Cincinnati residents voice concerns and support for zoning law overhaul

Cincinnati, Ohio – Around 50 people from Cincinnati showed up to the first open discussion about Mayor Aftab Pureval’s new idea to change the city’s zoning laws. Pureval introduced “Connected Communities” a while back, aiming to make adjustments mainly in areas where businesses are and along big roads.

At the meeting in Bond Hill on Tuesday evening, Pureval and city leaders gave a quick run-through of the plan. Most of the time was spent on personal talks between the locals and city employees, who provided detailed info on different parts of the plan. This included options for housing like duplexes and townhouses, issues about parking, rules that make building difficult, and plans for a faster bus service in the future.

Steve Slack, who lives in Clifton, is worried about the idea of allowing buildings with several homes in places that are currently meant for just one family’s house.

“Zoning is what protects our neighborhoods — it protects families, it protects our housing values,” Slack told WVXU. “You can have families in apartments, but I think the quality of life in a house is ideal and what most people would probably want.”

The “Connected Communities” plan would make it possible to build up to four homes together in business areas of neighborhoods and within a certain distance from them; near bus routes and a bit further; and also along main roads but just on the same side of the street.

Jacqueline R. Edmerson, who leads the community council in Bond Hill, went to the meeting because she’s aware that finding a home is tough in her area.

“People can’t be first time homeowners because the investors have bought all the housing,” Edmerson said. “Cincinnati just fell asleep — the whole country fell asleep on that one. And I’m not happy, but I don’t know what you can do about it.”

Edmerson also brought up a past intense discussion in the City Council about housing, when Liz Keating, a former council member, suggested making it easier to have more homes in areas designated for apartment buildings.

“They were looking at trying to put more housing, more apartments, in [already] dense neighborhoods, and people said no,” Edmerson said. “So I wanted to see if they had new initiatives … How are we as a community going to deal with exorbitant rents, and homelessness, and displacement?”

Some locals are behind the idea of Connected Communities because it aims to make housing cheaper to build and helps people get around without needing a car. However, they’re not fully convinced yet.

Jacob Knight from Evanston is worried about plans to pack more houses into an area and cut back on rules without asking the community first.

“It is a concern, if they’re proposing increased density and fewer restrictions that don’t have to go through a public process or community council to see if there is community buy-in for whatever is proposed,” said Evanston resident Jacob Knight.

Garland Waleko, also from Evanston, has noticed times when the city’s big decision-makers didn’t really listen to what people wanted. This makes her cautious about making it harder for the public to have their say.

“Can we trust the city to implement this?” Waleko said. “The city wants our support on this policy, and I would love to give it to them. But how are you being responsive to neighborhoods now?”

Knight is also worried about the idea of needing fewer parking spots.

“I would prefer that our city not be as reliant on automobiles, but for the time being, it seems like we are and it’s not going to change overnight,” he said. “So what’s the kind of transition plan, I suppose?”

After the meeting, Knight and Waleko felt they understood the proposed changes a bit more but still had doubts.

On the flip side, David Emery from North Avondale was really excited about the plan. He heard about the meeting from a neighborhood group online that was asking people to show up and oppose the plan.

“I am actually supportive of the majority of this … so I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just a negative voice coming from my neighborhood,” Emery said.

Emery is particularly keen on the idea of building more middle housing, like duplexes and townhouses, in Cincinnati.

“We’ve been so conditioned to think that you either rent an apartment, or you get a single family house,” he said. “That’s not working for everybody, and also it’s not respecting the diversity of lifestyles and choices that people need. And then lastly, it’s also just not environmentally sustainable.”

Emery gets why some people might be hesitant, but he believes most critics have good intentions. He said the Tuesday meeting helped him grasp the plan better, so he can talk about it more with his neighbors.

Timeline and how to give input

Officials say there will be many opportunities to give feedback and suggest changes. A webpage with more detail, including an interactive map of the city that identifies specific proposed changes, is available now at www.cincinnati-oh.gov/connectedcommunities.

The city is collecting feedback through several online surveys on that webpage, through the “story map” on the “engage” section.

Engagement meetings

Learn more and RSVP at this link.

Wednesday, Feb. 28, from 6-8 p.m., Price Hill Recreation Center — 959 Hawthorne Ave
Tuesday, March 12, at 6 p.m., virtual
Saturday, March 23, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Duke Energy Convention Center — 525 Elm St.

A presentation will be scheduled for an upcoming meeting of City Council’s Equitable Growth and Housing Committee, which meets every other Tuesday at 1 p.m.

The city plans to have engagement sessions at the annual Neighborhood Summit (date TBD, typically in March).

A draft of actual legislation will be released sometime in April, incorporating feedback gathered so far. The city’s Department of Planning and Engagement will host a public staff conference and introduce the ordinance(s) to the Cincinnati Planning Commission.

If the ordinance(s) pass a planning commission vote (likely in May), it will go to a City Council committee for more discussion and possible changes, and is expected to get a full Council vote before the summer recess begins at the end of June.

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