CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Council is set to vote Wednesday on an ordinance that would require certain security measures to be put in place at paid parking lots and garages in the city.
Cincinnati Police Department data shows 346 guns have been stolen out of cars in parking lots and garages since Jan. 1, 2024.
Two versions of the ordinance were advanced by a city council committee Monday. The key difference is that one version, known as the B version, included extra requirements for surface parking lots. The B version passed 8 to 1 and is expected to come to a final vote Wednesday.
WATCH: City council is looking to expand parking security requirements. Here's how.
If passed, the ordinance would require paid parking lots and garages to have adequate lighting and either security cameras at entrances and exits or staff on site during operating hours. Surface parking lots would also need perimeter fencing or cameras covering the perimeter. Consumer protections are included as well, requiring clear rate signage and a 20-minute grace period before a vehicle can be towed.
Council member Jeff Cramerding said the data made action unavoidable. A combined 35% of car break-in incidents took place at parking lots and garages since Jan. 1, 2024.
"I don't think council ever wants to insert regulation unless it's really necessary, and I think it became necessary in this situation," Cramerding said.
Council member Anna Albi said the ordinance took more than a year to develop.
"This legislation has taken over a year, I would say, to come to fruition, including many months this year of going back and forth and working with (parking) operators and the city administration and CPD to try to find that right balance where we are prioritizing public safety as well as making sure we're not unduly harming small businesses," Albi said.
Albi said the stakes go beyond property crime. Of the more than 380 guns reported stolen out of cars in 2025, 100 were used in crimes, according to CPD.
"Many of these guns are being recovered later at crime scenes. So these guns that are being stolen are being used to commit crimes. So if we can keep those guns out of the hands of potential criminals, that makes our streets safer," Albi said.
"When guns are stolen, they're stolen by bad people, and those guns are used to do further crimes and unfortunate acts," Cramerding said. "Those guns, you know, can lead to shootings, to murders. It's a big problem."
The proposed measures have received pushback from parking lot owners like Jay Donaldson. He has operated his lot near Over-the-Rhine's Grant Park for more than 20 years. Donaldson, who is also a block watch captain in the area, said he already closed his lot to pay-to-park customers weeks before the vote.
Donaldson said the ordinance unfairly targets a slice of parking in the city while exempting areas like universities, hospitals, street parking and other facilities.
"It's absolutely singling out pay-to-park parking lots, and it has been an agenda for the city council for quite some time," he claimed, referencing in part a 2024 council decision to ban new surface parking lots downtown.
Donaldson said he does not believe the ordinance will make a meaningful dent in crime, and that the financial math simply does not work for smaller lots.
"These (micro lots) are very vital economic development tools in our neighborhoods, and now you're going to put them out of business," Donaldson said. "If your business grosses $15,000, you can't spend $230,000. Economics aren't there."
Cramerding said he is sympathetic to those concerns but believes businesses have an obligation to their customers.
"These are businesses that are making money, presumably profitable. And when you are making money, that comes with the responsibility to make sure that your customers are safe," Cramerding said.
Albi said the cost of inaction is also real.
"Someone's paying, right? Here we are just trying to shift some of the burden to make sure that we're preventing these break-ins in the first place, so the city and our taxpayers aren't having to pay for enormous amounts of police patrols just to make sure that a parking garage or parking lot isn't being broken into," Albi said.
Albi said city-owned parking will meet the new standards by the end of the year. She said she is open to expanding the conversation to include other categories of parking.
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