about the plan
Plan Structure & TimelineSince Katrina, New Orleanians have been planning and working hard to recover and rebuild after the devastation of the hurricane and flooding. Now is the time to look beyond the rebuilding process and chart a course for the longer term, so that New Orleans becomes even better than it was before as a place to live, work, play, and visit. Cities traditionally do this through a citywide master plan that articulates a vision, sets goals and priorities, and identifies the path to success – the strategies, initiatives and actions that will guide decisions in future decades – and integrates the master plan with appropriate zoning, capital improvements, city programs, and public-private partnerships.
New Orleans is now focusing on the long-term future and creating a zoning code to help achieve that future. How and where should New Orleans grow in the next twenty years? How can the city bring its unique culture, diversity and historic urban fabric into the 21st century, while creating new opportunities for all New Orleanians? The New Orleans City Planning Commission is preparing a citywide Master Plan to guide the long-term physical development of the city, along with a new, user-friendly Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO). The Master Plan is scheduled for completion by June 2009. A final draft of the CZO will also be ready in June 2009 to go through the official public hearing and adoption process at the City Planning Commission and the City Council. A consultant team led by Goody Clancy and made up of national and New Orleans-based experts will assist the City Planning Commission and the community in creating the Master Plan and new CZO.
This Master Plan will build on, integrate, and go beyond all the post-Katrina recovery and rebuilding plans that citizens have worked so hard on since the storm. The Master Plan will create a 20-year policy and strategic framework to guide decisionmakers and the community to make New Orleans a model of 21st century city life while honoring and preserving its unique identity. Learn more about the Master Plan.
The new CZO will be prepared at the same time as the Master Plan. It will be organized to be user-friendly, suitable to the unique characteristics of New Orleans, and it will reflect and implement the policies in the Master Plan. Learn more about the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance project.
The Master Plan belongs to the community. A robust community discussion about the city’s long term future and how to achieve that future is at the foundation of any successful Master Plan. Learn more about the Master Plan and CZO community participation program.