NEW ORLEANS - City officials have set Tuesday - the storm's first anniversary - as the deadline for homeowners to gut or otherwise clean up their properties. "The city needs to do what it needs to do," councilman Arnie Fielkow said at a meeting Friday. People who don't comply with the deadline after being put on notice face a range of possible penalties, from liens being placed on their property to the seizure or destruction of homes.The Lower Ninth Ward, one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by Katrina, is exempt from the gutting deadline, although residents will be expected to take care of their damaged houses by an unspecified future date. Others may be exempt, too, if they have an "acceptable" excuse, such as being on the list for a gutting service that hasn't gotten around to their property yet, according to the ordinance.
Enforcement could begin any time after Tuesday. That bothers Patricia Jones, who works at a recovery center. She said many people remain displaced or are waiting for checks or direction from city officials before deciding what they should do. And she wonders how the city will handle the open-ended deadline for the Lower Ninth, where she lived before Katrina. "The city hasn't even done their part in a year," she said, noting that many public schools remain closed and housing is still in short supply.
That's not an excuse, Lakeview resident Jim Roy said. Residents aren't being asked to rebuild by Tuesday, just to clean up and secure houses that could become health hazards. Roy said the city might be providing too many exceptions that may hinder the intent of the measure. "Give people a hard and fast date or they delay, delay, delay for one reason or another," he said.