Urban Parking Overlay District #1, "Walkable Urban Core"
On August 7, 2013, Cincinnati City Council approved Ordinance 259-2013 for text amendments to the Cincinnati Zoning Code (CZC) to modify Chapter 1411, “Downtown Development Districts” and Chapter 1425, “Parking and Loading Regulations” to reduce the minimum parking requirements for residential uses in the Downtown neighborhood of Cincinnati and to create Urban Parking Overlay Districts to make it possible for Council to eliminate minimum parking requirements in the areas it determines to be appropriate. § 1425-04 of the CZC allows City Council to establish Urban Parking Overlay Districts within which the provisions of Sections 1425-03, 1425-05, 1425-07, 1425-09, 1425-11, 1425-13, 1425-17, 1425-19, 1425-21, and 1425-23 of the Zoning Code do not apply. This essentially eliminates all parking requirements in areas within an Urban Parking Overlay District except for the physical location of parking should any be provided.
The proposal is to create Urban Parking Overlay District #1, “Walkable Urban Core,” in the Over-the-Rhine, Pendleton, and Downtown neighborhoods and certain portions of the West End and Mt. Auburn neighborhoods as an overlay district to lift minimum off-street parking requirements in the area. These neighborhoods contain high density, mixed-use urban environments that promote and encourage walkability and provide the foundation for a healthy and attractive urban core. Plan Cincinnati, the City’s Comprehensive Plan, supports the enhancement and increase of compact and walkable development. This is a desirable goal that will promote larger societal goals such as environmental and fiscal sustainability, equity, small business development, and preservation of historic architecture.
The proposed elimination of minimum off-street parking requirements further promotes our urban core as these requirements increase the cost of development and therefore pose a major obstacle to the redevelopment of the urban core, reutilization of existing buildings, and the conversion of buildings to more productive uses.
Click here to access the Cincinnati Municipal Code "Urban Parking Overlay Districts" language
Click here to access the Parking Overlay Map