The “law of unintended consequences” is now in effect in Cincinnati.
Back in April, when seven of the nine Democrats who make up Cincinnati City Council voted to allow a controversial redevelopment project on Hyde Park Square to go ahead, two things happened that the members who supported it didn’t intend and probably couldn’t have imagined.
First of all, it sparked a grassroots movement in the neighborhood that has submitted more than 18,300 signatures to put the Hyde Park Square development project on the November ballot for an up-or-down vote throughout the city.
Buildings in Hyde Park Square have been limited to 50 feet tall. This zoning change passed by City Council would increase that to 85.5 and include a hotel, which was not allowed before.
This is why you see dozens of bright yellow yard signs in Hyde Park saying “It’s Just Too Big!”
If the Hamilton County Board of Elections finds that 9,146 of the signatures are from valid city voters, it will qualify for the ballot. And that ballot issue, along with a city-wide debate over the “Connected Communities” package of zoning changes — is likely to be the central focus of November’s City Council election.
Which brings us to the second unintended consequence: “Connected Communities,” passed by a Council majority in April 2024 despite opposition from some city residents, and the firestorm over the Hyde Park Square development project could re-awaken a sleeping bear: the Charter Committee of Greater Cincinnati.
That's the same organization that, 101 years ago, succeeded in throwing out the corrupt Republican political bosses and replacing it with a nine-member at-large council and a professional city manager to carry out council’s will.
Charter has had its peaks and valleys over the last century, dominating Council at some points, forming a coalition with Democrats at other times, and occasionally nearly vanishing off the face of the Earth.
But with this battle over zoning, Connected Communities, and Hyde Park Square boiling over, Charter leaders see that they have a role to play.
Maybe a big role.
These are 'classic good government issues'
Charter’s leader — they are calling him the “convener” instead of president these days — is former City Council member Steve Goodin. He said Charter is already interviewing possible Charter Council candidates. They are all asked, Goodin said, about Connected Communities and the Hyde Park Square imbroglio.
“I’ve been pleased to see renewed energy and organization around these classic good government issues,” Goodin said. “Our current work is very much in line with past Charter efforts regarding civic engagement and transparency. Connected Communities and the Save Hyde Park Square movement implicate both.
"It is worth remembering that (Charter founder) Murray Seasongood and his compatriots originally organized to fight a municipal tax increase in an effort to starve the Cox/Hynicka machine. These kinds of issues have a way of taking on a larger meaning.”
In the past, the Charter Committee has given City Council endorsements to candidates who identify with the major political parties, but that is unlikely to be the case this year.
Goodin said Charter may offer endorsements to the two Council Democrats who voted against the Hyde Park project — Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and Council Member Scotty Johnson, “but we expect they will be once again instructed by the party bosses to decline the endorsement.”
“I can say with a high level of confidence we will not be cross-endorsing any Republicans,” Gooding said. And, he said, there is “zero interest” in supporting the candidacy of JD Vance’s half-brother, Republican Cory Bowman, for Cincinnati mayor.
It’s not clear yet that the Republican Party is going to run a slate of candidates in a heavily Democratic city. Bowman will campaign as an opponent of Connected Communities and the Hyde Park Square project, but, in a head-to-head race with incumbent Democrat Aftab Pureval, he is likely the longest of long shots.
The referendum that Save Hyde Park Square is seeking is likely to have enough signatures to make the November ballot. But even if voters revoke the planned development designation, the developers would still own the property and still plan to build there.
Molly Henning, the founder of Save Hyde Park Square, said in a statement that the PLK Communities project green-lighted by City Council “doesn’t fit the scale or character of Hyde Park Square. These projects don’t solve our city’s housing crisis. If voters approve this referendum in November, it will be a mandate for smart, sustainable development that respects our neighborhoods and zoning laws.
Jeff Cramerding, one of the Council members who gave the go-ahead to the Hyde Park development, explained his reasoning at the April meeting.
"I think this development adds the housing we need and attracts the people we need, which is young people and empty nesters,” Cramerding said. “I concede that this is definitely going to be much more expensive than I'd like, but that's the reality in the Hyde Park market. But I think we need housing like this across the city."
Charter will likely be pushing the referendum, along with its council slate.
But what really matters to Charter is what mattered to it 101 years ago, when Seasongood was battling against the Republican bosses — the reason Charter calls itself “the good government committee.”
Connected Communities and the rezoning of Hyde Park Square for a massive development “have tapped into a larger concern,” Goodin said. “The dawning realization that with have a City Hall that just doesn’t listen to citizens’ concerns.”
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