Plan Baton Rouge

[richyb83]

Yes indeed Mr Bernham...all of the new glass will give it a modern-vibe!

Wonder how today's Monthly Meeting went?

DDD Commission Meeting September 8, 2015, 8:00 a.m. Capitol Park Welcome Center, 702 River Road AGENDA
1. Call to Order 2. Declare Quorum 3. Approve Agenda 4. Approve August 11, 2015 Minutes 5. Board Action 6. Update from Previous Board Meeting a. Governmental Issues
	•	Courtyard by Marriott
b. Development Initiatives
	•	Rotary Centennial Project Update
	•	210 Laurel Street
	•	640 Main Street
	•	Coca Cola Sign
	•	Enterprise Zone Program
	•	Water Campus
	•	Riverfront Improvements
	•	Downtown Maintenance Committee
	•	Downtown Greenway
	•	Bartram Trailhead
	•	Repentance Park
	•	North Boulevard Town Square Phase II
	•	Florida and Lafayette Streetscape
	•	New Businesses
	•	Events
		-	World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10
		-	Live After Five - September 11, 18, 25, Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23
		-	Geaux Ride - September 16
		-	Christ in the City Lunchtime Concert - September 17
		-	Escape from Baton Rouge Race - September 18
		-	First Baptist Church Anniversary Concert - September 27
		-	Hollyday's - September 30
		-	Sunday in the Park - October 4,11,18,25, Nov. 1, 8
		-	Jambalaya Jam - October 8
		-	Cap City Beer Fest - October 8
		-	Manship Theatre Events / LSU MOA
		-	Capitol Park Museum
		-	Old State Capitol
		-	River Center Events
		-	BRSO
		-	LASM
		-	USS Kidd
7. Strategic Plan a. Plan Baton Rouge II 8. Ongoing Projects
	•	CPEX
	•	BREADA
	•	DBA
9. Correspondence 10. Public Comment

[greg225]

Finalists making pitches to create Rotary Club of Baton Rouge’s downtown artwork                                    

The Rotary Club of Baton Rouge’s Centennial Committee has interviewed two candidates vying to design an original art piece that will be placed downtown to commemorate the club’s centennial anniversary in 2018, and they will interview a third candidate this afternoon.

Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, said at this morning’s DDD meeting that the three finalists are Thomas Says; Linda Covit and Jeffrey Carbo; Po Shu and Living Lenses.

Says will meet with the Rotary Club Centennial Committee this afternoon, Rhorer said, while Covit and Carbo, and Shu and Living Lenses, have already made their initial pitches. The artist selected to design the artwork will be given about $400,000 for the project. The piece is expected to be completed in 2018 for the centennial celebration.

All of the finalists will meet one last time with the committee on Sept. 30 to unveil their final concepts and visions for the piece that will grace the downtown riverfront at Florida Street. Rhorer said seven criteria are being sought in the designs, which is expected to make a visual statement and reflect the club’s service to Baton Rouge. The winner will be chosen on Oct. 15.

In other business at the meeting, Tina Rance of Commercial Properties Realty Trust said residents began moving over the weekend into the 525 Lafayette luxury apartments that will connect to the IBM tower downtown. Rance said only a few residents have moved in thus far, but more are expected to do so in the coming week. No announcements have been made yet regarding commercial tenants in the development.

Gordon Leblanc Jr., one of the developers of the downtown Courtyard Marriott and a member of the DDD Commission, also urged attendees at this morning’s to meet with their Metro Council members and ask them to support a tax increment financing district for the hotel.

“It won’t happen without the TIF,” he said.

The Metro Council in July voted to deny builders the TIF, but Leblanc and others have been meeting with each council member individually to try to persuade them to pass it.

[greg225]

Hurricane Katrina photo exhibit opens in Downtown Baton Rouge                                                                                                   An exhibit reflecting on the Hurricane Katrina through photos will open Thursday at the Shaw Center in Downtown Baton Rouge.     

The works of four photographers will be on display, documenting the hurricane's impact on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

The exhibit is curated by Thomas Neff of LSU who worked as a first responder in New Orleans after the storm.

"And that's where I got the idea of working with what the mayor said were the holdouts - and I knew they would have amazing stories for me to write about," said Neff, LSU Art Professor Emeritus.

Neff, who recently suffered a stroke, spent 45 days living out of his van while capturing hundreds of photos.

Recently he went back to find some of those he met with, documenting their stories.

The exhibit "Katrina at 10" opens Thursday and will be on display through October 4.    http://www.wafb.com/story/29996445/hurricane-katrina-photo-exhibit-opens-in-downtown-baton-rouge

Edited September 11, 2015 by greg225

[greg225]

Festive pub crawl Running of the Santas headed to downtown Baton Rouge in December   

Santa and Mrs. Claus visited the Capital City early Monday with some good news.

 

The “Running of the Santas,” a national Christmas event that annually attracts 10,000 participants in Philadelphia and another 3,000 in New Orleans, will host an inaugural event in Baton Rouge on Saturday, Dec. 5.

Mayor Kip Holden and Visit Baton Rouge President/CEO Paul Arrigo were joined by Bob Dautrieve of Running of the Santas for the announcement Monday at Visit Baton Rouge’s office downtown.

In the event, patrons dress up in their favorite holiday swag and go bar hopping. The Baton Rouge version kicks off at 2 p.m. at The Draft House, then heads to The Roux House at 5:45 p.m. The Roux House will be the site of the event’s costume contest and a performance from Flow Tribe.

Advanced tickets are $20 and available at The Roux House or runningofthesantas.com. VIP tickets are $75. A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit That Others May Live Foundation, which provided scholarships, family counseling and aid to surviving children of Air Force members who died in the line of duty.  http://theadvocate.com/news/13445032-123/festive-pub-crawl-running-of

[greg225]

Plans for downtown library moving forward; construction to begin next year            

Construction documents for the new downtown library are finally complete, and East Baton Rouge Parish Library Director Spencer Watts hopes the project can be put out for bid in the next six to eight weeks. That’s a little later than originally planned, but Watts says the construction document draft completed earlier this summer contained a number of “discrepancies” that architects and library system staff needed to resolve.

