Morgan says City, 3CDC 'diminishing rights of citizens'

Michael Morgan of the Over-the-Rhine Foundation has again contacted City Council regarding the unresolved future of school-owned land in his neighborhood.

The issue is the result of a 2003 contract between the City of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) that promised, in vague language stating , to deed land at the site of the former Washington Park School and the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) to the Cincinnati Park Board.

The contract, which states that CPS will "use [its] best efforts to investigate the possibility of transferring surplus school properties in Over-the-Rhine to the City to be controlled by the Park Board for greenspace," is widely viewed as unenforceable.

In a letter to Jeff Berding, Morgan claims that by not pressuring CPS to clarify and enforce the contract, the City of Cincinnati and 3CDC are "choosing to diminish the legal rights of the citizens of Cincinnati".

"3CDC does not represent the interests of the community and appears willing to sacrifice the park space in Pendleton in order to assist their development in and surrounding Washington Park," Morgan wrote. "And the City has empowered and approved this irresponsible decision."

Morgan says that the warnings of the Over-the-Rhine Foundation and the positions of community members were ignored and is wondering why the City isn't pushing for clear title to both the Washington Park and SCPA greenspaces.

"In fact, it seems that all legitimate warnings were ignored and 3CDC was given the green light to do exactly the wrong things," Morgan wrote.

Morgan cites a March 7 Cincinnati Enquirer article that states that CPS would only grant a long-term lease for the former site of the Washington Park School if the district could retain the right to take back the land at any time for educational purposes.

3CDC executive director Steve Leeper says that such an arrangement could cause plans for the expansion of Washington Park and a new garage for Music Hall to fall through.

And as it stands now, CPS could sell the land to anyone for development.

Morgan first contacted City Council last September when plans were announced for a 219-space parking lot on the northern portion of Washington Park, a project that was never mentioned in the 2003 contract.

The parking lot has been built, and the Park Board is considering leasing the land to expand the park, even though they are entitled to it by law.

Though he credits the City Manager's office, Councilmember Chris Monzel and both the mayor and the vice mayor with focusing some resources and attention on the matter, Morgan says he is unaware of any substantive findings on the contract language, or of any forthcoming resolutions.

In November, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. said that a pledge letter from CPS Superintendent Rosa Blackwell to the Park Board and a City Council resolution in support of the eventual land transfer were adequate to ensure that the spirit of the contract was enforced.

Morgan's letter has been forwarded to the Office of the City Manager, with a report on the matter due by the end of April.

Previous reading on BC:
City reports on Washington Park greenspace (11/19/07)
OTR Foundation asks City to look into CPS contract (10/19/07)