By Nicholas Reimann, Mid-City Messenger

A tow truck sat at the ready Thursday night at the empty property across from the Wrong Iron beer garden on the Lafitte Greenway — a sign that the illegal parking that has for years eroded the ground and worsened Mid-City drainage may finally come to an end.

The enforcement step-up comes as the Sewerage & Water Board, which owns about two-thirds of the space, looks poised to invest about $361,000 to turn the land into a “green infrastructure” natural drainage area.

S&WB took input from the community on the space’s future in what was at times a contentious meeting Thursday night, with well over 100 people packed into the Cabrini High School cafeteria — many clearly frustrated with what they’ve seen as a lack of action with the space that attracts as many as 200 cars to park there on some nights.

Parking has never been legal on the property, according to S&WB, which has owned it since at least the 1960s.

Mid-City residents said that’s turned the space bordered by North Jefferson Davis Parkway, Orleans Avenue, Toulouse Street and businesses on the lakebound side from what was a usable greenspace into a muddy drainage headache, which gets worse every time it rains, since cars park and make ruts deeper.

Cameron Bonnett, a planner with S&WB, also confirmed that the parking is more than just an aesthetic issue. Two underground canals run below the land to help the area drain during rains. The cars and the damage they create are causing runoff from the site, since it’s losing the ability to drain they way it was designed.

But Bonnett said the drainage issue can be reversed with the $361,000 “green infrastructure” project, with the idea of adding natural features that will help water reach storm drains in the space, while also making it into a usable outdoor area for the community.

Thursday’s meeting was the first public step for the S&WB moving toward that goal — the 10th and seemingly final project as part of $2.5 million committed for “green infrastructure” under its most recent consent decree.

The meeting was held largely to inform the public of its options and take input on which type of green infrastructure plan was preferred going forward. Bonnett said that no decisions have been made about which direction the project would take. The project will likely take years to finish.

The most popular plan shown to residents Thursday was the idea of creating an urban tree canopy. That was followed by rain gardens, bioswales and open gathering spaces, and lastly by shade structures and permeable pavement.

Plans recently approved for a nearly $377,000 greenspace in Algiers — the Paul Habans Educational Stormwater Center — include five different green infrastructure features, and officials said there may be multiple features at the Mid-City location, as well. An educational component is also required.

Bonnett said the space is being targeted by S&WB because its topography makes for an already-existing natural drainage system — the area closest to North Jefferson Davis and Bayou St. John rises a few feet above sea level while the part farthest goes down about four feet below sea level.

But before going forward with soliciting requests for proposal, S&WB is looking to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with the city, since New Orleans owns about the outer one-third of the property.

S&WB officials didn’t seem to expect that would be a hang-up to the project, saying there are already legal discussions underway.

Jane Bartlett, who lives in and grew up in Mid-City, said she just hopes something can happen to return the space to what it used to be — the greenspace she and others would run around in as children.

“Ruts and mud and it’s ugly — it’s ugly,” she said of the current condition.

Scott Armstrong, the third-generation owner of Armstrong’s Supply Co., also is more than familiar with the space. He’s had the chance to look at it directly neighboring his business since he started there in 1975.

But while Armstrong said he’s completely behind the plan to use the space for “green infrastructure,” he also warned that residents need to be pragmatic when it comes to parking in the neighborhood.

“People are going to need somewhere to park, so that needs to be addressed in a master plan,” he said. “It just can’t be, ‘Do away with parking.’”

But for the space next to his business, what the green infrastructure plan means is the days of a makeshift parking lot there will be over.

The meeting was just an initial step in the development plans, which will be based largely on public input, the S&WB officials said. But uncontrolled parking is not likely to be in the plans, Anna Patterson of S&WB said. “We’re not going to spend $361,000 on this lot and have people park on top of it,” she said.

This report was updated to reflect that parking is not completely ruled out for the site and that rainwater does not flow directly into the canals.