“Some were more significant than others but they were all technical details that have finally been resolved,” says Watts, who spoke Monday at the Baton Rouge Press Club. “It is a complicated project, from an engineering perspective.”

Earlier this summer, the Library Board filed for permits for the 50,000-square-foot project, which has been budgeted at $19 million. Watts estimates that once the project is put out to bid in late October or early November, it will be another eight weeks before a contractor is selected. That would put the start of construction sometime in early 2016. The project is expected to take about 20 months to complete.

Meanwhile, the library board has not made any progress in selecting a new South Branch site. As reported in June, the board has hired Sperry Van Ness to help it find a suitable location but the contract with the real estate company has not yet been finalized so no work on the project has begun.

The library board has been searching for a suitable South Branch site for 10 years. Watts says he believes demand for the facility is stronger than ever.    https://www.businessreport.com/article/plans-downtown-library-moving-forward-construction-begin-next-year

[dan326]

I wonder if one of the "discrepancies" was that it was ugly?

[greg225]

I wonder if one of the "discrepancies" was that it was ugly?

lol probably

[greg225]

Second phase of The Elysian planned near downtown Baton Rouge  

The developers of The Elysian, a mixed-income apartment complex at the intersection of North 13th Street and Spanish Town Road, are planning a second phase of the successful development. The Elysian II will be adjacent to the original 110,300-square-foot complex and, like the first phase, will be 100 units.

“We are very excited about having more residential downtown,” says Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer. “Part of our master plan is to have more housing because that changes the market. Having another 100 people downtown will be incredible.”

The Gulf Coast Housing Partnership was the lead developer of The Elysian, and the organization’s director, Kathy Laborde, confirms plans for The Elysian II are under way. However, she says it is premature to discuss details or a timeline for the project.

At the moment, the agency is still cobbling together financing for the complex. It has applied to the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority for $800,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, says RDA Executive Director Gwen Hamilton. That’s just a fraction of the total $17.2 million estimated price tag for the project. The RDA board will vote on the request at its meeting in October.

The Elysian opened in mid-2013, breathing life into a blighted area between downtown and Mid City. Demand for the units has been consistently high and the complex has remained 100% occupied. In the two years since its opening, businessman Collis Temple, Jr. has begun redevelopment of the nearby DeVille Apartments, and BREC is now making improvements to Spanish Town Park, which is adjacent to The Elysian.

“It is an interesting area and prime for redevelopment,” Rhorer says. “It is all a very good sign.”   https://www.businessreport.com/article/second-phase-elysian-planned-near-downtown-baton-rouge

[greg225]

Mississippi River, LSU lakes should be used to brand Baton Rouge as a great place to live, panelists say                 

The Mississippi River and LSU lakes are wonderful resources that can be used to help brand the Capital Region and promote it to professionals as an attractive place to live and work, according to panelists at a forum today dedicated to water issues.

“Our water resources can be part of our branding here,” said Kyle Zeringue of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. “Folks are gravitating towards the lakes, they’re gravitating towards the river. They want to be near water. We need to use that to our advantage.”

Zeringue pointed to recent developments along the river—the Water Campus, the IBM building and the improvements to the riverfront at Florida Street downtown—as well as the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s plan to rehabilitate the lake system as examples of how the city is doing more with its water resources.

“These are exciting developments that are changing our skyline,” he says.

Fellow panelist Julie Laperouse, who formerly worked at BRAC and is now with Emergent Method, said that in her experience young professionals in particular want to be near water.

“They want to be in a community that appreciates, promotes and respects their water resources,” she said. “We do all those things, but we could probably kick it up a notch and do an even better job.”

Today’s forum—“Capital Region Water in 2050: Opportunities and Challenges”—was sponsored by the Environment and Health Council of Louisiana, in partnership with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and was dedicated to advancing a long-term vision for use of the Capital Region’s water resources.

Earlier in the day, Water Institute of the Gulf Policy Research Director Kai Midboe said during the conference’s keynote address that the state must develop a “water budget” and “water code” to better regulate, conserve and leverage its water resources.    https://www.businessreport.com/article/mississippi-river-lsu-lakes-used-brand-baton-rouge-great-place-live-panelists-say

[greg225]

Officials look to open Baton Rouge city jail with up to $500K in warrant recall fees             

Using money raised through warrant recall fees, city-parish officials are hoping to reopen Baton Rouge’s city jail as a 24-hour misdemeanor detention facility for two-week stints later this year. The Metro Council will introduce an ordinance Wednesday approving the plan, with a public hearing to be set for its Oct. 14 meeting.

The proposal would allow law enforcement officials to use $500,000 to keep the 150-seat jail beneath City Court open continuously for five separate two-week periods for misdemeanor enforcement, says Mark Dumaine, first assistant district attorney in the 19th Judicial District. The jail currently operates during business hours only.

The money comes from warrant recall fees assessed in Baton Rouge, which amount to $25 in the City Court and $50 in East Baton Rouge District Court, as authorized by Act 308 of the 2014 Legislature, which allows the courts to collect the fee to fund a misdemeanor jail. The money would also cover misdemeanor warrant roundups.

City Constable Reginald Brown has repeatedly said it would cost about $2.2 million annually to operate the jail 24/7. Dumaine says it costs the City Constable’s Office and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office each about $50,000 to open the misdemeanor jail for a two-week period.

“We need a 24/7 facility. Nobody questions that,” Dumaine says. “It’s just how do you pay for it.”

When the city jail is closed, all suspects arrested on a misdemeanor are booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Most accused of a misdemeanor crime, however, are simply given a summons with a court date, which many do not heed. Brown says about 165,000 outstanding warrants between City Court and District Court are clogging the system, and that some offenders have between 10 to 20 warrants.

