Construction of a new Trader Joe’s on Tulane Avenue can continue as a legal fight related to the store’s parking lot and other zoning matters heads to a state appeals court, after the city’s zoning regulator on Monday declined to revoke a building permit for the site.
During its regular monthly meeting, the seven-person Board of Zoning Adjustments, a New Orleans board which approves certain zoning waivers, voted unanimously to defer a decision on whether to cancel the construction permit that was granted in July to the Feil Organization, which is building the 13,000-square-foot store on the corner of Tulane and South Rocheblave Street in the Tulane-Gravier area.
Earlier this month, Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Marissa Hutabarat ruled that the developers, along with the BZA, violated city zoning rules as they sought three times the number of allowed parking spots and other zoning waivers for the store.
She ordered the BZA to consider whether the waivers and permits needed to be yanked, and on Monday nearby residents, together with their legal advisors, pushed the zoning board to rule on the permit in light of the court decision.
But BZA deputy chairperson Todd James, a construction executive and appointee of Mayor LaToya Cantrell who presided over the meeting, said the decision would be deferred until January because of “pending litigation.”
The board had been informed by Feil’s lawyers that they intended to challenge the ruling at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, James said.
He told neighborhood residents who opposed allowing construction to continue that the developers would be building the Trader Joe’s “at their own peril” until the higher court makes its ruling.
Under construction
Mary Howell, a lawyer representing residents who live near to the project and filed suit, was one of about a dozen or so people who argued against the deferral. She said they are not opposed to a Trader Joe’s at the location, but that developers of big projects should not be allowed to build in residential areas without following the required process.
“This is another case of people not asking for permission but asking for forgiveness after they’ve already built,” Howell said. “It’s happening all over the city.”
The Feil Organization said it planned to appeal Hutabarat’s ruling and would abide by whatever the BZA decided related to its building permits in the meantime.
“We are pleased that construction is continuing as we pursue an appeal and anticipate that it will remain uninterrupted as we move through the legal process with the City of New Orleans,” said Colette Wharton, Regional Director at the Feil Organization, in an emailed statement.
“Feil remains committed to the future of the City of New Orleans through the delivery of this specialty grocer, which will not only enhance residents’ daily lives but become an essential driver of economic activity in the region,” she added.
Though the California-based grocery chain hasn’t officially acknowledged that the store will carry its brand, several sources involved in the project have confirmed it is a Trader Joe’s.
The store, which offers a unique mix of private-label products, is highly popular and the Tulane Avenue location, if it opens on schedule in mid-2025, would be the first of two planned for Orleans Parish. There is an existing location in Jefferson Parish on Veterans Memorial Boulevard.
The Tulane Avenue store has been under construction for five months. The main building is in place and some of the parking lot is paved. The site plan also calls for an additional building, which has been earmarked for a dental practice.
The story has been updated to include Feil’s comment.