BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Five months after pulling the plug on a family entertainment district on the waterfront, Cincinnati City Council still has no plan for shaping the future of the city's prized central riverfront.
"We stand poised at a time when we can make a difference, and it would be criminal to squander that opportunity," said John Williams, Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce president. "We're not doing it for us, we're doing it for our heirs."
Business and community leaders view riverfront development as essential for the future good health of downtown and the region. While few want to blame anyone for the lack of action, many have been frustrated by the last five months.
"We've lost a lot of valuable time," said Arn Bortz, a local developer and former Cincinnati mayor.
Mr. Williams and others argue that creating a riverfront that the community can be proud of is, in part, an economic development tool.
"It makes people want to be here. It makes people want to stay. It makes people want to come," Mr. Williams said. "If we don't keep this downtown viable and let it slowly die, there is less incentive for companies to stay. As you lose companies, you lose jobs. As you lose jobs, you lose tax base."
Riverfront development also gives the community a chance to reconnect to its riverfront roots, said William Taylor, a local architect and Cincinnati Planning Commission member.
"The development of the riverfront economically and socially has the possibility of enormous impact that could really help bring Cincinnati into a modern, vital period," he said.
Mr. Taylor argues a riverfront packed with parks could become a "powerful kind of attraction for people considering living downtown," which he thinks is vital for the city's health.
Efforts stalled
But as important as many argue riverfront development is, planning efforts have been stalled since city council killed a plan to put a 14-screen movie theater and family entertainment district south of a narrowed Fort Washington Way. Critics blasted it as the "malling" of the riverfront.
Soon after, two competing planning strategies emerged, but none has been adopted.
Cincinnati City Manager John Shirey, Covington City Manager Greg Jarvis and Newport City Manager Jim Parsons proposed a River Cities Downtown Plan, in which the three cities would create a regional development strategy for the cities' riverfronts and downtown cores.
About the same time, Councilman Charlie Winburn, Mayor Roxanne Qualls and Councilman Dwight Tillery proposed forming a blue-ribbon commission to create a broad plan for downtown and an independent plan for the riverfront to be completed on a faster track.
In the absence of a consensus, the city has basically stood still on formulating a direction. Ms. Qualls promises a new proposal today that she hopes will reconcile the two strategies. She declined to provide details.
Mr. Bortz said developers want to see a plan that has community support before investing time and money in a monumental undertaking like riverfront development.
"Until you do that, there's so much uncertainty," he said. "That's not the kind of atmosphere that encourages investment." Mr. Bortz said that while he doesn't know the details of the mayor's latest plan, he's pleased that something seems to be moving forward.
Diverse opinions
There are those on council, however, who don't see the need to rush any riverfront planning process.
Councilmen Jim Tarbell and Todd Portune argue the city should delay any specific planning until after Nov. 3, when Hamilton County voters decide where they want a new Reds ballpark.
"It's impossible to do any real, concrete planning until the issue of the stadium is finally resolved," said Mr. Portune, who along with Mr. Tarbell supports the Broadway Commons stadium site at Broadway and Reading Road.
Indeed, Mr. Tarbell argues the city's lack of action over the past five months has been something of a blessing.
"God forbid we would have made some specific plans and then would have had to change them," he said. "I think it's probably fortunate we aren't in any deeper than we are."
Councilwoman Jeanette Cissell, on the other hand, thinks it's time for the city to move forward with a planning process but added, "Holding that plan certainly hasn't hurt anything."
Whatever direction the city decides to take, Councilman Phil Heimlich argues the city's planning must be regional by including Covington, Newport and other Northern Kentucky development entities. During the past five months, Newport and Covington have forged ahead with their own plans for riverfront and downtown projects. As recently as last week, Covington unveiled a $300 million development plan to pack that city's riverfront with office space, restaurants and condominiums.
But Cincinnati officials stress they're not in a race with Covington or Newport to develop their respective riverfronts.
Ms. Qualls argues Cincinnati's riverfront plans and projects are bound to be far more complex and expensive than those of the cities south of the Ohio River.
"What fuels development on the other side of the river is how attractive we look," added Councilman Tyrone Yates.
Faster in Ky.
Northern Kentucky officials say they can't wait forever for Cincinnati to figure out how to move forward.
"Practically speaking, we'll have to make a decision here in the near future," said Covington's Mr. Jarvis.
Others think it's unlikely much of anything will move forward until Cincinnati City Council and Mr. Shirey agree on a direction. "I think it's regrettable that we haven't started on the riverfront planning process," said Mr. Williams, the chamber president. "But until the administration and council can come up with something that has a chance of making a difference, we'd be just kidding ourselves."