Opening the misdemeanor jail not only gives authorities a place besides the already-full Parish Prison to put those arrested on misdemeanors and warrant roundups. Each time officials announce a temporary opening of the city jail, people arrive in droves to the courts to pay their fines and clear up their warrants, Dumaine says.

For example, when officials opened up the jail for a two-week trial run in July and August 2011, more than 5,100 warrants were cleared at both the City and District courts, which brought in more than $191,000 in court collections for those two weeks, he says. During that same time span, authorities arrested slightly less than 350 people on misdemeanors. Of those arrested, 80% bonded out within 36 hours, giving them a financial incentive to attend their court date where previously they had no incentive. Those who did not post bond were transferred to Parish Prison.

A study conducted by LSU sociology professors Ed Shihadeh and Anthony Reed in 2013 showed that during the three trial runs of opening the jail, violent and property crime decreased by about 20% throughout the city during those weeks and a months-long reduction in crime. Dumaine points to this study as evidence the misdemeanor jail works because of lawful compliance and a decrease in crime.https://www.businessreport.com/article/officials-look-open-baton-rouge-city-jail-500k-warrant-recall-fees

[greg225]

Baton Rouge development community looking for solutions to chronic delays on permits, inspections       

If you’re waiting on a permit from the city-parish’s permits and inspections division, you’re not alone. The backlog and delays that have been a constant source of frustration for a couple of years now haven’t gotten any better—despite the passage of an ordinance late last year designed to make it easier to use third party vendors to complete plan reviews and inspections in East Baton Rouge Parish.

“The issue is very problematic right now,” says Larry Bankston, director of the Baton Rouge Growth Coalition, which represents the development community.

The solution currently on the table is to contract with an outside firm to handle all the plan reviews and, possibly, inspections as well, for the city parish. Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Cary Chauvin has been working with the Growth Coalition and has reached out to several certified firms to get an idea of how much it will cost to enter into a contract. Depending on what the initial estimates show, the city will either put the contract out to bid or enter into a professional services agreement.

“What we would do is contract with an outside firm that would supplement our workforce,” Chauvin says.

That workforce is currently down several employees, which is a large part of the problem, Chauvin says. Three of five commercial plan review positions are currently unfilled and Chauvin says it has been difficult to fill them.

“We’ve advertised twice nationally and we have gotten zero applicants,” he says.

Chauvin blames low pay for the lack of interest in the positions. Plan reviewers start at $14 an hour, which, at a 40-hour work week, comes to around $30,000 a year.

Metro Councilman Ryan Heck, who sponsored the ordinance last year that was supposed to make it easier to use third-party vendors, believes money is only part of the problem.

“The problem is bureaucracy and lack of imagination,” he says. “Bureaucracy is ruling the day and we need to outsource as much as we can over there and can get some professionalism. They know there is a problem and if they can’t fix it we’re going to fix it for them.”

Chauvin says he hopes to have a contract finalized with a third-party vendor in the coming weeks, though realistically he says it might be months.

“We know this affects builders and developers,” Chauvin says. “We’re hoping to do this as soon as possible.”       https://www.businessreport.com/article/baton-rouge-development-community-looking-solutions-chronic-delays-permits-inspections

[greg225]

Biking it: Meet five Baton Rouge professionals who make the trek to work on two wheels

 

 

 

A projected 2016 bike-sharing program. The formation of the bicycle advocacy group Bike Walk Louisiana and its impending Louisiana State Bike Summit in Baton Rouge in November. A nearly three-mile greenway path through downtown, the LSU Lakes, City Park and Southdowns neighborhoods. Additional bike racks installed around the city.

The signs are there: Baton Rouge is making strides to become more of a bike-friendly city.

But hot, humid and stormy summers, poorly marked bike lanes and heavy traffic deter most from using their bikes to commute to work. In fact, less than 1% of all Baton Rouge residents bike to work, according to data from The Alliance for Biking and Walking.

Then there’s the safety issue. In August, a cyclist was killed while trying to cross Goodwood Boulevard near the new Main Library. And according to data released in August by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Baton Rouge ranked third in the nation for bicycle fatalities between 2008 and 2012. Florida ranked first and Delaware second.

We spoke to the rare Capital City cyclists who choose to brave the commute to work on their bikes instead of in their cars. They offered tips for staying cool in the summer heat, avoiding impatient drivers and heavily traveled roads and staying safe in a city where most people choose to grip a steering wheel instead of handlebars.

 

(Photo by Collin Richie) Marcel Dupree

Marcel Dupré, 48
Retirement plan consultant and attorney, NFP

Home: Off Highland Road near Kenilworth Parkway

Work: One American Place, downtown Baton Rouge

The bike: Scott Commuter bike

Years commuting: 1

Commute time: 45 minutes

What began as a Facebook challenge to run, bike or horseback 1,000 miles in one year turned into a lifestyle change for Marcel Dupré, a retirement plan consultant and attorney for NFP Retirement.

“I started as a runner to try to reach the 1,000 miles and then started riding my bike,” says Dupré, 48. “And then I rode my bike to work, and it was so much easier than parking my car downtown and more fun, too.”

Dupré rides about 10 miles each way, from his home off Highland Road near Kenilworth Parkway to his office, located at One American Place. It’s a 45-minute commute, and he rides different routes to change up his scenery and experience older neighborhoods, the LSU lakes and the levee.

“Physically, I’m in much better shape for riding,” Dupré says. “It’s no problem to get on a bike and do a 50-mile ride on the weekends. It’s more relaxing than driving a car and less stress, too.”

He says the heat doesn’t bother him, and most of the time he works alone in his office.

“When I have to meet with a client, I will use the shower at the YMCA [on Third Street],” Dupré says.

