Forced Demolitions Begin in La.’s St. Bernard Parish

Forced demolitions have started in St. Bernard Parish on a list of about 1,200 condemned buildings whose owners haven’t cleaned, gutted or secured them despite notice from parish government.

“We have started taking some down,” Dave Peralta, chief administrative officer for parish government, said Nov. 9.

Also, a new batch of 394 homes and commercial properties that were found not to have been gutted were condemned by the Parish Council on Nov. 7. Peralta said there will be a parish-wide sweep to determine if other commercial and residential buildings that haven’t been gutted were missed.

Owners will have 10 days to appeal – in person – if they don’t want their structures torn down. To get off the condemnation list an owner must agree to clean, gut and secure the structure, as well as cut grass, within seven calendar days.

Parish officials acknowledge that mistakes in addresses may have been made and assured residents that all properties will be double-checked and if they have been cleaned and secured the addresses will be taken off the list and won’t be razed.

The parish has used several means to notify owners of condemned properties, including posting the list of addresses at the parish courthouse and in the lobby of the government complex, on the parish Web site at www.sbpg.net, through the mail and in the parish’s official journal, The St. Bernard Voice weekly newspaper.

Owners who don’t respond risk having to pay 10 percent of demolition costs if the home or business isn’t torn down before Dec. 31 when FEMA is scheduled to stop giving 100 percent reimbursement to the parish for the service.