HYDE PARK, Ohio (WXIX) – The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council will meet Tuesday to hold a community forum on a proposed redevelopment project.

The development has been controversial for Hyde Park residents. Some say the project would provide a lot of support to small businesses.

“The implementation of this development will provide more opportunities for businesses and ensure our restaurants thrive,” says Hyde Park resident Mark Godsey.

Others don’t believe there is a need for more apartments and don’t want the historic feel to change.

“I think the integrity and history of this plaza would be greatly missed,” Hyde Park resident Carol Rudy tells FOX19 NOW.

Colleen Reynolds, a partner in the group proposing the development, says along with more businesses would come a hotel and more apartment complexes.

The hotel would go where the Coldwell Banker Realty building is on Erie Avenue, and the apartments would go behind it.

City Councilman Mark Jeffreys says adding businesses to the area is critical.

“I think everyone in the community and the city wants to make sure that the businesses that exist have more foot traffic and are vibrant,” he says.

Godsey tells how businesses in the area have had to close due to lack of traffic.

“One of the long-term businesses, a wine and cheese shop that’s been there for about 50 years, just closed,” he says. “We love that place and we went there all the time. “You don’t want your local businesses to have problems.”

He goes on to note that it is not the charming historic buildings that are being considered for removal.

“They’re the low-level red brick ones that look like they were built in the ’70s,” Godsey says.

However, Rudy has other fears.

“I just can’t imagine how many more people will want to live in a high-rise. This is not a big city like Chicago. I don’t know in Cincinnati if this is justified in this area,” he says.

The president of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council shares the following message:

The meeting will be held on October 29 at Hyde Park School, where the council will share the latest plans and give community members the opportunity to ask questions and be heard.

Jeffreys says: “The most important thing is that residents are involved in this process and that, as the development takes shape, the developer understands their concerns.”

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