His commute allows him to smile and wave at people as they walk or ride by, see the horses on the levee, photograph birds when the Mississippi River is high and often take pictures of Interstate traffic and post to Facebook for all of his motorist friends to see. He says most drivers are friendly and wave to him, but he did experience one very close call.

“I was almost hit by a concrete truck,” Dupré says. “I don’t know if he didn’t see me or there just wasn’t enough space, but he was within one inch of knocking me into a ditch.”

Dupré says while Baton Rouge has made strides to paint bike lanes on streets, motorists need to pay more attention to the bike lanes. He added that infrastructure improvements are needed in the southern end of town, especially Highland and Perkins roads. He is also an advocate for narrowing streets instead of widening them to encourage more biking and discourage driving.

“We rely way too much on automobiles,” he says. “We need more sidewalks, more crosswalks—especially at major intersections like Perkins and Essen. We have the potential to have more bikers and less drivers with some improvements.”

 

(Photo by Collin Richie) Pat and Larry Reilly

Pat Arbour-Reily, 61
Research associate, LSU Life Sciences

Home: Mid City

Work: LSU

The bike: Trek Woman’s Step Thru

Years commuting: 4

Commute time: 15 minutes

When Pat Arbour-Reily was 6 years old, she rode her bike to school. In the early ’70s, as a LSU student, she rode her bike to college, and now the married mom of one and research assistant at LSU rides her bike to work.

“Why did I start commuting on my bike again?” asks Reily, 61. “It’s simple. Because I could.”

Many people think they cannot survive without an automobile, but Reily’s family literally could not survive without a car. Reily’s son, Brian, was born with complex congenital heart defects, meaning he was born with only half of his heart. Because of his condition, he often needed to seek medical attention quickly. That life or death need required his Reily and her husband Larry to have a quick mode of transportation.

“When you have a child at any moment who has to go to the hospital, you’re in a car,” Reily says. “It’s as simple as that.”

However, now that her son is grown—and a car accident four years ago totaled her car—Reily got back on her bike. “It had been a while and we were doing fine with my son and we were down to one car because a woman pulled out in front of me and T-boned and wrecked my car,” she says. “I said, ‘Here’s my opportunity to ride,’ and I never looked back.”

Reily says some of her co-workers are shocked she rides her bike to work—and if it’s dark, hot or raining, she receives numerous offers for rides home.

“Baton Rouge is a car town,” Reily says. “And people will see me leaving and it will be dark and they say, ‘How will you see in the dark?’ And I say, ‘Have you ever heard of Thomas Edison? Do you have lights on your car? I have lights on my bike!’”

She loves biking in the cooler months but says the heat does not bother her. She simply packs a change of clothes if it’s particularly hot, or dabs on a bit of patchouli oil.

Reily’s bicycle route to work is a three-mile leisurely ride through tree-lined, old Baton Rouge neighborhood streets. She is a slow cyclist, preferring flowy, cool clothing to the skin-tight racer gear. “I’m a woman,” she says. “I don’t dress in skin-tight stuff, and I’m older. Some people think I’m a bag lady, and I think sometimes people feel sorry for me and tend to avoid me, but that’s OK, because I’ve never had any close calls.”

Her flexible work schedule allows her to leave the house around 9 a.m., enjoy the flowers and the fish hopping in the LSU lakes before arriving at her lab.

She repeats the refrain of many cyclists: Baton Rouge needs to improve the condition of the roads and motorists need to be more aware. Infrastructure and distracted drivers are two of her biggest challenges.

“I’ve seen people reading, shaving their legs and reaching into the backseat to slap their children,” she says. “And texting is a huge problem.”

When she was a college student riding to school, she says “some idiot guys” pushed her into the lake near City Park. “I got pushed into that lake three times,” she says. “I’m serious. I had long hair and that was in the early ’70s and I saw very few bikes then, but my hairbrush got duckweed in it. That was a pain to get out.”

 

Larry Reily, 66
Part-time Genealogy Department technician, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library

Home: Mid City

Work: Main Library, Goodwood Boulevard

The bike: Surly Cyclocross

Years commuting: 6

Commute time: 20 minutes

Larry Reily got into a car accident in 2009. He was about to retire and decided he did not want to buy a new truck. Instead, he took his bike out of storage, dusted it off and began riding socially with others in the bike community and his family. His wife, Pat, and son, Brian, also ride to work and school.

“I decided I liked it, and I was already busing around and sharing a car with my wife, and I managed to do just fine,” Reily says. “I used a bike as a basic transportation when I was a kid so I decided to stay with it. I like the exercises aspect of it and it keeps me fit for an old man and it’s a lot of fun. But there are some drawbacks.”

Those include distracted and grumpy drivers frustrated at having to share the road with bicyclers, he says.

“I’ve had things thrown at me and horns honked at me,” he says. “I’ve been hit with a cup of ice left over from a drink. People get frantic in their cars. It’s a contest to see who can get to the red lights first, and they can’t stand being behind a bicycle.”

He works part-time at the library and enjoys his ride to work, normally stretching the 20-minute ride to 40 or 45 minutes to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

“I notice everything on a bike because you’re in it. In a car, you have the radio on, the air conditioning on, you can’t hear anything. On a bike, you’re in tune with the whole world around you. There’s lovely things to see,” he says. “Kids playing. Squirrels bouncing around in the front yard. We have some lovely gardens. Azaleas. I never even see that stuff when I’m in my car.”

When he is not biking to work, he is riding it to buy groceries, go to the bank and post office. Anytime he travels downtown, he rides his bike. Like so many of his biking comrades, he hopes Baton Rouge will create protected bike lanes, isolated from traffic.

“And we need the lanes to carry us in major directions,” he says. “Biking through neighborhoods is real easy. Neighborhood streets are not heavily trafficked. Crossing those big arterials is tough for me.”

