On Friday we received formal notice from the City of Cincinnati about the next step in the Planned Development (PD) submission for Hyde Park Square: the Planning Commission meeting. This meeting is scheduled for Friday March 7, 2025, at 9:00 AM. The meeting will be held both virtually (Zoom) and In Person (City Hall):

‍City Hall, Council Chambers, Room 300
801 Plum Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202‍

If you would like to speak at this meeting, you must register via this link at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting: Planning Commission Registration

The relevant documents for the meeting can be found at the following links:

Project Website
Updated Application Materials
Traffic Impact Study (TIS)

If you would simply like to attend virtually, please do not use the Zoom link and instead watch the meeting on City Cable here: City Cable

Lastly, if you would like to share a letter to be included in the Planning Commission materials, you must send it by 1:00 PM on Thursday, February 27th. Please send it to:

Andrew Halt, AICP, PE | Senior City Planner
City of Cincinnati | Department of City Planning and Engagement
Two Centennial Plaza | 805 Central Avenue, Suite 720 | Cincinnati, OH 45202
andrew.halt@cincinnati-oh.gov

During our Tuesday, February 11th meeting Hyde Park Neighborhood Council unanimously adopted two motions regarding the proposed Planned Development for the south side of Hyde Park Square.

The first motion adopted was:

‍The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council Trustees agree with the Zoning Committee’s letter (February 6, 2025) and find that the four (4) criteria of CMC Section 1429-11(a) are NOT satisfied by PLK’s Planned Development (PD) Petition. We ask the Planning Department and Planning Commission to deny the Petition.

‍The second motion adopted was:

‍I move that HPNC retain counsel to support our position regarding the Planned Development proposed for Hyde Park Square. If the public is interested in adding to this cause we will accept unrestricted donations via our website or via a check made out to HPNC.

‍The letter referenced in the first motion is available here: ZC PD Letter

‍‍Those that would like to donate to support the potential legal fees can do so via this link: HPNC PayPal Donation Page

Please join us on Tuesday, February 11th, at 7:00 PM for our monthly meeting.

It will be held in the Little Theater, on the second floor of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, at 1345 Grace Avenue.

The meeting packet can be found via the link below, or on the Meeting & Minutes page.

Monthly meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM. Since the location may vary, please check on the HPNC website, Facebook, or the the emailed announcement if you are on our mailing list..

Please see the attached flyer for information about Kindergarten Information Night at Hyde Park School. It is scheduled for Thursday, January 30th, at 6:00 PM. Please reach out to Jill Sunderman (sundeji@cpsboe.k12.oh.us) if you have any questions at all!

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council unanimously adopted the following motion at our Monthly Meeting on Tuesday, January 14th:

‍The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council’s motion of November 12, 2024 is revised and replaced by the following:

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council (HPNC) values the historic nature, architectural integrity, and pedestrian scale of our Neighborhood Business District. While we welcome new investment, we believe that keeping the current zoning regulations (CN-P-B and UDOD #4) intact and undiluted is integral to preserving what is not only a neighborhood gem but is also a Greater Cincinnati treasure.

HPNC supports and encourages the redevelopment of the underused parcels that currently have single story, non-contributing structures at 3434-3442 Edwards Road, 2719-2725 Erie Avenue, and 3439-3449 Michigan Avenue, subject to the following:

• ‍The proposed seven story buildings (85-90 feet) are too tall and, therefore, are unacceptable. Michigan Terrace (3500 Michigan Ave.) is not a relevant precedent for the proposed buildings’ height.
• ‍Unless explicitly stated otherwise below, a maximum height of 50 feet (as required by the current CN-P-B zoning), with minimal height variances (less than 10%, or 5 feet), is required for all new buildings.
• ‍A variance for a new, five story mixed-use building at 2719-2725 Erie Ave. is acceptable, but the new building should not exceed the height of the A’Laise building (61 feet, +/-).
• ‍A new, four-story mixed-use building fronting 3434-3442 Edwards Rd. and 3439-3449 Michigan Ave. with minimal height variances (less than 10%, or 5 feet) is acceptable.
• ‍A Planned Development (PD) for a “boutique hotel” use is acceptable with the height restrictions, as defined above.
• ‍Parking and loading spaces for all buildings and all uses in a new PD shall follow the requirements in Chapter 1425 of the Zoning Code of the City of Cincinnati.
• ‍All signage and exterior lighting in a new PD shall follow the CN-P requirements in Chapter 1427 and Chapter 1437 UDOD #4 of the Zoning Code of the City of Cincinnati.
• ‍The PD shall follow all sound and noise ordinances applicable to CN-P-B zoning districts.‍

‍

As a reminder, for those of you that have an opinion on this matter, please attend the virtual Public Staff Conference on Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 at 6:00 PM. The meeting can only be attended via Zoom and you must register to do so. The city's notice and the city Planning Projects webpage also contain the link to register; there is also a shortened version: bit.ly/Hyde-Park-Square-PD-PSC. We suggest you download Zoom in advance so you can join quickly.

