Council votes to demolish houses

Published 4:30 am Sunday, June 26, 2022

A house on Pershing Street that has raised many concerns about safety will finally be demolished. 

The decision came at Tuesday’s New Iberia City Council meeting when the council unanimously voted to demolish the house located at 317 Pershing St. 

Building Inspector Jimmy Landry said that although the owners of the property had purchased a permit to repair the house following a notice, the process was moving at a slow pace. 

“They removed the roof and some of the siding, so they have started the process,” Landry said. 

Councilwoman Deedy Johnson-Reid said the work was not happening fast enough given the safety issues. 

“It’s extremely slow going,” she said. “I saw one of the people that owned the property sitting on the porch and it looked like the second floor was going to fall on him.”

“When I think about this property and the fact that it’s taken so long, I think we should go with option 2,” Johnson-Reid added. 

For the councilwoman, option 2 meant giving the owners 30 days to demolish the house themselves or else the city will come in and demolish it. 

The motion was passed unanimously.

In other business, another house located at 295 Camelia Street was also voted to be demolished during the meeting. 

The house notoriously had a large amount of junk in the front yard, but after a notice was given to the owner it was cleaned up. 

Although Johnson-Reid, who was the representative of the district that the house was located in, recommended giving the owner another 30 days for repairs to take place the council voted against the motion. 

Councilman Dustin Suire said the owner of the property, Dr. Adel Malahmeh, had been before the council many times prior which led to his decision. 

“It’s the same old song and dance,” Suire said. “I understand it’s Deedy’s district but we’re looking out for the betterment of our community.”

Suire offered a motion to demolish the house, which passed.