 

(Photo by Collin Richie) Mark Martin

Mark Martin, 61
Photo archivist, LSU Memorial Library

Home: Spanish Town

Work: LSU

The bike: Surly Disc Trucker

Years commuting: 10

Commute time: 30 minutes

When Mark Martin finished graduate school 24 years ago, he couldn’t afford a car, so he didn’t buy one. Instead, he hopped on a bicycle and has been riding ever since.

He commutes from his Spanish Town home to LSU’s Memorial Library. His shortest route is just under four miles and takes him about 20 minutes. But most days, he chooses the long way, with less traffic and more scenery.

“You hear that phrase all the time of getting from A to B as if there’s nothing between A and B,” he says. “When you’re in your car, you’re in your own little cocoon so it may feel like there’s nothing else there. On a bike it’s entirely different; you’re experiencing the entire trip. It’s pleasurable. Why make it quicker? Why not make it last longer? I could take a more direct route, but it wouldn’t be enjoyable and it wouldn’t last as long.”

And he says riding is an instant stress relief.

“Mentally, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than some kind of maintenance drug,” he says. “If I have a bad day at work, by the time I’m 10 minutes into my ride, I’m no longer thinking about work. It’s really difficult to be upset when riding and really easy to be calm and happy.”

He said summer heat and distracted drivers are two challenges for riding in Baton Rouge. To combat sweltering summer temperatures, Martin drinks plenty of water and sports drinks, and changes his clothes at work once he has cooled off. As for the drivers, he avoids them, choosing instead the less-traveled neighborhood streets, the LSU lakes and the Baton Rouge Levee Bike Path. He is in awe of the city’s beauty, the trees at the end of Steele Boulevard near Webb Park and the bird migration patterns around the lakes.

“It’s a beautiful city to bike in, and my preference would be that something is done with the infrastructure to improve biking,” Martin says.

Martin is passionate about the issue. He recommends a protected bike lane and high-intensity activated crosswalk beacons at major intersections like Acadian Thruway and Foster Drive. These traffic control devices would help stop road traffic and allow bicyclers to utilize more city streets—and perhaps change perceptions about bicyclists, he says.

“We’re deeply, deeply embedded in a car culture that’s been going on for 100 years,” Martin says. “To undo a culture like that, you need to do more than just ride a bike. The perception is that when you ride a bike, you are one of three things: You’re a child, you’re a poor person who has no choice, or you’re a rich person with an obsession.”

 

(Photo by Collin Richie) Pam Volentine

Pam Volentine Rushing, 43
Official court reporter, 19th Judicial District Court

Home: Garden District

Work: Downtown

The bike: Workcycle, a Dutch bike

Years commuting: 1

Commute time: 15 minutes

About a year ago, Pam Volentine Rushing decided that saving time and money were two good reasons to give her car to her mom and ride her bike full-time.

Rushing works downtown, a two-and-half-mile and 15-minute bike ride from her Garden District home to her court reporter job at the 19th Judicial District Court. For years, Rushing drove to work, which took her the same amount of time because she also had to find a place to park.

“When I bike and drive, there’s no difference. It’s a tie in time,” she says. “To park the car and walk to work takes about 15 minutes. To bike and park the bike takes 15 minutes, but with the added health aspect.”

And then there are the economics of riding a bike instead of a car. She estimated that she saved a total of $650 per month in car payments, insurance, gas, downtown parking fees and a gym membership.

“If I can ride my bike to work and come out $650 ahead, I’m doing good,” she says. “And having a slower commute and slower pace of getting somewhere makes you notice things and feel more connected with the community.”

She says the biggest challenge commuting to work on a bike is finding comfortable and safe roads to ride on. Because some of the main roads lack separate bike routes, she rides through neighborhoods to avoid traffic. She says safety is especially important for women with children.

“Women are more cautious,” she says. “They are not going to risk their safety. When they are trying to get from point A to point B, they don’t want the extra stress of the ride. Protected and separated infrastructure is the only thing that will bring a big increase in getting people out on their bikes for a major form of transportation.”

She is cautious when riding, avoiding four-lane roads like Government Street, Perkins Road and Goodwood Boulevard.

“Any time you have a four-lane roadway, people treat it like it’s the interstate, they speed and cut back and forth,” Rushing says. “It’s too fast.”

She says she is a much more “alert, careful and slow” driver because of what she sees.

“It’s the texting and cellphone usage all the time, and it makes me crazy,” she says. “That little bit of inattention can kill someone.”

Rushing’s favorite season to ride is winter because of the cool temperatures, but she does not mind the heat or rain. “Once people find out I ride a bike to work, they are always like, ‘Did you ride your bike today?’ if it’s hot or there is severe weather. I get those questions a lot, but I do have a back-up plan. I plan for the weather.”

She packs jeans to wear if it rains; if she is sick or if freezing rain or snow is forecast, she will ride on the Garden District Trolley or ask her husband to drop her off at work and co-workers to drive her home.

Rushing says the best part about riding her bike is seeing nature and becoming more aware of her surroundings.

“You have time to really notice things when you’re at a bike pace. You’re smelling things,” she says. “Your senses are engaged. You’re not in a box, enclosed in glass. All of this fresh air and sunshine and physical activities are creating great endorphins.”

 

https://www.businessreport.com/business/biking-meet-five-baton-rouge-professionals-make-trek-work-two-wheels

[greg225]

Updates to Baton Rouge’s Unified Development Code moving slow 

Overhauling and updating the city-parish Unified Development Code, or UDC, as it relates to zoning, parking and other development issues has been like trying to pull on a single thread—only to find the entire cloth unraveling, Planning Director Frank Duke says.

“As we dig deeper into the UDC, we are finding more issues and more problems than I anticipated,” Duke says.

Having completed revisions to just three of the UDC’s 20 chapters since taking over as director last summer, Duke concedes the process is moving much slower than he would like. But when the Planning Commission has a busy month, as this month has been, the demands of day-to-day operations are first priority and the planning code revisions get pushed to the back-burner, Duke says.

Developers and neighborhood associations have pressured him to work faster, but Duke says that isn’t an option.