It is very important to attend the meeting, but please also reach out to the appropriate city officials via email as soon as possible to share your feelings. As you do, please feel free to CC HPNC (hpncpres@gmail.com) to make us aware.

• City of Cincinnati Planning:
  • planning@cincinnati-oh.gov
  • (513) 352 4845
• City of Cincinnati Zoning:
  • zoninginfo@cincinnati-oh.gov
  • (513) 352 2430
• City Council:
  • citycouncil@cincinnati-oh.gov
  • (513) 352 3246

Also, a number of neighbors have put together a website (savehydeparksquare.org) to share opinions and information about the development.

Please join us on Tuesday, January 14th, at 7:00 PM for our monthly meeting.

It will be held in the Little Theater, on the second floor of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, at 1345 Grace Avenue.

The meeting packet can be found via the link below, or on the Meeting & Minutes page.

Monthly meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM. Since the location may vary, please check on the HPNC website, Facebook, or the the emailed announcement if you are on our mailing list..

Yesterday morning, we received formal notice from the City of Cincinnati about the formal Planned Development proposal submission for Hyde Park Square. We have not yet had a chance to review the proposal in its entirety, but you can find information about the proposal here.

We were also notified about the formal date for the virtual Public Staff Conference for the proposed zone change. This virtual meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held over Zoom, and the notice can be found here. Should you wish to attend the Public Staff Conference you can register to do so here. We suggest you download Zoom in advance so you can join quickly.

Also, we will be discussing the Planned Development submission at our January 14th monthly meeting. Please plan to join us! Meeting details and the agenda will be made available on our website the day prior to the meeting.

Hope this finds you all well, and Happy Holidays from all of us here at HPNC!

As many of you know, we have been working closely with the appropriate City of Cincinnati departments, as well as the development group, to ensure everyone has the latest information regarding the proposed development on the south side of Hyde Park Square.

For those not present at our meeting in November, the following motion was passed:

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council (HPNC) supports redevelopment in Hyde Park Square. As discussed at our September monthly meeting, we are open to a development that is 50 feet tall at the perimeter, has upper floor setbacks similar to 3500 Michigan (“Michigan Terrace”; Lululemon), is no taller than 3500 Michigan, and that improves the overall parking situation in Hyde Park Square. Unfortunately, the proposed Planned Development is 60 feet tall at the sidewalk, has smaller setbacks than 3500 Michigan, is taller than 3500 Michigan, and appears to make the parking situation worse. As a result, HPNC opposes the proposed Planned Development. HPNC wishes for the existing CN-P zoning to remain in effect.

For those of you that have an opinion on this matter, please feel free to reach out to the appropriate city officials as soon as possible to share your feelings. As you do, please feel free to CC HPNC (hpncpres@gmail.com) to make us aware.

• City of Cincinnati Planning:
  • planning@cincinnati-oh.gov
  • 513-352-4845
• City of Cincinnati Zoning:
  • zoninginfo@cincinnati-oh.gov
  • 513-352-2430
• City Council:
  • citycouncil@cincinnati-oh.gov
  • 513-352-3246

Also, a number of neighbors have put together a website (https://www.savehydeparksquare.org/) to share opinions and information about the development. Their intent for the website is to inform and educate the public and make everyone aware of how they can work to affect the outcome of this proposed development. The site also provides information about important dates regarding public hearings that will be held in the coming weeks/months. Please note that these hearings are not yet scheduled, but we will provide updates via email and social media channels once we have firm dates and times.

More to come on this front, so please consider joining the HPNC as a member, which will subscribe you to our email list and check back here often for additional updates. You can also donate to support HPNC, or pay your annual $20 dues, via our PayPal page.‍

Please join us on Tuesday, December 10th, at 7:00 PM for our final monthly meeting of the year.

It will be held in the Little Theater, on the second floor of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, at 1345 Grace Avenue.

The meeting packet can be found via the link below, or on the Meeting & Minutes page.

Monthly meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM. Since the location may vary, please check on the HPNC website, Facebook, or the previous meeting packet to confirm the location of future meetings.

Join us Saturday, November 23rd from 4:30 PM to 7 PM to kick off the holiday season and celebrate the lighting of the fountain! Bring the whole family. There will be a story time with the library at 4:30 PM and photos with Santa Paws (and your pup!) at the Firehouse for little ones, DORA drinks at lots of restaurants for the grownups, and plenty of local businesses who can help you cross things off your gift list.

There will also be music from vocalist Elaine Diehl and keyboardist Jim Swartout - including a community singalong with Christmas carols.
Music is from 5 PM to 7 PM. Square Lighting is at 6 PM!