Plaintiff, 4140 Canal Street, appealed a prior judgment in favor of the defendants, New Orleans and the New Orleans Historic Landmark Commission, denying a petition to enjoin the classification of the building at 4140 Canal Street as a historic landmark. The Court of Appeals of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit affirmed.
The plaintiff asserted the Commission did not have the authority to classify the property since 4140 Canal Street was not in a historic preservation district. However, the court stated the Louisiana Code authorizes local governments to permit historic landmark commissions to classify properties that are not within such districts. Thus the Commission did have the authority to designate the property.
The plaintiff also argued that the Commission did not have authority to classify 4140 Canal Street has a historic landmark due to the statutory language. The Code permits classification of “structures” when outside a historic preservation district, and allows classification of “buildings” and “structures” when inside a historic preservation district. The court, however, agreed with the Commission that buildings are included within the definition of “structures,” thus buildings outside of such districts could be classified.
The plaintiff then asserted the classification of the building was unlawful discrimination because other buildings by the same architect where demolished, even though the reason for preservation of 4140 Canal Street was the architect. Additionally, the plaintiff argued that the building is less than fifty years old. Therefore, the plaintiff asserted that the classification was arbitrary, discriminatory and unreasonable. However, the court disagreed and found no discrimination, as this building has unique architectural characteristics worth preserving.
Lastly, the plaintiff argued that the defendants failed to satisfy notice requirements, since the first notice was given far short of the thirty day requirement. However, the plaintiff did receive actual notice and was not able to show any prejudice resulting from the procedural issues. In fact, the first notice was given half a year before the ultimate decision was made. As a result, the court did not find fault and sided with the defendants.
4140 Canal Street v. New Orleans, 2101 WL 5387612 (Ct. App. LA, 4th Cir., 12/28/2010)
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=In%20LACO%2020101230139.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR
