Sunday, January 24, 1999
New housing for Newport considered key
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — This river city's future, already enhanced by riverfront development such as the new aquarium, must be secured by new housing to revitalize neighborhoods, according to the new city manager.
Phil Ciafardini, who took over as city manager three weeks ago, said “housing is the biggest single issue for this city. The city commission and administration must chart the course for revitalization of our neighborhoods.”
There are those in the Monmouth Street business district, however, who see a push for new affordable housing as a threat to their existence in the downtown area.
Eric Avner, Newport's Main Street coordinator, insists the city wants a strong business presence on Monmouth Street, both with exist ing businesses and new retail and office space.
“Having residential (apartments and condominiums) mixed with the businesses is the best way to ensure that the businesses will be successful,” he said. “We need people living in the downtown area who will take advantage of the stores and restaurants.”
Mr. Ciafardini, a Newport native and son of a retired Newport police detective, remarked during a recent interview that he anticipates a number of new developments, business and residential, in the next six months.
“There are some projects that are close, that will be under construction in the near future,” he said. “We feel that the riverfront entertainment development will draw thousands of people who will walk up Monmouth Street into what we believe will be a thriving business district.”
The housing revitalization program will take time and must be properly planned to
be successful, he said.
“It will take one to two years to perfect the (housing) plan,” Mr. Ciafardini said. “Then we will make it happen over the next 20 to 25 years. We have to plan far into the future to be successful.”
The city and the Newport Housing Authority are working on a plan that will move the residents of 202 units in the Housing Authority project on Fourth Street to sites around Newport and in other parts of Campbell County.
Peter Garrett, who has owned and operated Peter Garrett Gunsmiths in Newport since 1974, said he fears many of those people will be moved to housing units in the downtown business district that will displace the businesses.
“One of the city manager's first jobs is to explain to the people of Newport what the city's overall plan is,” Mr. Garrett said. “It looks to business owners like me that there are projects with no plan for the other end, like moving the people from the (Housing Authority units) without knowing where they will live.”
He said he and other business owners think the city may move many of those people from the Housing Authority into the central business district and turn Monmouth Street into a residential area, at the same time moving the business district closer to the riverfront.
“This is a commercial district, and we want to keep it commercial,” he said. “The city has not done anything to dispel the feeling that city officials want the businesses out of here.”
Although the city lost its longtime city manager (Jim Parsons) and economic development director (Laura Long) in the space of about six months last year, Mr. Ciafardini said the city's plans and priorities haven't changed and that the administrative staff is up to the task of making things happen.
“We want to see all the neighborhoods renewed like what has happened in the eastern area of the city, and we want a strong business district along Monmouth Street,” he insisted. “We'll work to make it happen. In five years, people will return to Newport and not recognize the city from Fifth Street to the river.”
The riverfront development is now well established with the planned May opening of the Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium, followed by a 3-D IMAX theater and the rest of the Newport on the Levee entertainment district — which will include a 21-screen theater complex, restaurants and shops.
To meet the demands of the new riverfront development and the plans to upgrade housing, Mr. Ciafardini said the city must have a comprehen sive infrastructure program.
“We must have a solid program for new sidewalks, streets and other areas of the infrastructure,” he said. “We will focus heavily on that in the next six months.”
One of the plans that addresses that vision is the Streetscape project that would literally change the face of Monmouth Street from Fifth Street to 11th Street.
The city has applied for a $2.2 million Community Development Block Grant to finance the project, which would include moving all overhead wiring, repaving Monmouth Street and making it two ways (it's now one way north), putting in new sidewalks and curbs, and adding parking and green space.
“If that happens, it will make a tremendous difference in the business district,” Mr. Garrett said. “The business owners have all written letters of support to the state that are included with the grant application.”
Mr. Ciafardini, who has watched the city gradually change over the past 40 years from his childhood days, said he “feels good about our vision. We know what we want the city to be. I believe we have arrived. We are now viewed as a leader in the Greater Cincinnati community.”
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