CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati City Council is slated to vote on a proposed parking plan next week that would look to retool limited space in Over-the-Rhine.
The current proposed plan looks to add flex parking, which is residential parking areas where visitors can park during certain hours, as well as move certain residential permit zones and add paid parking around the area.
"There is a parking plan being proposed by the city to have a paid parking district north of Liberty [Street]," said Kevin Hassey, OTR Community Council president. "It's kind of a zero sum game."
Hassey said he opposes the plan and sees it as "misplaced and inappropriate" at the moment.
"It seems appropriate to fill [Findlay] Garage with visitors before anyone begins to think about on street parking that is currently used by residents," he said.
Hassey is referring to the $31 million parking garage that opened in December 2023.
Find yourself circling OTR trying to find parking? Well, good news! Today was the ribbon cutting for the new Findlay Garage- it has more than 500 parking spots. It’ll be open to the public starting tomorrow @WCPO pic.twitter.com/sGQwpA3vZT
— Taylor Nimmo (@tnimms) December 12, 2023
Located off Central Parkway between Logan and Elder Streets, the 515-parking space structure is six levels tall and offers 15,000 square feet of retail space on its ground level.
"The taxpayer spent $30 million building [the garage]," Hassey said. "That needs to be the first area of emphasis: how do we fill the garage?"
The $31 million garage was paid for through surplus parking revenue and a $2 million state capitol grant awarded by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.
The City of Cincinnati’s Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) presented its final plan to manage parking to the Over-the-Rhine community on Aug. 26.
"So a lot of it was coming up with all these competing needs, and how do we come up with a plan that best balances all of these competing needs," said Dan Bower, deputy DCED director, at the time. "While providing those limited spaces are used as much as possible by those different stakeholder groups."
A recent study done by parking consultant group Desman looked into establishing an employee-focused permit program for the Findlay Market area. The study concluded that the city avoided an employee parking program, saying it would be “counterproductive.”
However, the city said that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the conversation. The plan now heads to the full city council for a vote on Sept. 24.
Bower said they hope to make the necessary changes to signage before winter.
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