking about the grandfathering? Yeah. Yeah, so it's the same issue as with the short-term rental houses. They have vested as a land use, which runs with the land, so the city is not able to apply any new law retroactively. But can we do something where the land use is taken out of the residential land uses, and then. What it would do is it would. It would be like a sunset toss, or something, of some of these uses. It would turn it into a non-conforming use. Right. So, it would be a little less of a right, but still a vested right, as long as they operate and they can continue it. Yeah. I think there's some deal with having a distance, you know, going a thousand square feet, and then only getting the portion that it is. So, yeah, the recommendation is that it's a thousand feet from the smoke shop, so smoke shops are the recommendation, there would be a thousand foot distance from each other. Thank you. And then the other recommendation is that it would be the 500 foot distance from any child-friendly locations, in addition to that for both, for smoke shops, medical marijuana, consumable hemp, et cetera. What about hours? I forgot. We had some hours that we had put in as some placeholders, but we can flush that out into the tax amendment portion for medical marijuana and for smoke shops. The retail sale of the others would be kind of dictated by the primary use, but we could put new standards in specifically for medical marijuana and smoke shops, which we would do. When you go back to the slide, it shows the uses. The other uses? Sorry. Different types of shops that you were, that create new, different kinds of spaces. So smoke shop is what? And marijuana is the only things in retail, so like what is, what are the standards? Smoke shop would be a combination of tobacco, consumable hemp, and it would be dictated by the square footage of that product sale in a store, so that something that is like Walgreens would not fall into a smoke shop category, but something that is like a true smoke shop would fall into that category. So this is something that we talked about with zoning and safety impartments about how they regulate these types of things, and they said they regulate by square footage of the product space, and so that's how you're defining it, and then marijuana retailers, the medicinal marijuana, and then retail sale of tobacco, nicotine, consumable hemp, is any store that wishes to sell those products. So the only place to buy leaf marijuana is at a marijuana retailer, which is a medical use, so that would be the, what would address your hours, so can you, so I think it would be a good idea to add hours for that particular use, because he, you know, somebody walking into the convenience store and buying a tin that has some gummies in it, I don't think is creating the kind of hassle, hazard he's talking about, but it's where the tobacco, smokables are. Yeah, in the appendix we have some placeholders for including what would be hours of operation, it sounds like we'll probably amend those, or we could amend those, and very likely they would be amended as part of the tax amendment. And when you say retail sale of tobacco, nicotine, consumable hemp, and gummies and whatever else, is that the one that could sell in t-shirt shops? Yeah. Well, not just t-shirt shops, that would be a secondary, correct me if I'm wrong, it would be either a secondary use, even like a Walgreens or something like that, for any purpose of that, is so that we would have a way to determine the distance requirements, so we would be able to ensure that these differences, the Walgreens or the CVS, whatever, that they're adhering to these distance requirements, that's why that secondary. Our usage category is pretty different. Here's the sale of alcohol.

So the use permissions, which is basically it's where that's where we're looking because of the kind of control of those types of services. Yeah, and a lot of the issues that we heard about also from the retail sale of alcohol is pretty similar to what you're saying where it's more to do with the operator and the operation of the business. Unless it's even menus. And so we can do what we can to address it. So it ultimately comes down a lot to the operation of the business. Because it sounds like you know the enforcement issue as well. We do. I mean, I think this business, I've spoken to the CEO many times, who has not been willing to concede anything to the neighborhood. None of their other shops are anywhere near residences that are on strip malls or in a good wine shop. To a list. And so they just don't even consider these issues. And this was something, again, of course, the city should have planned ahead before this happened and should have zoned accordingly and put that into the codes. I think that also is a real opportunity for recreational use is permitted