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Competing plans for OTR residential parking permits

Sarah Ramsey

A Cincinnati Council committee will have two proposals to consider for bringing residential parking permits to portions of Over-the-Rhine.  

City administrators had a plan ready to be implemented.  But Council rejected it last month and the rules say it cannot come back without being changed.  

Mayor John Cranley has an OTR parking proposal without a specific fee for the permits.

“Would be set annually by the city manager based on a reasonable value of those permitted spaces,” Cranley said.  “In determining the reasonable value of those spaces, the city manager shall include capturing the forgone parking meter revenues from the permitted spaces.”

The manager would also determine the number of spaces for residents, parking meters and free spaces for anyone to use.  

A second plan resembles the one Council rejected.  It includes 450 residential permit spots and about 150 spaces for OTR workers.  It also sets the permit price at $108 a year, with an $18 annual fee for low-income residents.  

Council Member Chris Seelbach supports this measure.

“Giving the manager the ability to set the price even if demand would result in people spending $300 a permit, I just don’t think that’s fair or reflective of the kind of permit process we have for other neighborhoods,” Seelbach said.

The area for the OTR residential parking program would be bounded by Central Parkway on the west and south; Sycamore on the east and Liberty on the north.  The boundaries are the same in both proposals.  

Council's Neighborhoods Committee is expected to discuss the plans during a meeting on May 4th.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.