HDC gives owner of 948 Washington 30 days to clean yard, show contractor as city readies condemnation request

The Natchitoches Historic District Commission on an unspecified date told the owner of 948 Washington that the commission expects the front yard cleaned and evidence of a contractor within 30 days to avoid a city condemnation application aimed for the October meeting.

Commission members said they had forwarded a list of required actions from the city’s planning office, and that the owner has a limited reprieve while the city and planning staff review progress. A commission member told the owner, “you have that list from Miss Rock. Let's have those done within 30 days.”

The matter matters because planning and zoning — not the commission — initiates condemnation; the commission must approve demolition for properties in the historic district. One commission member warned, “the city is gonna put forward an application for condemnation on this building at the October meeting,” and said if the standards provided by Miss Rock’s office were not met by the Oct. 7 meeting the city would proceed with an application for condemnation.

Discussion focused on what counts as progress. Commission members said yard cleanup and securing a signed contract or contractor commitment were the immediate priorities. A commission member explained, “if you have your yard completely clean and you have hired a contractor to do the repairs, I suspect Ms. Rock is not gonna pursue condemning the property.” The owner said contractors recommended earlier had been exhausted and described the experience as difficult: “It's been a nightmare.”

Commission members described the property as large — “three quarters of an acre” — and stressed the safety and neighborhood impacts of leaving it in disrepair. They repeatedly told the owner that stabilizing the structure (for example, covering holes and securing tarps) and staged contractor engagement would show progress to the city even if full repairs were not complete.

On related work at the same address, commissioners discussed a permit application for new construction (a garage) tied to an existing slab. They instructed staff to allow Miss Salter to act on behalf of the commission to process the application and to require the owner to submit clearer elevations, dimensions and materials samples (for example siding type, roof pitch and door color) so staff can approve administratively and the commission can ratify decisions in a later meeting. A commission member summarized the plan: Miss Salter will “take control of the application” and, if requirements are met, will notify Miss Rock’s office to issue a permit and the commission will ratify in November.

What the commission did: it effectively granted the owner a 30‑day extension to demonstrate cleanup and contractor engagement and assigned the Washington Street application to staff/committee for administrative handling and later ratification. Commissioners emphasized that condemnation originates with planning and zoning and that the commission’s role is to decide on demolition if the city brings an application.

Next steps: the owner was told to work directly with Miss Rock’s office (city planning/zoning) and to return to the HDC with evidence of yard cleanup and contractor engagement at the October 7 meeting. For the garage permit, the owner must submit drawn elevations and material specifications to Miss Salter so staff can process the permit and the commission can ratify in a subsequent meeting.

(Reporting note: speakers referred to are identified generically where the transcript did not supply a full name or title; quoted language is drawn verbatim from the meeting record.)