to do the same thing that New Orleans needs to get ahead of this, if that's what's on the horizon. Because that would not be automatic necessarily in this location. So that's something that you could do about preventing recreational use from happening in that place. But yes, there is, I mean, enforcement at our, at the neighborhood assistance, they have now security guards sometimes in the parking lot, eligible, but there is very little enforcement of actual, particularly at the, you know, managers of these stores are like 24-year-olds who smoke pot in the day. And that's, there's very little, their own employees, there is very little oversight. And so that we've actually had the biggest, some of the main problems with employees themselves. And we're poking holes in this, but this is a great study, I wanted to just convey that. Thank you for doing this. Compared to the other cities, or what are the benchmarks based on this study, the cities that you studied for both buffers, not in between establishments, but from schools, playgrounds, et cetera. And what is the benchmark for opening doors? Yeah, in regards to buffers, I think that you'll find it sort of the, following the best practices in the study is that 1,000 feet was sort of the benchmark. It's, I mean, the scale between them, you know, like I said earlier, Nashville is like 100 feet for there, which is extremely, you know, you can't do anything with that. So, but 1,000 feet was sort of that comfortable area where most of these establishments and these other cities were sort of placing it. I can't really speak to the hours of operation because most of them, from what I've gathered, probably fall under the same sort of retail categories that you would see, that we kind of have included here. So I see an appendix B in the study that the new standards, is it a recommendation, the hours that you listed? Yeah, it's just a recommendation. We actually talked a lot about not including that because we didn't want to get anybody like confused about what was supposed to be proposed, but it's just a, it's an idea, it's a recommendation. I think you can expect that to be tweaked. I think you can expect the zoning use permissions to be tweaked slightly, and some other things when it comes back around for tax dollars. And also, and I, to understand that we sort of conceded to the 500 foot bumper, simply because that aligns with state law? Is that what you're gonna get our current ordinance? Well, there was a lot of conversation about that. We were, we wanted to go with 500 feet initially, but 300 is in the Clean Air Act, and we didn't want a disparity between the zoning ordinance and the Clean Air Act. What would happen if there was? It would be very difficult to have, you know, what to enforce. But our recommendation is 500 feet, with the expectation of this, the Clean Air Act will also be amended. Like Daisy said, they're working to amend it right now. It's 10 years old, so they need to add other types of products in it, and they're looking to expand the distance from 300 to at least 500, if not more. And so, our recommendation is 500, but with the caveat that we want to ensure consistency between the Clean Air Act and whatever is ultimately adopted in the zoning ordinance. So, if and when the Clean Air Act is amended, let's say it comes to 1,000 feet, and all future, all future provisions in the city would also be 1,000 feet? So, if there's a, I actually, I'm not sure if there's a discrepancy, how that would, like, we would enforce the, the zoning division would enforce that whatever is in our zoning ordinance, but if there's an issue with the discrepancy, I'm actually not sure how that would work. It's probably kind of, I mean, could you speak to that? Could you put a trigger? Like, a trigger into a launch? I think you could. You could put something that said, if the Smoke-Free Air Act increases the distance, then that'll be increased to the same. Yeah. You could have that. But I don't understand why those two should be, and the Smoke-Free Act is about a person walking on a smoky road. I don't know about these guys. Yeah. Yes. Could you maybe speak to this? So, the Smoke-Free Air Act, the majority of the act concerns indoor smoking only, and it prohibited indoor smoking in barred or restricted public spaces. There's just a small clause in it that says distances. That mentions this 300 feet away, but that's how we've been enforcing all tobacco sales issues. So, it's health's preference that this is kind of moved into the zoning code and fleshed out, and we are currently working on amending the Smoke-Free Air Act to make it match. We would love to write this 11 zoning and we'll amend it to match and keep the Smoke-Free Air Act focused on you can't physically smoke inside, and have the zoning code be really where these land use issues live.

