January report on new District Three station to address East Price Hill concerns

A report on the status of the site selection and design of a new Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) District Three station is due before City Council by Jan. 6.

The report is the result of a Dec. 5 motion submitted by Vice Mayor Qualls and councilmembers Quinlivan, Seelbach, Simpson, Sittenfeld, Thomas and Young that was filed in response to concerns from the East Price Hill Improvement Association (EPHIA) that a new state-of-the-art facility could be built in Westwood, near the Wal-Mart on Ferguson Road, or in some other location outside of the neighborhood.

The existing facility, located at 3201 Warsaw Avenue in East Price Hill, is considered cramped and outdated.

EPHIA has been suggesting sites since 2006, including a site on Considine Avenue owned by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and the former Whittier School site, adjacent to the current station on Hawthorne Avenue.

Those suggestions received no follow-up from the City, according to a Dec. 4 letter to Council from EPHIA President Tom Gamel.

"There are other sites that might serve as a new headquarters in our community, but somehow our community has been left out of the discussion process," Gamel said.

Gamel said that his neighborhood's continued requests for a new facility were denied due to a lack of funding, but now is the time for the City to take action.

"There are a lot of real positive things happening in our community," he said. "We are seeing some real progress in the business development in our community as well as some changes in home owner occupied housing. District Three being located in our community means basically every police vehicle starts the day in our community and ends the shift in our community."

If the facility relocates, that police visibility will be lost.

"That we fear would result in an increase in all types of crime," Gamel said. "That would actually destroy everything we have been working on to improve our community is the past several years."

CPD's 20-square-mile District Three serves approximately 95,000 residents in the neighborhoods of East Price Hill, East Westwood, English Woods, Lower Price Hill, Millvale, North Fairmount, Riverside, Sayler Park, Sedamsville, South Cumminsville, South Fairmount, the Villages at Roll Hill, West Price Hill, and Westwood.

Previous reading on BC:
West Price Hill property offered to City for new District 3 police station (1/27/09)
EPHIA to City: Buy Whittier site ASAP (6/18/08)
City will not help purchase Whittier site (11/21/07)
East Price Hill wants Whittier, new police station (10/18/07)