Videos and more info on instagram @whereisthecitycincy

UPDATE (12/20/24):

City Council passed the SPPA parking plan earlier this fall. Mohawk businesses were successful in asking to limit the plan to the area south of Findlay St. by unequivocally advocating to keep parking free in the Mohawk district. All they did was show up consistently, and I guess represent business interests?

Anyway, good for them. Residents fought for more access to street spots on Central Parkway, Elm, Race, and Findlay St. by making the spots FLEX (for paid visitors and residents), but Findlay Market opposed this. It will only be paid so the residents stay out of the way. It remains unclear whether employees were advocated for in access to the top floor of the garage - they will have no access to permits on the street. In the Findlay district, visitors will get around 75% of parking access for $2.25/hr. Garage remains $3/hr and climbs from there.

More can be read at Cincinnati Magazine: https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/street-parking-in-northern-otr-gets-an-overhaul/

Huge thank you to local news for covering it: Fox 19, WCPO, and Cincinnati Edition. Remember to vote in local elections - if you are frustrated by any infrastructure, our city councillors are the ones who can improve the quality of life in Cincinnati. Or maybe you should run?

Wishing you all (residents, workers, and visitors) safe, easy access to OTR through reasonably priced parking - there is enough for all of us, just isn't being managed so all can access.

UPDATE (10/5/24):

10/05/2024 ACTION:

Email or call: Denise.Driehaus@hamilton-co.org (513) 946-4406 & Alicia.Reece@hamilton-co.org (513) 946-4401 to express your support of residents and workers by incentivizing visitors to use the garage and providing parking for workers in the county garages (Findlay and West End/FCC). Ask them to consider temporary programs like 'first hour free' for customers.

Email or call: klanser@findlaymarket.org 513-665-4839 to ask for Findlay LLC (to support their workers by funding any parking fees in the garages, setting up shuttles from the West End Garage, and to improve communication between the LLC and the workers (did you know you can park for free on weekends at the Elm St Clinic?)

UPDATE (9/23/24): City Council voted to hold on passing the parking plan for one month to allow for discussion and data gathering - plan will be presented in October - updates will follow throughout October 2024.

Residents of OTR report having $500-900 in parking tickets just to access their homes safely.

Employees of Findlay Market cannot afford to pay the current rates for parking at any of the surface lots or garages.

The cost for surface lots and the garages is $3.00/hr.

Street spots will be $1.25, but 611 of the 824 (74%) will be reserved for non-resident, paying drivers. This leaves residents with small zones of 213 (25%) spots distributed across the district.

271 of the street spots (32%) will be 'flex', meaning residents and visitors will share this limited resource while the visitors will have exclusive access to 500 garage spots and 300 surface lot spots.

Over-The-Rhine is home to roughly 5,400 residents.

The newly built Findlay Garage parks 500 cars; it sits largely empty on busy market days while people are parked on sidewalks, blocking alleys, on grass and vacant lots.

Including the West End garage (800 spots; empty outside of FCC game days), and Findlay's surface lots (275 spots), there are around 2500 parking spots in the Findlay District.

The inclusion of the district around E Clifton obscures the number of residential spots, making it seem like there are balanced numbers between paid and residential spots.

E Clifton's RPPP should be passed as a $30/year zone with $30 visitor passes as other RPPP's do in Cincinnati.

Isolated from that district, residents around Findlay will have access to 100 of those. If they cannot find parking in residential zones, they will not be able to park in their own neighborhood.

Findlay workers are cut out of the plan entirely.

There is no official data on how many residents or workers are projected to need those spots.

Currently, the one RPPP (Residential Permit Parking Plan) zone is over capacity at night and on weekends, with families parking on sidewalks, accruing tickets because it is their best option to get home safely or protect their car.

Residents currently pay $30/year for a permit and can access visitor permits to cover childcare, home care, maintenance, and community needs. The rest of Cincinnati's RPPP zones are priced the same.

The proposed plan doubles that rate to $60/year and eliminates visitor parking options.

It decreases the amount of residential parking, and increases the amount of permits sold. There is no data to project how many people need permits and whether there will be an imbalance of supply and demand.

This plan is designed without adequate data or community engagement. Most workers I spoke with did not even know the plan was final and going to council on Sept 24th and 25th, 2024.

Columbus' Short North District used The High Cost of Free Parking's plan to make their district a Special Parking Improvement District where revenue from parking goes into the management and administration of their comprehensive plan in addition to infrastructure improvements, keeping revenue invested in the neighborhood (employees and residents both get permits for a reasonable cost; residential visitors too).

There are many different ways to manage parking in this district - the proposed plan is short sighted, ignores the OTR Community Council's rejection of the plan, and doesn't even consider what workers need.

The different needs of workers and residents could sew division and stop us from working together to find common ground. It doesn't have to.

Some ideas to discuss and work together to push forward:

2 hr limits in the surface lots
validation programs that equalize the cost of street spots and garage spots while incentivizing shopping in the Findlay Market district
Marketing where visitors can park - maps that show rates and locations.
Signage at major intersections to direct visitors to the garage
Utilize the top floor of the garage for employee parking at a reasonable rate ($100/year? $200/year? what are businesses able to pay?)
30 - 45 min or 1hr zones at storefronts on Elm, Race and Vine.
Dynamic pricing depending on capacity
Employee/Resident flex zone on Central Parkway
Bi-annual meetings to adjust the parking plan with employee and resident participation.

It's time to come together to demand real community engagement and a parking plan that includes us all.

Sign this petition to stand up for mobility rights in our district.

In addition to signing this petition, email your mayor and city councillor to educate them about the needs of residents and workers in OTR:

daniel.fortinberry@cincinnati-oh.gov
Dan.Bower@cincinnati-oh.gov
Markiea.Carter@cincinnati-oh.gov
Virginia.Tallent@cincinnati-oh.gov
Sheryl.Long@cincinnati-oh.gov
citycouncil@cincinnati-oh.gov
mayor.aftab@cincinnati-oh.gov

LuAnne Amos

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