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What you need to know about the parking lease

Ann Thompson
/
WVXU

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authorityhas unveiled a series of recommended changes to Cincinnati's controversial parking lease.

You'll have to pay until 9pm if you park in this grid:

(OTR Zone)

  • Central Parkway to Liberty
  • Elm St. to Walnut

(Downtown Zone)

  • Mehring Way to Central Parkway
  • Elm Street to Sycamore

Rates will remain $2 an hour downtown and increase to 75 cents an hour in the neighborhoods. The Port Authority says over a 30-year period the downtown rates will not increase beyond $5 an hour.
Aggressive Enforcement?

The board says police are not being paid more to write tickets and there aren't sensors tied to every parking space alerting them somebody hasn't paid. The board will use data analytics to determine in what areas people aren't paying.  There will soon be more police officers on meter routes.

Board: lease will help Cincinnati

Board member Tom Williams says leasing the parking to Xerox and others will provide the capital Cincinnati can reinvest for future growth. He says, "For any city to compete and flourish in this new highly connected world it will require a structurally balanced budget and a bold aggressive creative approach to raising and investing capital and we can't simply increase taxes to accomplish this."

Opponents still fighting

They are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to hear the case as WVXU's Jay Hanselman reported.

Here is an outline of Friday's presentation.

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.