On October 1, 2009, St. Bernard Parish finally approved the building permits Provident Realty Advisors needed to start construction on four mixed income housing developments long delayed by the illegal and discriminatory actions of St. Bernard Parish officials. Parish Council members approved issuing the permits during a special meeting.

On October 1, 2009, St. Bernard Parish finally approved the building permits Provident Realty Advisors needed to start construction on four mixed income housing developments long delayed by the illegal and discriminatory actions of St. Bernard Parish officials. Parish Council members approved issuing the permits during a special meeting. The issuance of the permits comes as the result of multi-year litigation initiated by the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) in 2006. So far, GNOFHAC has successfully challenged St. Bernardʼs two multi-family construction moratoria, and an ordinance that restricted the rental of single-family residences to those related by blood to the owner of the property. Provident joined as an intervenor in the case in 2008, when Parish officials took measures to block the developments, composed of affordable and market rate units, from moving forward.

James Perry, Executive Director of GNOFHAC, comments, “We are pleased that Parish officials have finally allowed much needed, quality affordable housing development to proceed by issuing permits to Provident. We remain concerned with other actions that we believe to be discriminatory on the part of the Parish, but hope that the issuance of these permits signals a commitment to open housing that will guide future decisions around housing development in St. Bernard.”

10-6-09 Download the press release here.

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