March is a busy time of year for North Avondale plus the City of Cincinnati has geared up with multiple initiatives we all need to be informed about.
You may recall the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project identified Reading Rd. and Hamilton Avenue as the two initial main transit corridors last year around this time. City Council has introduced a Connected Communities policy intended to increase housing density in Cincinnati neighborhoods with emphasis on the transit corridors. For North Avondale, this means City of Cincinnati leaders propose removing single-family zoning protection within 1/2 miles of Reading Rd. and within 1/4 mile from the North Avondale business district to encourage more housing density. This will impact many Cincinnati neighborhoods over time, however communities along both Reading Rd. and Hamilton Avenue will serve as alpha sites for two coinciding initiatives.
An unintended impact, as written, is that within almost the entire North Avondale neighborhood, it might become easier for developers to tear down or convert single-family homes into multi-family units which may lead to a demise of this family-friendly community. North Avondale already has many multi-family rental and owner-occupied housing units along Reading Rd., Clinton Springs, Mitchell, Dana and Asmann Avenues, Paddock Road and Victory Parkway. Current single-family zoning protects the integrity of the architecture and historic single-family homes throughout North Avondale. In addition, the proposed policy will eliminate current parking requirements for new multi-family housing developments, thereby pushing additional cars on residential streets.
The NANA executive board discussed Connected Communities at length this week and will prepare a condensed summary of the proposal and suggest some next step recommendations at the general meeting. It’s important that any position taken by NANA represents the entire community, especially as this initiative leaves few North Avondale streets out. Your participation and voice is extremely important at this time. To learn more, attend the March General Meeting. As soon as available, additional Connected Communities articles, links, and maps will be provided.
The NANA monthly meeting is Tuesday, March 12th at the North Avondale Recreation Center from 6:30-8:00 pm. Last month, we heard from Wade Johnston, AICP Executive Director, Tri-State Trails who updated us about the next steps in the plans to connect our region with multi-purpose, non-motorized vehicle trails. This month, our speaker is Lynne Miller representing Fair Districts Ohio. Read more about her presentation here. Her remarks will begin at 7:30pm.
In February, NANA sponsored the SKY program for children 8-12 years old from North Avondale, Avondale and Paddock Hills. This program teaches breathing techniques, yoga and meditation to help local youth navigate their day-to-day lives. The program was well attended and we had great feedback from both teachers and participants. This is an opportunity for our members and families to interact with other participants from adjacent Paddock Hills and Avondale. Find more details about a second SKY program for 8-12 years scheduled over Memorial Day weekend here. As a reminder, NANA has underwritten this program and tuition to attend is free while available.
Please consider giving back and volunteering a few hours each month. NANA asks that each of you add us to your yearly donations. It’s easy to make your contribution via the website or by mail. We need your support to continue making our neighborhood a better place to live and raise our families.