Harvest Faith gets okay to expand in West End

1709 Central Avenue

Cincinnati City Council has passed unanimously a notwithstanding ordinance allowing Harvest Faith Fellowship Ministries to expand its West End location.

The church needed the ordinance to use their property at 1709 Central Avenue (BIRD'S EYE) for office and worship space.

A 2004 rezoning made "religious assembly" an illegal use for the site.

In a memo to City Council, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. fully supported the non-conforming use.

"The proposed development by the church will not negatively affect adjacent properties," Dohoney said. "In fact, the new use might enhance adjacent properties because the development of the vacant property will be put to productive use as well as reducing blight in the area."

Harvest Faith has invested in several buildings in the area to further their ministry and neighborhood empowerment mission.

Previous reading on BC:
Harvest Faith wants West End expansion (2/4/08)

Harvest Faith wants West End expansion

1709 Central Avenue

Harvest Faith Fellowship Ministries wants City Council assistance to allow them to expand their West End operations.

The church is seeking a notwithstanding ordinance passed on property it owns at 1709 Central Avenue (BIRD'S EYE) so that they can expand their offices and worship space within the vacant warehouse.

They purchased the land in 1995, and a 2004 rezoning to MG Manufacturing General made the planned expansion for "religious assembly" use illegal.

Harvest Faith, which occupies several buildings in the vicinity, says that the new zoning has landlocked the organization and hurts its planned mission.

According to a statement supplied with their notwithstanding ordinance application, the church has taken invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into many blighted properties to turn them into productive facilities that "equip, train and empower neighborhood residents for a healthy, productive place in the city fabric, thereby creating positive economic impact as well as an improved operation of community."

City Council's Economic Development Committee will hold a public hearing on the ordinance on February 12.