Letter to the mayor and city council concerning the Hyde Park Square development issue March 8, 2025
The Hyde Park Square issue has the potential to change the way the city does business when it comes to engaging the neighborhoods on proposed zoning ordinances. Hours and hours of public input with the planning staff conferences; the Planning Commission; and finally with the city council, were essentailly ignored by the majority of the council. If you attended the planning commission meeting, it definitely seemed that the fix was in. Three of the members of the commission didn’t even show up for the meeting.
Fortunately, Vice-mayor Kearney and Councilmember Johnson listened and heard the citizen voices that came, not just from Hyde Park residents, but also neighborhoods from across the city. So, at least two members had respect for the voices of the neighborhood residents.
The reason the issue has the potential to change how the city does business is because after council approved the zoning change, 18,000 Cincinnati voters, more than twice the number of signatures required, signed a petition to put the issue on the ballot for the November 2025 election. The voters of Cincinnati will decide. If Cincinnati voters overturn the zone change, it will send the strongest message possible to future city councils that voices of the neighborhoods require respect.
