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Cincinnati City Councilmembers Roxanne Qualls and Chris Bortz have introduced a motion that all City public rights-of-way be preserved, including alleys.
The new policy would not permit the sale of any public right-of-way unless the contract contains a reverter clause allowing the City the option to regain ownership, or if they right-of-way is a paper street.
A search of City Council records shows that six ordinances requesting the sale of public alleys have come before council in the past two years, and all six passed.
A report from the City Manager's office on the impact of such a move is due before City Council on Tuesday.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Qualls, Bortz want public rights-of-way preserved
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2 comments:
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. On one hand I feel like public alleys are important parts of the urban landscape that should not be taken away. But on the other hand I know that they are also areas where crime can go unseen. They make it easier for theives to break into buildings or damage propery. The alleyway behind our building is blocked off from public use, so I'm assuming its no longer owned by the city. That was one feature we really liked about our place when we saw it because we knew that we'd be able to let our dogs run off their leash occaisionally and also not have to worry about criminals just casually wandering by our back windows. Its really a security issue with the way OTR is now.
There is a middle ground here. In the alley by our house, we recieved permission to put gates up, but the alley remains a city right-of-way. I see the gates as a temporary measure when crime was/is out of control, and people were in danger because of the criminal activity. Privatizing and fencing is not the ultimate solution and I agree with the Bortz/Qualls motion.
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