It was a packed room for a public meeting Saturday with the goal of improving Cincinnati’s zoning code.
City Council passed comprehensive zoning reform last June with three of the nine council members opposing the legislation known as "Connected Communities." Since then, the three opposing members — Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney, President Pro Tem Victoria Parks, and Scotty Johnson — have been working with dozens of community members to identify possible changes to Connected Communities.
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“We’re not here to repeal Connected Communities,” Kearney said at the start of Saturday’s public town hall. Instead, she says City Council should pass several changes to the legislation related to accessibility, affordable housing, design standards, and more.
“Thank you for caring enough about your city to make sure we get it right,” Johnson told attendees. “I always want to stay open to what the community wants. I don’t think we did a good job of making sure we heard from you.”
The task force includes five committees: accessibility, affordable housing, environment, infrastructure, and neighborhood look and feel. Four of the committees presented recommendations for changing zoning code as well as recommendations for a wide range of concerns not currently addressed in zoning code.
Kearney says months of meetings and planning have gone into this effort so far, but there’s still a long way to go. She says each committee will meet with members of city administration, including the legal team, before bringing a more concrete plan to City Council for consideration in late March or early April.
“We didn't agree on everything, and that's fine,” she told WVXU. “I mean, that's really how government works — to hear the voices of the people come together with something that is even better than where we started.”
Some of the recommendations, like those around mandatory affordable housing in exchange for height and density bonuses, were discussed during the Connected Communities debate but did not make it into the final ordinance. Still, Kearney says she’s optimistic.
“I think the rest of Council will understand, once they see these policy recommendations, that this is all about making Connected Communities better,” she said.
RELATED: New online dashboard tracks impact of Connected Communities zoning reform
Many in the crowd hearing about the recommendations made it clear they would rather push for a complete repeal of last year’s zoning reform.
“It’s just disgusting to have your neighborhood ruined,” said one participant, sparking applause from the room. “I think we need to vote to get rid of Connected Communities.”
The Cincinnati Charter Committee recently called for doing just that.
“While deeply sympathetic to the need to increase density within the city limits and expand access to public transit, the process leading to this legislation’s passage constituted an epic failure of civic engagement,” the Committee said in a statement.
Recommendations
Here are some of the suggestions from each of the five working groups. Note this is not a comprehensive list of all recommendations.
Accessibility
- Incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) principals into all city-wide ordinances
- Establish “visitability standards” that regulate things like a no-step entrance and a restroom available on the first floor
- Make proposed ordinances available to the public in alternative formats, like making documents compatible with a screen reader
Environment
- Require or incentivize stormwater mediation
- Require developers replace removed trees either on-site or through a “tree bank”
- Increase the city budget for code enforcement and outreach
- Make sidewalks a city responsibility (currently, property owners are responsible for sidewalk maintenance)
- Require new residential parking to include electric vehicle charging
Neighborhood Look and Feel
- Allow citizens to opt-in to a message system for updates on proposed developments
- Create “pattern books” where developers can choose from designs pre-approved by community members
- Offer incentives for residential properties in historic districts that preserve neighborhood character, such as tax credits and abatements
Affordable housing
- Only allow increased density under Connected Communities if the developer makes at least 20% of units affordable to households making 50% or less of the Area Median Income
- Developers could alternatively pay a fee to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund in an amount equal to the cost of developing the required percentage of affordable units.
Infrastructure
Members of this committee were not available to present at Saturday’s town hall. According to a press release, this group is considering issues of internet accessibility and closing the tech gap.