So, we want him to lend you 1,000 feet, and then the Smoke-Free then aims to build it up. That would be great. Yeah. Yeah. Because then, we have to be following up. Like, where's the motion saying the land use? I tried some other policies in the past to get flavors removed out of gas stations to get things away from schools using the unit code, and we've run into some preemption issues about whether the unit code is the right place to do that. So, that's kind of how health came around to hoping tobacco nicotine can be included in this study. So, I think having this study done and having those recommendations would also help us be able to advance some of these goals, too, so we'd be super excited with 1,000 more. I thought that was really nice. I will say this. I was the lone concern expresser in setting something 500 and 1,000 to me. I do feel like when you start setting 1,000 feet away from these uses, you will end up with a map that has these uses in certain neighborhoods alone. Because they may already exist. There's already existing licenses. But when you set up 1,000 feet, there's certain places that are less invested in with parks, they're less invested in with schools. And so, when you set 1,000 feet, certain neighborhoods, that will preclude certain neighborhoods from having these uses. And neighborhoods that have less investment in them will be the places that this is possible. And you don't want a map that reflects that. That was my concern. That's a great point. What's the converse? So, I think we haven't quite found the sweet spot of exactly how that would look. That's why I think there might be some changes that would come around in the text amendment. I think we're all a little worried about where the allowances are showing up on the map and how we would correct that. I don't know the answer yet. I mean, you might have to have different buffer distances based on certain zoning types or other types of uses. One thing that we've just brought up, which I don't think we have included in the patient packet, was to include residential zoning within that buffer distance. So, if there is... I think that would speak to some of the issues that you just raised, which I think are really great points. From my perspective, my house is a child-free, child-friendly space. Yeah, you have schools, churches, residential neighborhoods. Like a residential... And residential 1,000 square feet. If you have 1,000 feet, then you're not putting a burden on the residential neighborhood to have the smoke shop in there. Then you are then pushing these to partial places where they should be. And I'll say this as well. It took us a long time to wrap our heads around this because we said smoke shops, but you have to remember the state will not let us differentiate between smoke shops and tobacco. That's why when we were saying we wanted to do something to preclude the prevalence of these smoke shops, our heads were kind of tied because we can't separate that from tobacco sales. But we can't separate tobacco from alternative products? Alternative, yes. So, it sounds like with making a potential recommendation and move forward, the issues would be... Ours and buffers. Yeah, ours and buffers. We do have the districts. Excuse me. We have precedent for certain uses for being a certain location from residential districts and reception facilities. And is it 200 feet? Because you have to remember that there's only districts in front of one another. So, if there's like a corridor that is AGV1, it would, like a 200-foot distance would eliminate, basically, that whole corridor because they would all be adjacent to the residential, sunny district behind it. If that makes sense. So, can we add the considerations? And the reason I'm saying that, sorry, is just because I think it would really limit, if it's like 1,000 feet from residential districts, it would really limit the possibility of any of these uses. We'd have to map it. In the same distance, do the buffers apply to the last category, which is the general detail? Yes. And that's why that category is created, basically, to make sure that there is that distance from the child-friendly locations. But what about between each other? Oh, not between each other. The only one that has size is for those workshops. And we didn't include it from a medical marijuana because there's the five-mile regulation in the state. So, out of the items that we've discussed, then what changes would you make to your state? It sounds like conversation. Definitely hours. The hours of operation, a distance requirement from residentially zoned areas. And looking into adding a trigger to say if the laws in the Smoke-Free Air Act change, then the hour recommendations are zoned. or you're just going to change it there. It sounds like, maybe from what Daisy's saying, that cars might come first, and then it'll be mirrored. We've been able to go work with however the right way to proceed is. We had been ideally hoping that we get a little bit of text in on it and update so this went through your act as one package, just clean everything up. And there's a few other goals in this work for your act in terms of recognizing different products that we would want to use y'all's definitions to make sure that matches as well, and just get it all done as one package. We're trying to give Daisy some teeth to be able to go through that. Safety, awesome. To be able to say. Also, just FYI, there's a provision in the CCO that allows for the stricter regulation. Yeah. OK, so there's a different code of commerce unless it's specified otherwise. So if you had a 300, a 500, a 500 For the zoning enforcement. OK. So OK, so our operation distance from residentially zoned areas. What else? Well, are we talking about buffers between playgrounds, et cetera, as well? We can't talk about that yet. Considering 300 or 500, I would like to land on 500 for sure. I would say 1,000. I would also say 1,000.