“It’s going to happen as it happens,” Duke says. “I would love to say I have a timeline.”

The thread analogy Duke uses has been accurate, as what began as a systematic attempt to rewrite archaic code has turned into a process in which immediate problems in certain chapters take priority.

Duke says when his staff began working on the revisions, parking was hot topic, so that was the first chapter they looked at. While doing so, they realized the landscaping chapter went hand in hand with parking, so they delved into that one. Then the Federal Emergency Management Agency revised its flood protection requirements, Duke says, so the group had to switch gears quickly to revise that chapter to keep the parish in FEMA’s flood protection program.

While revising that chapter, they came across several inconsistencies in the definitions, so they also began working on the definitions chapter to keep those consistent throughout the entire UDC.

Completed chapters are those addressing flood protection, definitions and nonconformities. Duke says the latter has been the easiest to address.

“Some of the changes we are doing are very technical; others are more substantive,” he says.

Meanwhile, the Zoning Advisory Committee—a group of developers, architects and professional planners that advises Duke—continues to scrutinize the parking ordinance.  https://www.businessreport.com/article/updates-baton-rouges-unified-development-code-moving-slow

[greg225]

French bistro Le Cordon Rouge coming to downtown Baton Rouge 

Le Cordon Rouge, a French bistro, is planning to open in early October at 334 Third St. downtown in the space previously occupied by Lokka Spa. Owner Rhonda Crosswhite says the bistro will be a larger version of the venue by the same name that she operated in 2012 and 2013 inside the now-defunct antique store The Courtyard at 4467 Arnold Lane.

Like the original version of Le Cordon Rouge, the new downtown bistro will have a bakery with French breads and pastries made fresh daily on site. Also like the original, the new restaurant will only be open for lunch during the week, at least initially.

“Once we get back to our regular lunch hours we may open for dinner on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays,” says Crosswhite, who was professionally trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. “Also, we’ll be in by 8 in the morning so we may be open for coffees and fresh pastries but for now, just lunch.”

Crosswhite has a silent business partner in the venture. Her partner in the kitchen will be chef Rich Wiley, a graduate of the Louisiana Culinary Institute who formerly worked at Carraba’s and Mellow Mushroom. Most of the classic French cuisine served at Le Cordon Rouge will be Crosswhite’s original creations, she says, though Wiley will execute them.

“We’re exactly on the same page,” she says. “We both have the same vision for what we want this to be.”

Crosswhite’s bistro in The Courtyard was her first foray into the restaurant business, though she had catered and taught cooking classes for years, and it attracted a small but dedicated following of foodies. She closed the bistro in early 2014 because she outgrew the space and has been looking for a larger space ever since.

The new restaurant is around 2,000 square feet and will be able to accommodate 30 tables inside and on the patio.

The building at 334 Third St. is owned by retired businessman Kerry Denny, who renovated it in 2013 and has a private residence on the second floor. It is in the heart of the booming Third Street entertainment corridor and is a welcome addition to the neighborhood, says Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer.

“It’s a great location, and that building is a great mixed-use success story,” Rhorer says. “There is no other French bistro downtown so we are happy to have them.”    https://www.businessreport.com/article/french-bistro-le-cordon-rouge-coming-downtown-baton-rouge

[dan326]

Neat.

[greg225]

Downtown Development District expansion may bring additional $87,000 in property taxes   

The Downtown Development District is twice as large as it used to be before the Legislature changed its boundaries in 2012, but it’s been operating off of the same tax base that it had since before the changes.

 

That could all change, as residents included in the expansion will be asked in October to weigh in on the 10 mill property tax levied to those in the special taxing district.

Before 2012, the Downtown Development District was about 1.15 square miles and included 1,456 registered voters. Today, by an act of the Legislature, downtown Baton Rouge stretches south to the proposed Water Campus site, north to Choctaw Drive and east to 14th street. It’s grown to 2.2 square miles and includes 2,132 registered voters.

The agency is expected to generate an additional $87,000 in property taxes a year from the properties included in the expanded zone. It currently collects about $500,000 a year in property taxes. The operations budget is also supplemented by $142,500 from the city-parish.

While the boundaries were changed a few years ago, the upcoming tax election has provided some property owners their first notice of the new tax they could be subject to paying.

“It came to us as a surprise recently,” said Robert Yarborough, CEO of Manda Fine Meats on Sorrel Avenue, one of the largest property tax payers in the recently annexed area. “The thought that we’re going to get absolutely zero benefit from added taxes doesn’t make sense to us and it doesn’t seem fair.”

Yarborough said he’s frustrated that he didn’t know about the new taxing district until this year and wasn’t able to weigh in on the issue earlier. He said his business will get no benefit from the perception of being considered a downtown business.

If approved, the five-year tax won’t be applied to those in the expanded taxing district until 2017.

“This gives us the opportunity for additional types of redevelopment that dovetail well with what we have going on now,” Downtown Development District director Davis Rhorer said. “It strengthens our opportunity to add more residential in the inner city and will help us work in tandem with the other redevelopment groups.”

The expansion connects downtown to both Mid City and the Water Campus, which are areas that are active with redevelopment plans and projects.

Winston Riddick, who owns several acres of vacant land that were annexed, said he’s supportive of the new tax and is hopeful that areas east of the interstate will enjoy the same redevelopment benefits that have happened over the past few years in the heart of downtown.

“It increases my taxes, but not astronomically,” he said, adding that he’ll likely pay about $500 a year extra. “It gives the neighborhood a platform that it does not have in the present time to express the concerns and needs in the area.”

It’s undeniable the transformation that has occurred in downtown, Riddick said, with credit going to both the Downtown Development District and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

“All those projects make the city more livable and attractive for tourists,” he said. “I’m hoping they can replicate what they’ve done there on the east side.”

But Riddick agreed with other critics that residents of the expanded downtown development district were not well-informed ahead of time about their eventual increased tax burden as a result of the changed boundaries for the taxing district.

