Save Hyde Park Square volunteers 'showed up in droves'
Opponents of a controversial $150 million development planned for Hyde Park Square knew the task ahead of them was enormous. In order to reverse a zoning change approved by Cincinnati City Council, they needed to collect more than 9,000 signatures.
When the petition drive was over, an army of volunteers had gathered more than 18,000 signatures. Now city voters in November will have the opportunity to repeal the zoning change, forcing developers back to the drawing table.
'This is why City Council should pay attention, because it was not hard to recruit the 300 volunteers that we had,' said Molly Henning, a founding member of the advocacy group Save Hyde Park Square. 'Anytime we asked our volunteers – hey, could you show up for this? – they showed up in droves.'
Henning, an interior designer and former city planner, was this week's guest on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. Her group, along with the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council, opposed the zoning change that potentially cleared the way for a tiered, seven-story boutique hotel that would tower 85 feet over the square, replacing the single-story Coldwell Banker building on the south side of Erie Avenue. Current zoning limits the height of buildings to 50 feet.
In addition to the hotel, the À L'aise apartment building on Erie would be expanded from 41 units to more than 100 new apartments with street-level spaces for new restaurants and stores. Shortly after plans were revealed, yellow 'It's just too big' yard signs started popping up along neighborhood streets.
'People are tired of not being listened to by their government, and I think City Hall really needs to take this seriously,' Henning said.
That's So Cincinnati, The Enquirer's weekly podcast on what's making news in our community, features a who's who of special guests. Listen to it at Audioboom, Apple or your favorite podcast platform.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Hyde Park Square hotel opponent Molly Henning on That's So Cincinnati
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