Committee recommends approval of Westwood Neighborhood Plan after yearlong community process

The Equitable Growth and Housing Committee on Oct. 11 recommended that City Council adopt the Westwood Neighborhood Plan as the neighborhood’s guiding comprehensive plan document.

The plan, developed with a community steering committee and consultants over roughly a year, lays out five themes — business district development; community pride and connections; community and family resources; housing; and transportation and circulation — and a set of near‑term and longer‑term actions, including specific funding requests.

Jesse Urbanzak, Department of City Planning and Engagement, said the steering committee and staff engaged “probably 200, 300 people throughout this entire planning process” through community conversations, surveys, stakeholder interviews and three large Saturday public meetings. Brandon Krailing, vice president of the Westwood Civic Association and co‑chair of the steering committee, described broad outreach including door‑to‑door engagement and stakeholder interviews that shaped the five theme areas.

Steering committee members and neighborhood groups outlined tangible near‑term asks during the presentation. Stephanie Collins of Westwood Works highlighted three ongoing Town Hall District projects: (1) acquisition of the Westwood Theater with a development partner expected to close in late summer; (2) a Town Hall Flats project combining commercial space and housing; and (3) a community budget request to extend existing streetscaping through the remainder of the Town Hall business district. The presentation also identified the former Mercy Health site on Glenway as a potential location for mixed uses and a new CRC recreation center, and several redevelopment opportunity areas behind Cincinnati Urban Promise and at McHenry and Harrison targeting mixed housing types.

Speakers emphasized housing preservation and increased housing types. Sarah (associate pastor at Westwood United Methodist Church and executive director of My Neighbors Place) said the plan supports “all types and kinds of housing for all people,” and asked for tools to help long‑term homeowners and local landlords maintain buildings. The steering committee’s housing recommendations include programs to support landlord maintenance, pathways to homeownership and new housing types such as cottage or modular units.

On transportation and circulation, plan authors proposed a network of pedestrian and bike routes that would move nonmotorized users off high‑speed thoroughfares, improve sidewalks where they are missing (notably on parts of Westwood Northern Boulevard), and better connect to parks including Mount Airy Forest.

Committee chair Mark Jeffreys praised the plan’s tangible asks and asked staff and presenters to return with next steps on specific items, including maintenance plans for vacant properties such as the Paramount under the city’s vacant building ordinance. Vice Mayor Kearney and other council members noted administration participation in the planning process — planning, DCED, CRC, parks, Metro and other agencies were present during development — and that the plan had already been circulated and approved by City Planning Commission.

After discussion about next steps and budget items, the committee took a roll call vote and registered affirmative votes from the members present. The committee action was to recommend that City Council approve the Westwood Neighborhood Plan as the neighborhood’s guiding comprehensive plan document; staff and presenters were directed to provide follow‑up on specific budget asks and implementation steps.

Neighborhood leaders urged the committee to follow through on the plan’s implementation items and to partner on projects already underway, including community engagement for the Westwood Theater and potential funding to support the Mercy Health redevelopment.