Coleman Brown, a member of the Mid City Merchants group, said many businesses and property owners in that group who are now under the downtown umbrella say they are only now learning about their inclusion in the tax district and have yet to see concrete plans about how their tax dollars will be spent.

He said he would have preferred a separate election to ask those residents if they wanted to be in the taxing district.

“My biggest complaint is that this was billed as a tax renewal when it’s really a new tax for these people,” Brown said.

The Downtown Development District has scheduled a series of neighborhood meetings ahead of the Oct. 24 election to explain the tax.

The tax election will be for the entire area within the new boundary — meaning that voters in the expanded taxing district could have an impact on what is typically an easy victory for the Downtown Development District.

In 2010, the most recent election, the tax passed with 77 percent of the vote. In 2000, the tax passed with 80 percent of the vote.    http://theadvocate.com/news/13482592-123/expansion-may-bring-new-taxes              

[greg225]

Breaux Bridge native to bring Google’s virtual tour for businesses to Baton Rouge, south Louisiana        

In late October, south Louisiana native Erryca Robicheaux will bring Google’s virtual tour technology to Baton Rouge, hoping it will catch on with businesses and allow her to grow the technology in south Louisiana.

It’s called Street View Trusted and it’s similar to the now widely used Street View. This technology, however, creates a virtual tour allowing people to view the interior of a business without ever setting foot inside. To create the virtual tours, a Google-certified photographer shoots about 16 panoramic photos of a room, which are in turn stitched together to create a 360-degree view of a room. The photographer moves room to room to capture the entire business.

The service launched in 2010, but it has taken several years to work out the logistics. It has been openly available for businesses in major cities across the country for about 18 months.

“I have never ever, not one time, had a business owner get a virtual tour and not absolutely love it,” Robicheaux, a Breaux Bridge native and LSU grad, says. She has built the service up in Phoenix and San Diego from basically nothing; her goal is to do the same in Baton Rouge.

Some Baton Rouge businesses, like Galatoire’s Bistro on Perkins Road and SNAP Fitness on Bluebonnet Boulevard, already have the virtual tours. The tours are accessible next to photos of the business on that business’s Google profile.

“On the surface, it shows what you have to offer, what your space is,” Robicheaux says. “On the back end, what is does is help SEO (search engine optimization) scores.”

Since that SNAP Fitness location opened about four years ago, about 1,400 viewers have accessed its virtual tour on Google. Within 30 days of being posted on on SNAP’s Google profile, Google click views jumped 450% and posted reviews are up 500%.

Robicheaux, a certified Google corporate outreach agent, says Google will begin doing video ads in 2016 as the company moves toward more visual marketing, and the virtual tours are one way businesses can keep up.

And it’s not only Baton Rouge where she hopes the technology catches on. She has already been in contact with her college friend Jason El Koubi with One Acadiana, a multiparish chamber of commerce similar to BRAC, about bringing the virtual tours to Lafayette businesses. In Livingston Parish, a Google photographer will visit companies on Oct. 8 to build virtual tours for them.

“I’m hoping that people jump on it real quick and see the value in it,” Robicheaux says.      https://www.businessreport.com/article/breaux-bridge-native-bring-googles-virtual-tour-businesses-baton-rouge-south-louisiana

[greg225]

I saw this picture on twitter this is the first updated picture I saw of Baton Rouge Skyline       

[Mr. Burnham]

I saw this picture on twitter this is the first updated picture I saw of Baton Rouge Skyline       

Thanks for posting that! That's an amazing picture.

[greg225]

Magpie Café becomes first commercial tenant for downtown Commerce Building        

Magpie Café will open a second location next spring in the downtown Commerce Building, making it the first commercial tenant announced for the former office building that’s being redeveloped for residential, retail and commercial use.

“That area is really coming together,” says James Jacobs, who owns Magpie Café with his wife, Lina Jacobs, of the Commerce Building and downtown Baton Rouge. “It’s just really a very emerging area in Baton Rouge, and it just fits us and what we’re about (with) the coffee culture, the local foods.”

The couple opened Magpie Café at 3205 Perkins Road in the former Perkins Road Parlour space near the overpass more than three years ago. The menu centers on local and seasonal ingredients filling soups, salads, sandwiches and breakfast offerings coupled with high-quality coffee and espresso. James Jacobs says the Commerce Building location will feature a similar menu to the original location, but will have some new additions that will be announced as the calendar inches closer to the opening date.

“We are very excited that Magpie Café has chosen the Commerce Building as their second location and feel that they are a perfect fit for the building and will be a great amenity for our future tenants in addition to the general downtown area,” says Michael Lang, director of real estate development for Key Real Estate Company, in a prepared statement.

The road to today’s announcement began several months ago when real estate agents with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate approached the couple to gauge their interest in opening a second location in the downtown development.

“We’ve had our eye on expanding while, and this one really came together for us,” James Jacobs says.

Developer TJ Iarocci, CEO of Key Real Estate Company, says renovations are about 65% percent complete in the building located at the corner of Laurel and North Third streets and they are shooting for a February or March completion date.

The 2,900-square-foot location for Magpie Café in the Commerce Building is one of three commercial spaces on the first floor to go along with the 93 residential units throughout the rest of the property. The other two commercial spaces, at 2,276 and 700 square feet, are still available, as is the 4,000-square-foot rooftop location that will hold a restaurant.

“We don’t have a restaurant concept yet, but we’re starting to market the rooftop and it’ll be similar to Tsunami in terms of river view and seating,” Iarocci says.

Lang says they are negotiating a lease with someone for the smaller of the two open commercial spaces, but nothing is official.

