Council approves rezoning to allow Walnut Hills Cemetery expansion, excludes one cluster of lots

Cincinnati City Council voted to change zoning for parcels owned by Walnut Hills Cemetery to allow a roughly 4.5-acre expansion of the cemetery, approving rezoning for three grouped areas and denying a fourth area that city planners and the City Planning Commission said should remain available for housing.

The change affects 26 vacant lots owned by the cemetery adjacent to the existing 40-acre Walnut Hills Cemetery at 3117 Victory Parkway. City planning staff said the cemetery opened in 1842, is one of the city’s longest operating cemeteries and currently has a wait list for burial plots.

City planning staffer Kyle Gibbs told the council the request would bring the subject parcels into the SF-4MH zoning district so the cemetery can expand. "The applicant is Miguel Smith Puncheon, on behalf of the property owner, Walnut Hills Cemetery Association," Gibbs said. He described the expansion area as divided into four subareas, with Area 1 planned as a gateway, Areas 2 and 4 planned for in‑ground burials and columbariums, and Area 3 identified by staff and the City Planning…