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A ruling has been made in a case that pitted Queensgate business owners against new-location-seeking City Gospel Mission and the group aiding that relocation.

The aiding group is Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation [3CDC].

Judge Pat DeWine gave his ruling in favor of City Gospel Mission’s relocation to Queensgate in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas on Feb. 2.

“This clears the path for us to move forward on the construction of City Gospel Mission,” said Anastasia Mileham, vice president of communications for 3CDC.

The case was brought up initially in June 2011 because several Queensgate business owners believed the mission’s relocation to an industrial park was not in the best interest of the homeless, said attorney Peter Koenig, a partner with Buechner Haffer Meyers & Koenig Co., who represented the Queensgate businesses.

City Gospel Mission is set to leave its current location at 1419 Elm St. in Over-the-Rhine for 1801 Dalton Ave., a highly industrial area between York and Findlay streets in Queensgate.

“Judge DeWine’s ruling is further confirmation of what we have known since the day we discovered the Queensgate parcel — it is absolutely the right location for City Gospel Mission,” said City Gospel Mission spokesman Jason Williams, in an email.

The controversy that brought about the lawsuit dealt with the constitutionality of the move to Queensgate. Moving an organization like City Gospel Mission to Queensgate would have violated zoning laws that designated Queensgate a high-density industrial and
manufacturing sector.

Those pre-existing laws were circumvented when Cincinnati City Council and the City Planning Commission approved an ordinance in June 2011 that allowed the shelter to relocate to Queensgate.

“The court has made it clear that the homeless can be provided with shelter on that site, as City Council approved,” said Timothy Burke, President of Manley Burke LPA, who represented City Gospel Mission and 3CDC. “There’s nothing unconstitutional about that, and frankly, there’s nothing to be feared from it.”

An appeal is expected from the Queensgate businesses involved in
the suit, according to several local media organizations.

Peter Koenig, the attorney representing the Queensgate businesses and a partner with Buechner Haffer Meyers & Koenig Co. LPA, could not be reached for comment.

City Gospel Mission already has a good-neighbor agreement with the Cincinnati Museum Center, and hopes to add to that list rather than continue on with litigation.

“As we have said all along, we are looking forward to working with our new neighbors in Queensgate and hope to establish a Good Neighbor Agreement as soon as possible,” Williams said. “We are confident that the small number of business owners who currently oppose us soon will embrace a $9.5-million, state-of-the-art campus replacing an abandoned lot — facilities that will be used to provide hope for people who are hurting in our community.”

City Gospel Mission officials have been looking to relocate since 2003, when it became apparent that the current building couldn’t provide all the services needed, Williams said.

“We know the Gospel Mission has been seeking a new site for the majority of the past decade, and they have found their new site that works for them and allows them to double their capacity,” said Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

Ground breaking for the new center is set for April 16, with construction expected to take 12 to 14 months, Williams said.