BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A request for $550,000 in city subsidies for a housing development in one of Cincinnati's most upscale neighborhoods is drawing some questions from city council.
The central issue is why the Mount Lookout development, with homes ranging between $250,000 and $350,000, would need a half-million dollars in city subsidies to cover anything from new roads to sewers. The proposed "Spencer Hill" development is the centerpiece for next year's Citirama, the urban version of the suburban new-home show.
While the public-private sponsorship envisioned some kind of subsidy, the developer's pitch for the subsidies during council's neighborhoods committee raised some eyebrows.
Several council members wondered whether such home shows - and the subsidies that go with them - shouldn't be put in struggling neighborhoods.
"Where we need the strongest housing improvements is in the inner city," said Councilman Jim Tarbell, who serves on the committee. Councilman Dwight Tillery, vice chair of the committee, added: "I think the idea (behind Citirama) is that you're trying to look at areas of the city that are in need of improvement, and I don't know whether Mount Lookout meets that requirement."
Citirama, a partnership of the city and the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati, was formed to build homes and boost home ownership in the city. Home ownership is estimated at 38 percent. Mayor Roxanne Qualls said the goals of the city-Home Builders Association partnership was to show the market was favorable to build for building houses and that Cincinnati was an inviting place for developers. Another goal was to create new housing for middle-income residents.
The 1999 show isn't the only one that has been embroiled in some controversy. The 1998 show was planned for the East End. But reports that homes would be built on unstable ground led the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati to cancel.
And when the 1999 site was announced in September, residents and others raised some objections. Concerns about the Mount Lookout site, west of Delta Avenue, included spending taxpayer money on a project in an area that does not need subsidized housing, and the stability of the hillside and the buffer zone with adjoining property.
During Tuesday's meeting, Citirama planners announced a modified plan that increased the buffer zone, while reducing the number of homes from roughly 30 to 25. They also announced a reduction in the request for city subsidies - from $750,000 to $550,000.
The developers, who would be kicking in $1.6 million for infrastructure improvements, raised concerns Tuesday that it could take up to December for council to make a final decision about the subsidy. Planners and council members left with the understanding that officials would need to study the matter while moving expeditiously.
