Opelousas Board of Alderman to consider ordinances to renew downtown

Two proposed ordinances that could potentially affect the future for a considerable number of non-occupied businesses in downtown Opelousas have been placed before elected city officials for consideration in April.

One ordinance approved by the Board of Aldermen last week authorizes Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor to enter into a cooperative agreement with representatives for the Maison Des Chambers Corporation in order to repurpose a former hotel that was also once used as a women’s homeless shelter.

The other ordinance appears to be the reintroduction of a separate ordinance that regulates the array of vacant buildings in Opelousas. That ordinance was defeated during a February meeting following a tie vote by the Board.

None of the members of the city’s board nor Mayor Julius Alsandor had any comment on either of the ordinances that were approved for introduction.

Alderwoman Chasity Davis-Warren, who voted against the vacant buildings ordinance last month, received approval to reconsider the same vacant building ordinance following a unanimous vote by the Board last Tuesday night.

Maison Des Chambers

The city currently owns the donated multiple-story building that has been vacant since it was last used by the Diocese of Lafayette as the New Life women’s transitional housing shelter.

Since then the Board has discussed the possibility of selling, renting or leasing the former hotel. Over a year ago the city advertised requests for proposals for prospective businesses that might be interested in the building.

During a meeting last year, the board indicated that Maison Des Chambers had submitted a proposal. However, no details for that proposal have been discussed during any of the Board of Aldermen meetings.

Since then the proposal was accepted, no representative for the Maison Des Chambers Corporation has delivered a plan for redesigning the building during any of the Board of Aldermen meetings.

The building is located on East Landry Street and included inside the Opelousas Historic District. Members of the Historic District said following the last Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday they have not been provided with any plans by the Maison Des Chambers Corporation for redeveloping the hotel.

On Friday Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor indicated that he was not prepared to discuss at this point any details or negotiations that might involve the plan that Maison Des Chambers’ representatives could eventually place before city officials.

During separate Friday interviews, Alderman Charles Cummings and Lena Charles, executive director of the Downtown Development District said that from information that they have seen, the Maison Des Chambers proposal includes plans for commercial enterprises on at least one floor of the building and temporary housing on the upper two floors of the building.

Vacant Buildings

Following the Tuesday night meeting, Charles said the ordinance proposal scheduled to be introduced regarding vacant downtown buildings, is identical to the one that failed to gain approval in February.

Charles said the ordinance provides owners of vacant buildings a year and a half to prepare their properties for inspections by municipal code enforcement and perhaps state fire marshals.

The objective of the ordinance Charles said, is to have the buildings ready to be placed back into commerce so that the city can begin collecting sales tax revenues and help revitalize the downtown area.

Additionally, Charles said she thinks placing the currently vacant buildings back into commerce reflects the conclusions reached in an Opelousas downtown master plan which stated that the city needs to create a variety of businesses and residential living around the parish courthouse.

Alsandor said his position on the downtown area hasn’t changed since the decision by the Board last month.

“As I have said previously and again now, I respect the decision made by the Board of Aldermen, but there is also a need to uplift and move the downtown forward,” Alsandor said on Friday.

Cummings said that he would like to examine other downtown ordinances that have been passed by other municipalities close to Opelousas.

“There is no doubt that we have to do something. However I would like to study how other areas and cities that look like (Opelousas) and can get more information about how they were able to accomplish what they have done in their downtown areas,” said Cummings.

This article originally appeared on Opelousas Daily World: Opelousas Board to consider ordinances to renew downtown