Neighborhood Updates

HPNC received the following alert from DOTE (Dept. of Transportation/Engineering) Monday morning:

Edwards Rd between Madison Rd and Wasson Rd will be closed to vehicle, bike, and pedestrian traffic starting Monday, June 9, for intersection reconstruction. This will be a 6-week closure for northbound traffic and then a 6-week closure for southbound traffic.

The Wasson Way Trail will be impacted; trail users should follow the posted detour routes.

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Clearly, this project will significantly impact traffic during this extended construction period. It will also have major impacts for the businesses along Edwards Rd., We will keep you in the loop when we receive further updates from DOTE.

Please join us Tuesday, May 13th, at 7:00 PM, for our annual meeting, where we will recognize our Students of the Year and Neighbor/Person of the Year, and hand out our Community Builder awards. 

The meeting will be held at Hyde Park School (3401 Edwards Rd). Signage and some of our Trustees will be available onsite to direct you to the meeting room. For those driving, please park in the lot off of Edwards.

During this meeting we will also be holding our annual Board of Trustees election. The 2025 ballot is available here. If you would like to vote in the election, please make sure you are current with your HPNC dues. You can make the $20 annual membership payment, or any other supportive donations, via our PayPal page, or by mailing a check to our PO Box. 

HPNC
PO Box 8064
Cincinnati, OH 45208

You can find the full agenda on our website here. We do our best to have this posted the day before the meeting. 

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 emailed announcement if you are on our mailing list.

As a reminder, there is an Open House to explore the draft neighborhood plan for Hyde Park this evening. The meeting will run from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Eastside Recreation Center (3900 Paxton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45209). As the format is an Open House, feel free to come anytime within that window to learn about the plan, provide feedback on the goals and strategies, and talk with Steering Committee members. If you haven't already, you can register in advance here.

If you are unable to make the meeting but would still like to provide feedback, please fill out the online form. The draft plan can be viewed on the plan website.

Draft Plan

All members of city council will be voting on the Planned Development rezoning proposal for Hyde Park Square tomorrow, Tuesday April 22nd, 2025, at 1:00 PM at a meeting of the Equitable Growth and Housing Committee. 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 the meeting in-person, you must fill out a speaker card before the meeting. If you are unable to attend in-person, you may also register to appear at the meeting via Zoom at the Public Speakers Registration Page, being sure to select Equitable Growth & Housing as the Committee of Interest. Zoom Registration must be completed by 9:00 AM on the day of this meeting to receive the link.

The relevant documents for the meeting can be found at the City page for the Planned Development proposal

If you would like to attend virtually without speaking, the city asks that you please do not use the Zoom link and instead watch the meeting on City Cable here: City Cable

The video below is shared on behalf of Save Hyde Park Square, which has collected responses from several civic and neighborhood organizations across the city.

If the video does not load for you, please try viewing it here instead.

City Council members Anna Albi and Seth Walsh will join us for a public listening session so members of our neighborhood can share thoughts about the Planned Development. This has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 9th, from 6:45-7:45 PM at Hyde Park School. Please park in the lot on Edwards Rd and follow signage to the meeting room. Several folks from HPNC will try to be available to help with foot traffic, too.

Please note that this Special Meeting will be in addition to the HPNC monthly meeting we will have on Tuesday, April 8th.

We have also learned that April 22nd and April 23rd are the earliest possible dates that the Equitable Growth & Housing Committee and full City Council could vote on the proposed Planned Development for Hyde Park Square.

Between now and then it is imperative that we keep up the pressure on City Council, and share our opinion on the Planned Development. Should you wish to reiterate the position HPNC has on the matter please review the motions we’ve passed via the Neighborhood Updates section on the HPNC website.

Please reach out if you have any questions!

As discussed at our March meeting, we are required to update our bylaws to include two additional statements regarding membership in order to remain eligible for funding through Invest In Neighborhoods. Those updates have been added to the proposed bylaws lilnked via the button below. Please be prepared to vote on these bylaws updates at the April meeting.

Social Services Day Eastside will be held on April 12th from 10am-3pm at the newly renovated Eastside Recreation Center, at 3988 Paxton Avenue.

Social Services Day aims to provide a comprehensive range of resources and services to the community.

Along with food and fun, the event will focus on providing information about services that promote resiliency and sustainability. Through the collaboration of City Departments, Community Partners, and Local Businesses, we will create a one-stop-shop experience for resources the City of Cincinnati has to offer.

If you'd like to register as a vendor you can do so here.

Do not hesitate to reach out to Isaac Smitherman (isaac.smitherman@cincinnati-oh.gov) if you have any questions or concerns!

As many of you have likely heard, on Friday the City Planning Commission met to discuss the proposed zone change requested by HPSRD, LLC. The meeting lasted almost six hours, and a recording can be viewed on archive.org.

Despite the overwhelming opposition from the residents, business owners, and civic organizations, the Planning Commission voted 3-1 to approve the zone change, via adopting the following motion:

I would move that we approve item 1 as the original application, under the condition, however, that it complies with the rear massing and scale adjustments and private driveway location change set forth in the revised application.

While disappointing, the proposed zone change will now face two votes by City Council.

It is critical for Hyde Park and our fellow Cincinnatians to contact City Council to ask them to vote against the Zone Change.

And as you contact City Council, please remember that the single “No” vote at Friday’s hearing was from Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney. Thank her for listening to our concerns. We now need to help the other eight City Council Members understand we support development, but not the Zone Change. The existing zoning should stay in place.

Please join us at our monthly meeting this Tuesday, March 11th at 7pm at the Little Theater, on the second floor of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, at 1345 Grace Avenue, as we talk through potential next steps regarding this development.

If you have not already subscribed to receive news and donated to Hyde Park Neighborhood Council, please do so here. Please also follow us on Facebook.

In addition, we encourage you to go to www.savehydeparksquare.org and join their mailing list if you would like information from them on taking further action.

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