The recently adopted comprehensive plan for the
City of North College Hill has been awarded the 2008 Frank F. Ferris II Award by the
Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan, which is the city's first since the early 1980s, outlines the direction that the city intends to take over the next 15 years and is intended boost the confidence of prospective investors and developers.
A steering committee of 14 residents, business owners and community stakeholders began work on the plan in January 2007, emphasizing the desired goals of sustainable growth, walkability, improved transportation and access to services.
As a "first suburb", the city faces the challenge of maintaining its businesses and housing stock, retaining its current residents, and attracting new development.
And with North College Hill being a largely residential community that is almost completely built out, the plan also addresses how the city can redevelop underutilized properties to increase the city's tax base.
The Frank F. Ferris II Community Planning Award, established in 1995, is awarded annually to a local planning commission or planning committee whose efforts have contributed to the elevation of planning principles, greater awareness of the value of planning, and improved quality of life.
Writer:
Kevin LeMasterPhotography by Scott Beseler
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