BusinessReport.com

To rebuild New Orleans, hurricane-proof its coast and encourage economic development statewide, Louisiana is going to have to shed its deeply ingrained mistrust of government and land-use planning and zoning.

Otherwise, it’s doomed.

That’s according to John Costonis, LSU law professor, chancellor emeritus of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center and land-use law expert, whose new report attempts to inject some realism into perceptions of Louisiana’s status in terms of regional planning and recovery two years after Katrina.

Commissioned by the Louisiana Recovery Authority Support Foundation, Two Years and Counting: Land Use and Louisiana’s Post-Katrina Recovery looks at three paths to recovery: regional planning models from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the LRA’s Louisiana Speaks Regional Plan and what Costonis refers to as the “Italian City-State” model. The CPRA and Louisiana Speaks plans are “complementary, if sharply contrasting,” he writes in the report.

Costonis says CPRA has as much going for it as any regional planning organization in the country: a defined territory (coastal parishes), broad regulatory and restoration/flood protection powers, extensive funding and representation on its governing board from key cabinet-level departments: natural resources, transportation and development and economic development.

More important, he says, CPRA enjoys massive support, which entails coastal restoration and hurricane protection through regulation, planning and infrastructure projects.

“I have seen these things work,” Costonis says. “If there ever was one that has an absolutely golden chance, it’s CPRA. Could we screw it up? Sure.”

He notes that CPRA’s master plan—already approved by the Legislature—pledges “aggressive state leadership and direction” and promises to exercise the “full police power of the state” in expropriating land when required to meet “immediate and compelling necessity.”

CPRA does need those things to succeed, though it also needs planning and land-use law components, Costonis says. Without those, CPRA’s coastal projects will probably undermine parish and municipal land-use policies and vice versa.

CPRA’s leadership and staff also better have the “confidence and capability” to take on the daunting land-use planning and legal issues bound to arise, he says. CPRA could serve as a model for other states with coastlines, though whether it succeeds will depend on the new governor’s interest level, Constonis says.

“It’s all going to depend on what the next governor wants to do,” Costonis says.

LRA’s Louisiana Speaks Regional Plan is as much a compendium of best practices in land-use planning as it is a physical development plan for South Louisiana, he says. While it represents the best thinking in planning today, Louisiana Speaks—which would establish a powerful Office of State Planning—could be a harder sell, given the state’s historical aversion to planning and government beyond the local level, Costonis says.

“Local governments and private citizens tend to be very jealous,” Costonis says. “I hope that Louisiana Speaks will be able over time to do something. I very much hope they will be successful.”

For Louisiana Speaks to go forward, the Legislature will have to vote to create a new authority to serve as custodian, since the law that created the LRA ends July 1, 2010.

Costonis says the Italian City-State model may have an easier go since it reflects what Louisiana is already doing and doesn’t tread too heavily on the state’s passionate devotion to home rule. “City-State” refers to the style of government existing in Italy until creation of the modern Italian nation in 1860.

The Louisiana version denotes multi-parish regions with aligned interests. A plan for an interstates 10/12 economic development corridor from Hammond to Lake Charles is an example. Another is the proposal for light rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans: parishes working together toward a common goal in the style of city-state.

As South Louisiana undergoes an economic and political reconfiguration post-Katrina, Costonis says, parishes are realizing it makes more sense to cooperate with one another than fight against each other. City-state already exists in Louisiana, though Costonis expects to see more sophisticated forms of it arise.

“The beauty is you’re only in for as much as you want to be,” Costonis says. “You don’t really have to go to the state for the power.”

John Spain, executive president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and a member of the LRA Support Foundation committee, agrees CPRA was created with “extraordinary power” and is buoyed by extensive public support. As for moving Louisiana Speaks beyond the level of “good idea” to actual implementation, the next governor and Legislature will have to be onboard.

The campaign to build that essential support will take place over the next several months as Louisiana Speaks meets with lawmakers and gubernatorial candidates, Spain says. That 27,000 Louisianans participated in the Louisiana Speaks surveys should send a strong message, he adds.

“If there was ever a right time for this to happen it’s now,” he says. “I think people are ready for something to happen.”

Louisiana Speaks—even if its recommendations for land use and zoning receive the official imprimatur of state backing—won’t supercede Costonis’ city-state model, Spain says, noting that whatever those city-states decide to do will have considerable momentum in the Legislature due to the combined muscle of so many separate delegations.

“While there always will be this demand for a great deal of autonomy, also in our experience there’s a really new sense of let’s work together,” Spain says. “The simple fact is if you count the votes they can make it happen.”