CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Planning Commission voted Friday to pass a mixed-use housing proposal on to the full city council for a vote.
The 3-to-1 vote came after dozens of Bond Hill neighbors testified against the project during the meeting.
"We were alerted of a potential project that would come literally behind our homes that we were not in favor of," said Jason Dunn, a resident of Bond Hill's Village of Daybreak (VOD) subdivision.
In June, Dunn started a petition that garnered about 220 signatures from fellow subdivision residents, he said, opposing the plan.
"The community has said no. Bond Hill Community Council has said no. Our temple, AME Church is not in support of this particular project," Dunn said. "So you have that whole corridor of people and entities who are saying no against this, right [this] second."
"We are long-term investors in the community, and that's one of the first important things that we want people to know," Christie Lanier-Robinson, executive vice president of LDG Development, said.
Louisville-based LDG Development has spent the past 25 years building affordable housing developments across Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia and Colorado. This project, located at 1931 E. Seymour Avenue, would mark the company's first in Cincinnati.
"Changes bring about some fear. The unknown is always a little bit uncomfortable," Lanier-Robinson said. "If you look at our track record, we have over 28,000 units across the country. Is it always perfect? Absolutely not. But that's always the goal."
After meetings with residents in June, the developer amended its original plan with some of the following changes:
- Reducing the number of total units from 168 to 150
- Reducing the height of one of the buildings from four to three stories
- Removing the pool and providing an additional 20 parking spaces
- Granting a conservation agreement with the VOD Homeowners Association
"From the get-go, we have said that we did not want the project. So although they have conceded to some degree, we want single-family homes." Tara Harris, another VOD subdivision resident, said. "We care about one another, we look after one another, so we want to make sure that what we have built continues."
Harris said she's worried the mixed-use apartments would devalue home prices in her predominantly Black neighborhood, making it harder to build generational wealth.
"We're not against affordable housing, but the problem we're having is when there seems to be an issue of affordable housing, they always want to place it in predominantly Black neighborhoods," Harris said. "So the question is, then, how can we build generational wealth?"
The median wealth of white households stood at $250,400 in 2021, while Black households saw a median income of $24,520, according to the Pew Research Center.
During the meeting, commissioner Daniella Beltran said the Bond Hill neighborhood has about a 30% homeownership rate.
"There is a real need for attention from city administration, from all of us," she said. "The 30% ownership rate does need to get raised for [Bond Hill] to be a healthy overall neighborhood."
Beltran voted to pass the project on to city council, noting in her decision she didn't believe the plot of land would be suitable for single-family homes or condos.
"The project was kind of being forced down our throat until we stood up," Dunn said.
The project will now head to the full Cincinnati City Council for a vote at a later date.
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