How Does The City Enforce VCC Guidelines?
•VCC jurisdiction carries the force of law
•Article XIV, § 22(A) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1921 authorized the New Orleans City Council to create the current VCC. The intent and purpose was to preserve the architecture of special historic interest within the French Quarter.
New Orleans Code of Ordinances, Chapter 166 : "The Vieux Carré shall have for its purpose the preservation of such buildings in the Vieux Carré section of the city as, in the opinion of the Vieux Carré Commission, shall have architectural and historical value and which should be preserved for the benefit of the people of the city and state."
ADD LINK TO CHAPTER 166
VCC enforcement has a role to play in:
- Improving quality of life for all residents
- Protecting property values and neighborhood character
- Stimulating tourism and economic development
- creating safer, healthier neighborhoods
- Prioritizing violations that present the biggest quality of life and public safety issues to the public
- Building public trust by quickly responding to violation complaints.
- Taking aggressive action and fining owners who refuse to bring properties into compliance.
What Properties Are In The VCC Enforcement Pipeline And How Long Does The Process Take?
View the enforcement dashboard
Correcting a Violation
Violation Notice
After investigating a complaint of a potential violation or upon discovery during routine inspections, the VCC sends a Notice of Violation to the owner and/or tenant(s) of the property.
If you should receive such a Notice, do not ignore this , even if the violation predates your ownership or control of the property.
In most cases, a building owner can correct a violation by obtaining a permit from the Commission and performing the work authorized by the permit. Please note that in some cases, the Commission will require that the illegal work be modified, removed, or replaced.
If the property owner fails to respond to the violation notice or is unwilling to correct the problem within the amount of time specified on the Notice, the Commission files an affidavit of charges against parties responsible for the violations with the City's Central Adjudication Bureau and/or the applicable court(s). An ajudication hearing will be scheduled at which time fines, often substantial, can be levied.
Stop Work Order
When unpermitted work, or work that deviates from a permit, is discovered a STOP WORK ORDER may be issued and physically posted on the building visible from the public right-of-way. Once posted all work must cease until the issue is resolved with VCC staff.
An application must be submitted to the VCC for the work, and the applicant must present to the VCC a clear and detailed account of the existing condition prior to the work, in addition to all required submittal documents for the proposed work. In some cases, the Commission may require alterations to or removal of the work performed without a permit.