§9039.68. General powers
A. In addition to the powers and duties elsewhere granted in this Chapter, the board
is hereby granted and shall have and may exercise all powers necessary or convenient for the
carrying out of its objects and purposes, including but not limited to the following:
(1) To sue and be sued.
(2) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal.
(3) To acquire by gift, grant, purchase, or lease, and to hold and use any property,
real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein necessary or desirable
for carrying out the objects and purposes of the district. The district shall have no power of
expropriation or eminent domain.
(4) To sell, transfer, convey, or alienate any property acquired by it, or any interest
therein at any time, by negotiation, to accomplish the objects and purposes of the district.
(5) To lease or sublease all or any portion of any property, by negotiation, for a term
not exceeding ninety-nine years at a fixed or variable rental and without advertisement for
public bids.
(6) To donate by fee simple title, or otherwise to convey to the United States, the
state, or to any political subdivision of the state, any lands, property, right-of-way, easement,
servitude, or other thing of value, which the district may own or acquire for use by said
governmental entity to accomplish the objects and purposes of the district.
(7) To make and collect reasonable charges for the use of property owned by the
district and for services rendered by the district and to regulate reasonably the fees and
charges to be made by privately owned, leased, or otherwise authorized uses of property
owned by the district, or sold or leased by the district, when same are offered for the use of
the public.
(8) To enter into contracts to achieve the district's object and purposes including but
not limited to contracts for professional and other services and for the purchase, lease,
acquisition, sale, construction, operation, maintenance, and improvements of land, public or
private works, and facilities, as the district may deem necessary or convenient to accomplish
the object and purposes of the district.
(9) To plan, develop, operate, and maintain activities and land uses to foster creation
of new jobs, economic development, industry, biomedical research, clinical trials, commerce,
manufacturing, relocation of people and businesses to the area, the acquisition of land and
improvements, and the construction, operation, and maintenance of facilities, improvements,
and infrastructure, including buildings, roads, drainage, and utilities, and other functions and
activities to accomplish the object and purposes of the district and to protect the public health
and welfare.
(10) In its own name and behalf, to incur debt and issue general obligation bonds
under the authority of and subject to the provisions of Article VI, Section 33 of the
Constitution of Louisiana, and Subpart A of Part III of Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 39 of
the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, for the establishment, operation, and maintenance
of district-owned property or to carry out the other public purposes of this Chapter, to issue
revenue bonds, borrow money, and issue certificates of indebtedness, notes, and other debt
obligations as evidence thereof and provide for the manner and method of repayment without
election; to regulate the imposition of fees and rentals charged by the district for services
rendered by it or fees or rentals charged for use of privately owned facilities located on
district-owned property when such facilities are offered for use by the public or by a private
industrial, commercial, research, or other economic development entity or activity.
(11) To develop, activate, construct, exchange, acquire, improve, repair, operate,
maintain, lease, mortgage, sell, and pledge movable and immovable property, servitudes,
facilities, and works under such terms and conditions as the district may deem necessary or
appropriate for any purpose, notwithstanding the limitations of Chapter 13 of this Title and
Chapter 10 of Title 41, all of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended.
(12) To borrow money and pledge all or part of its revenues, leases, rents, and other
income, fees, or resources of any nature as security for such loans or bonds.
(13) To appoint officers, agents, and employees, including an executive director and
staff, prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation.
(14) To sell by negotiation or by public bid, after due advertisement, to the highest
bidder any property, movable or immovable, or portions thereof, acquired by the district
subsequent to July 12, 2005. Any advertisement for bids and the minimum price and terms
of the sale shall be advertised in the official journal. The advertisement shall be published
three times within ten days before the day that bids will be received. If, after the
advertisement for bids, there are no bids received or the bids received are unreasonably low,
as determined by a majority vote of the board, then the board may negotiate the sale of such
property at fair market value to be agreed upon by majority vote of the board. In no instance
may the property be transferred by donation or sold for less than the highest bid; if
unreasonably low bids were received in the event a negotiated sale is used, the sale price
shall not be less than the average value ascribed thereto by two appraisals by MAI appraisers.
(15) The board shall have the authority to present an application to the mayor of the
city of New Orleans for purposes provided in the Louisiana Enterprise Zone Act, R.S.
51:1781 et seq., relative to property within the district. The mayor shall process such
application in the same manner as any such application originated by the city.
(16) The promulgation of bylaws which are consistent with the provisions of this
Chapter.
B.(1) At least ten days after publication of a notice in the official journal of the
district, a public hearing shall be conducted, and the board may then designate one or more
areas within or without the boundaries of the district as they may exist from time to time as
a separate subdistrict, or as an enlargement or reduction of the original district, provided that
subdistricts created by the board outside the then current boundaries of the district need not
be contiguous to the district. Any territory outside the original boundaries of the district that
is sought to be included or excluded in the district, or designated as a separate subdistrict,
may only be so included, excluded, or designated subject to the approval of the Legislature
of Louisiana and the governing authority of the city of New Orleans, by ordinance. Each
subdistrict shall constitute a separate political subdivision of the state, governed by the
district board with the same powers and limitations of the district. Each designated
subdistrict area shall be representative of its geographic location and designated as
"BioDistrict Economic Development Subdistrict for _____________".
(2)(a) In addition to any other provision of this Chapter, the owner or owners of land
whether or not contiguous to the district may file with the board a petition requesting that
their property be included as an enlargement of the original district, excluded from the
original district, or designated as a separate subdistrict. The land to be included or excluded
in the district may be described in the petition by metes and bounds or by lot and block
number if there is a recorded plat of the area. The board shall hear and consider the petition
and may add or reduce the land described to the original district or designated as a subdistrict
in the petition if it is feasible, practicable, and to the advantage of the district. Upon receipt
of such petition and at least ten days after publication of a notice in the official journal of the
district, a public hearing shall be conducted, and the board shall consider the petition and
may then enlarge or reduce the boundaries of the district or designate one or more areas
within or without the boundaries of the district as they may exist from time to time as a
subdistrict if it is practicable, feasible, and to the benefit of the development of the
bioscience health care industries.
(b) Subdistricts created outside the boundaries of the district also need not be
contiguous to the district. Any territory outside the district that is sought to be included or
excluded in the district or designated as a subdistrict, may only be so subject to the approval
of the Legislature of Louisiana and the governing authority of the city of New Orleans, by
ordinance. Each subdistrict shall constitute a separate political subdivision of the state,
governed by the district board with the same powers and limitations of the district. Each
designated subdistrict area shall be representative of its geographic location and designated
as " BioDistrict Economic Development Subdistrict for ______________".
(c) The board shall not designate as a separate subdistrict any area wholly within the
boundaries of the district without prior approval of the Legislature of Louisiana and the
governing authority of the city of New Orleans, by ordinance.
(3) No territorial jurisdiction or boundaries of the district shall be expanded, reduced,
or extended and no subdistrict shall be created to include any area that is not entirely
contained within the New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area without the approval of the
Legislature of Louisiana and the governing authority of the city of New Orleans, by
ordinance.
NOTE: See Acts 2013, No. 67, §2 relative to authority of the district within
its original boundaries and within the boundaries of the Downtown
Development District of New Orleans.