River West Working Group: Queensgate Terminals report 'unacceptable'

The River West Working Group is asking Cincinnati City Council to reject a report recommending an industrial use for the former Hilltop Basic Resources property in Lower Price Hill, calling the report "unacceptable".

In a letter to City Council, River West's Tom Croft that, rather than finding a way to preserve the land as greenspace, the City's Department of Community Development and Planning (DCDP) did nothing but present obstacles.

The report, which City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. presented to council on December 19, recommended that the City zone the 30-acre site RF-C Riverfront Commercial, which could possibly lead to the City negotiating a lease with Queensgate Terminals for a multi-modal shipping facility.

Execution of a lease was ordered in a 2007 court decision, but many on City Council have implored the City to explore residential or recreational options for the property instead.

"Who is in charge here, the department [DCDP], or City Council acting on behalf of the people of our City?" he writes.

Croft takes issue with the assertion that the western riverfront has historically been the City's working riverfront.

"In fact, the whole riverfront, east and west, was historically a working riverfront," he writes. "In recent years, this has changed, most notably on the east riverfront. Why not on the west riverfront?"

Croft believes that, because the economy has changed, the City no longer needs such large, tax-generating businesses so close to the urban core and its numerous revitalizing residential neighborhoods.

"There are other riverfront sites suitable for industrial uses that are not in such close proximity to dense residential and related business uses," he writes.

Croft also dismisses the argument that the tangle of railways present insurmountable access issues, saying that motor vehicle access isn't needed.

"There are plenty of examples of pedestrian overpasses in our City, which can be adapted for bicycle access," he writes.

He also points to these same rails running past the Riverside Boat Ramp and Fernbank Park, both of which provide automobile access.

"These lines are lightly used based on our observations," he writes. "Where is the data? Traffic on these lines is not the safety threat that is being implied."

Croft says the River West Working Group favors a continuing dialogue with the City on such an important issue to the West Side communities.

"This site is particularly important because of its location at a key gateway," he writes. "It is located in one of the finest view corridors in the City. What message are we sending by locating the kind of use the Department if Community Development & Planning favors at such a strategic location?"

A report from the Office of the City Manager is expected to be presented to City Council in early May.

Previous reading on BC:
Dohoney reports on Queensgate site options (12/26/07)
No contact between City, Queensgate since June (12/19/07)
Bortz offers newest motion to stop Queensgate Terminals (8/9/07)
City against riverside intermodal terminal, faces legal penalties (6/15/07)