In addition to announcing the second location, James Jacobs says they are going to open the Perkins Road location a for a few hours each Sunday after repeated customer requests. The restaurant will offer quiches, baked goods and some breakfast items, but the kitchen will not be open, he says. https://www.businessreport.com/article/magpie-cafe-becomes-first-commercial-tenant-downtown-commerce-building

[richyb83]

DDD Commission Meeting October 13, 2015, 8:00 a.m. Camelot Club, 451 Florida Street, 21st Floor AGENDA
1. Call to Order 2. Declare Quorum 3. Approve Agenda 4. Approve September 9, 2015 Minutes 5. Board Action 6. Update from Previous Board Meeting a. Governmental Issues
	•	Courtyard by Marriott
b. Development Initiatives
	•	International Downtown Association
	•	Commerce Building / Magpie Cafe'
	•	Red Stick Revelry 2015 Line-Up & Champagne Stroll
	•	Coca Cola Sign
	•	Downtown Residential Facade Grant Program
	•	Riverfront Gateway Lighting RFP
	•	City Hall Plaza
	•	Repentance Park
	•	North Boulevard Town Square Phase II
	•	River Road Multi-Use Path
	•	Downtown Bike Racks
	•	EPA Bike Share
	•	Bartram Trail
	•	Downtown Greenway
	•	Downtown Maintenance Committee
	•	Florida and Lafayette Streetscape
	•	New Businesses
		-	Fresh Bowls
		-	Cordon Rouge Bistro
	•	Events
		-	Live After Five - Oct. 16, 23
		-	Sunday in the Park - October 18,25, Nov. 1, 8
		-	13th Gate / Necropolis - October
		-	St. James Episcopal Day School Open House - October 27
			Louisiana Book Festival / Zombie Run / Halloween Parade - October 31
		-	Uncorked - November 5
		-	Foundation for Historical Louisiana / Old Governor's Mansion
		-	Manship Theatre Events / LSU MOA
		-	Capitol Park Museum
		-	Old State Capitol
		-	River Center Events
		-	BRSO
		-	LASM
		-	USS Kidd
7. Strategic Plan a. Plan Baton Rouge II 8. Ongoing Projects
	•	CPEX
	•	BREADA
	•	DBA
9. Correspondence 10. Public Comment

[greg225]

Police Jury Association of Louisiana buys Spanish Town lot near headquarters    

The Police Jury Association of Louisiana has purchased a vacant Spanish Town lot across the street from its headquarters, but has no immediate plans for the tract that sits between residences on Seventh Street. Association Executive Director Roland Dartez says the lot at 716 N. Seventh St. was purchased from W2 Property Management for $140,000 as an investment.

“We just wanted to grab it because it was open,” Dartez says.

Dartez says he believes the Historic Spanish Town Civic Association may have plans for the site, so he will wait and see.

“With all the renovations going on in Spanish Town, I am just convinced property values will go up and it’s a good investment,” he says.

While the association is taking a wait-and-see approach as to what to do with the newly acquired land, Dartez says it is moving forward with plans to renovate the interior of their headquarters at 707 N. Seventh St. The building was constructed in 1935 and last renovated in 1985 when the association moved in. The update should happen within the next year.

While Dartez is unsure of how extensive the renovation will be, he wants to build a new boardroom. The association will probably not do anything to the building’s exterior, he says, noting it was painted and a new roof was installed about eight years ago.

The Police Jury Association of Louisiana was created in 1924 to help improve parish governing. All 64 parish governments, whether they are operate under a police jury format or not, can join.

https://www.businessreport.com/article/police-jury-association-louisiana-buys-spanish-town-lot-near-headquarters

[greg225]

How Baton Rouge ended up being ranked most obese city in America and how can we fix it   

It’s no secret that in Baton Rouge, we like to eat.

As 225 dishes in its October cover story, Southern cuisine is a critical component of our lifestyle. Spring is synonymous with crawfish boils. Small south Louisiana towns within driving distance host food festivals nearly every weekend.

Visit LSU’s campus on a fall Saturday and you’ll see hundreds of tailgates with grills, smokers and pots producing the salty, fatty meals that make Southern cooking so desirable. We love our food. Maybe a little too much.

Baton Rouge’s 36% obesity rate made headlines earlier this year, when Gallup-Healthways ranked it the fattest city in the nation. Obesity costs Louisiana $3 billion dollars annually, and roughly half of the state’s children are obese or overweight.

But there’s more to it than our love of jambalaya.

Experts say the heat and the lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and established wellness policies are part of the problem, too.

“It should be emphasized that Baton Rouge isn’t the only city struggling with obesity—there are many other cities with similarly high rates,” says Dr. Owen Carmichael, director of biomedical imaging at Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

That said, he points to the factors driving Baton Rouge toward higher obesity rates.

“Baton Rouge is an older city that grew organically over time. Unlike many Western cities, it did not have the luxury of building large amounts of its infrastructure from scratch in recent decades,” he says.

That has made it tougher for the city to build modern infrastructure that would encourage physical activity—think separated bike lanes on major commute corridors, pedestrian walkways and jogging paths. Combine that with Baton Rouge’s infamous traffic, and summer heat that none of us want to run around in, and, well, there’s your recipe for sedentary living, he says.

So how do we change things? First, start young. And for those who have already established poor eating and exercise habits, you’re going to need to make some lifestyle changes. The good news is, there’s plenty of help.

Read the full 225 cover story.   https://www.businessreport.com/article/baton-rouge-ended-ranked-obese-city-america-can-fix

[Mr. Burnham]

The real problem is the massive food desert we call North Baton Rouge. Fix that, reshape Mid City/Downtown as a realistically walkable area, and make a walkable Medical Destrict and the rate will go  

[greg225]

The real problem is the massive food desert we call North Baton Rouge. Fix that, reshape Mid City/Downtown as a realistically walkable area, and make a walkable Medical Destrict and the rate will go  

What Baton Rouge need to start doing is to add sidewalks, crosswalk, and pedestrian lights on every main street in the parish. BREC also need to add more trails through out the parish for walking, jogging, and bike use.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2015 by greg225