So we said buffer is like, so you just said you want to buffer our playgrounds rather than. That's a different case. If you look at a map where the allowable items to license would be, I mean, basically, it would be these. Maybe some places along the coast. I think, right? Because it's more vast. Yeah. What about just the historic districts? With them, it's 3. If you look at the maps, which we can't find, but you can sort of see the maps. We have 300, 500, 1,000 different buffer areas. In the appendix? Yeah. Appendix C. What age? 42. What about just the historic regulatory districts to do 1,000? In which district? The 20 historic neighborhoods? Well, that's what we were saying. If you map it, if you say it's going to be 1,000 feet, that would, by default, eliminate those. But she said just within those districts. But I'm saying it would eliminate. If you didn't say why, it would eliminate those districts by default. The only place, if you extended it to 1,000 feet, where you would have just about, for the most part, where you would have the allowability from the licenses, would be the East. And some parts of the West Bank. And maybe some parts of the West Bank. If you condensed it to 500 feet, and then I also brought up the point, that's going to create a huge disparity. I know this is a different subject. But that will create a very, you know, having a small disparity between the buffer alcohol uses and child-free uses, which is right now, if I'm not wrong, 300 feet. To have that at 300 feet, and then to have tobacco, the buffer between tobacco and that at 500 feet, that's one thing. But to have that at 300 feet, and then to have the buffer with tobacco at 1,000 feet, that's a 700-foot difference. And what's the logic behind that? You know, to say that alcohol, tobacco has to be 700 feet further away from child-friendly uses, as opposed to alcohol. What would be the logic behind that? I really appreciate your very analytical approach to this. Thank you. I think the logic behind it is that we have an opportunity to change the code. Do we want to reduce this? Do we want to reduce this to constantly looking at safety and quality of life? You know, the world's changed so much since this has happened in 2015. Right? That'd be my opinion, guys. Well, I agree, but I also think the kind of social justice perspective here about creating these high-concentrated communities in the East or parts of the West Bank is also a big concern to me as well. I mean, I think that's... I mean, looking at it as an overall reduction of use, you know, and having it only serve certain spots, you know, it's such a problem and it's such a problem for us. Now, all these alternative products, well, people are not drinking that much because they're doing all this stuff about alternative products, you know? They just use too much access. Y'all feel comfortable with 500? I mean, you've produced this study. We're having great conversations as to what we want. I feel like 500 splits the difference between increasing what already exists and not going, you know, to the point where you may be prohibited. That's a, to me, that's a fair, you know, we're making improvement but we're also not making it, we're not, you know, I don't want to say, we're not making it where you can't do this anywhere, you know? Maybe with the subject to the provision that we're subject to in the Clean Air Act triggering any changes. Yeah, that is a nice compromise between all the different competing factors. 500. I'd say 1,000, but I'd be way much less than 1,000. But I feel like everybody else. Hi, y'all are the experts in here. One thing that we thought about in health is if we're recommending to counsel a higher number, saying that people will oppose and not get down on them, that might help us end up at 500, which I agree, we don't want to be totally just spread across neighborhoods. I know when we have approached counsel for higher proposals there is concern about businesses, about people having their sales and about just making all those competing desires come to frument. Obviously we want these products out and we'd like to plan for that. Can I make a suggestion? Can we say 500 to the range of 500 to 1,000? Yes. With the caveat that special attention needs to be made with respect to the impact on environmental justice issues and making sure that certain neighborhoods are not disproportionately impacted by the resulting numbers. I will say that and I don't want to discount anything that David said, one of the things we talked about is that it points out an underlying issue with how our land use is. Because it's the fact that you can have impacts in some areas and not others is because of the underlying zoning and I think that's kind of the bigger picture here that we may want to circle back on. And if we could have recommended a distance requirement change for alcohol, we would have so there was consistency based on the scope of the study we're working on. So I think we're ready to make that motion based on those changes. I'm happy to make that maybe you can help me. There's one more question. Did y'all think about limiting the number of buckets? Sorry? Did you think about limiting the number of buckets? We did not talk about that. Again, one per block and one for this. I guess one per block is one way. That's a good one. So you have one and you have your little radius. One per square. So the distance is measured by radius though. So I think one per block or radius is 300 foot radius or whatever radius you decide. I do think that's fair. I mean the one per block is a challenge. I agree. You could also get them clustered on the corner and then four right next to each other. Are you referring to smoke shops, retail establishments? Because dispensaries already have them. Smoke shops. And alcohol if we had that as a thing.

So what would the radius be? So the radius if we're going with what we were saying 500 to 1,000 foot radius I think it would be more limiting to have it not by blocks but by those child funding locations. Are we ready? We are ready. Okay, I move to adoption of the study subject to considering a 500 to 1,000 foot buffer zone as well as maybe looking at benchmark opening hours across our peer cities and was there anything else? A recommendation of 10 to 6pm but then look at what that looks like and then before bedtime. In the proximity to residential districts. Wait, do we have one more? We're looking at environmental rights. Environmental justice issues. Environmental justice issues. Is there anything else? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Is there a second? Commissioner Jackson? Second. Any discussion? Okay. Commissioner Steeve? Yes. Commissioner Kemper? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Richard? Yes. Motion carries. This is great. This is our new commissioner.