Milford residents are pressing city officials to act on a downtown parking crunch they say is holding back local businesses, with a city-commissioned study due before council as early as the August 10 meeting.

At WCPO's "Let's Talk" community forum Wednesday, July 29, at Cincinnati Distilling on Mill Street, multiple residents named parking as a top barrier to downtown vitality. The city launched a parking study in spring 2026, and Mayor Ralph Vilardo told attendees the findings would be available soon.

"Parking is first and foremost one of the things that we want to make sure we are addressing," Vilardo said at the forum, according to WCPO.

Resident Steve Jones said council has been wrestling with the issue for a while. "They've talked a lot about this in city council, trying to figure out where to put better parking," he said at the event.

The study grew out of a April 21 city council meeting where City Manager Benjamin Gunderson announced the effort and said it would take several months to compile data and deliver recommendations to council. At Milford's April 2 State of the City event at Little Miami Brewing Company Event Center, officials acknowledged parking as an ongoing challenge and floated making Water Street one-way as one option to add spaces, according to WCPO's earlier coverage.

Vilardo described the problem as two-fold: not enough spaces, and not enough awareness among residents and visitors of where existing parking is located.

The stakes are growing. Milford is simultaneously weighing tens of millions of dollars in downtown development, including a $15–$20 million anchor project near the Little Miami River with 50–60 residential units and the Rivers Edge project, a 350-unit residential development estimated at $65–$70 million. More rooftops mean more cars competing for the same curb space.

Resident Donna Luecke, who attended the July 29 forum, pointed to the physical constraints. "There's not a lot of vacant property down here to put in any kind of parking lots," she told WCPO on Thursday, July 30. The Lueckes said their solution is to walk everywhere. "We walk all over the city, not just downtown," Donna Luecke said.

The next regular Milford City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 10, after a previous meeting was canceled, according to the city's official Instagram. Whether the parking study will appear on that agenda has not been confirmed. Residents can attend council meetings or contact City Manager Gunderson's office for updates on the study's presentation date.