Join AIA New Orleans and the Preservation Resource Center for this free educational event designed exclusively for the AIA NOLA and PRC membership.

Friday, October 21

12:00pm-1:30pm

Center for Design, 1000 St. Charles Ave.

Topics:

1) Introduction to CPC staff, and description of their role in the City

2) Overview of forthcoming CPC initiative – Housing Opportunity Study 

3) Overview of forthcoming Land Use Master Plan amendment process and how AIA/PRC can meaningfully participate in district meetings and respond to proposed amendments

4) General Q&A

RSVP before 10/19 so we know how many to expect for lunch.

PANEL

Paul Cramer                                         Chris Johnson                                       Kelsy Yeargain

PAUL CRAMER is a Planning Administrator with the New Orleans City Planning Commission.  He is the most senior staff member, having served nearly 25 years.  He has managed many major projects including the City Charter-mandated New Orleans Master Plan, the overhaul of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, as well as studies covering a broad array of topics including the Tree Preservation, University Area Parking, Outdoor Live Entertainment, Hazardous Sites Inventory Environmental, and 3 Short Term Rental studies.  He graduated from the University of New Orleans with a Master’s Degree in Urban & Regional Planning and from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.  He has also experienced the travails of being a neighborhood association leader.

CHRIS JOHNSON For over twenty years, Chris Johnson has provided architectural services for a diversity of projects ranging from single- and multi-family residences, libraries, retail stores, offices, restaurants, transportation, schools, and even a rum distillery.  This broad range has given him a unique perspective of the needs and complexities inherent in multiple building types and in many different jurisdictions.  As a firm, Christopher E. Johnson, Architect strives to incorporate sustainable design into each project, and has joined the AIA 2030 commitment.  Additionally, Chris has served on the AIA New Orleans advocacy committee since 2015. In this capacity, he has had the privilege of fostering relationships between the local community of architects and various public agencies including the LSUCCC, Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal and multiple departments within the City of New Orleans.

KELSY YEARGAIN is a New Orleans based Affordable Housing Policy and Finance Specialist. For over seven years she led the Tulane Canal Neighborhood Development Corporation as the Executive Director and she was part of the executive team that co-founded People’s Housing+ a new nonprofit designed from the ground up to address racial inequities in affordable housing. Kelsy graduated from the American University of Cairo with a Masters (M.A.) in Refugee and Migration Studies along with a Graduate Diploma in Gendered Political Economy. Her B.A. degree is from the University of North Texas in Sociology with minors in Women’s Studies and Economics. In 2018, she graduated with the inaugural class of UNO’s Community Development Finance Certificate Program. For the past 15 years Kelsy’s career has focused on issues of displacement from natural disasters to forced migrations to the continuing need for affordable housing.