Ways to Get Involved in October
October is shaping up to be a busy month for housing in Pittsburgh. There are opportunities to weigh in for individual projects, neighborhood zoning, city wide policy, and state policy. You'll have an opportunity to make a difference just by filling out some online forms or sending an email, though of course we would love it if you could come to some of the community meetings in person or on zoom!
Project Level
(Time Commitment: ~5 minutes written)
Join us in voicing support for the Mellon's Orchard project when it goes in front of City Council on October 23rd. We've listed all the information you need below. This 264-unit project is 25% affordable, but has attracted some opposition. Please join us in saying yes to more housing!
Pittsburgh City Council
What: Official Public Hearing on Ordinance 2024-0819 (rezoning East Liberty's Mellon Orchard along N Negley to RM-VH)
When: Wednesday, October 23rd 2:30pm
Where: City County Building, 414 Grant St, 5th floor
Virtual Option: see below
How to get involved:
You can attend in person or on Zoom. Sign up to attend the meeting by 1PM on 10/23. Use the form at the bottom of this page. If you decide to attend via zoom, you will receive an email with the link on the day of the hearing.
Or, you can submit a written statement at least 24 hours in advance of the hearing, or by 1PM on 10/22 (TOMORROW ‼️) to cityclerksoffice@pittsburghpa.gov.
Neighborhood Level
(Time Commitment: ~5 minutes written)
A proposal for upzoning in North Oakland is going before the planning commission on October 29th. Some of the Urban Center zoning districts already in use in South Oakland are proposed for application in North Oakland, in the area bounded by North Craig Street and Bigelow Boulevard, Forbes Avenue, and S Neville Street. We would love it if you could give in person or written testimony in support of these changes. The official meeting link isn't posted yet but you can see some basics in this flyer and details on the project's Engage page.
Proposed Zoning in North Oakland
What: Planning Commission Meeting
When: Tuesday, October 29th 2PMish
Where: City County Building, 414 Grant St, 5th floor
Virtual Option: Zoom
How to get involved:
You can attend in person or on Zoom. For the Zoom you can log in and raise your hand during the public comment period. If you want to come in person pre-register by emailing planningcommission@pittsburghpa.gov by 9AM 10/29.
Or, submit a written statement by 12PM the day before the meeting (10/28) to planningcommission@pittsburghpa.gov .
City Level
(Time Commitment: ~15 minutes written)
Please register on Engage Pittsburgh and leave feedback for the mayor's new zoning proposals. We support all proposals except the Inclusionary Zoning proposal, which we strongly oppose unless it's paired with City funds to subsidize the affordable units.
If you don't have time to review them all, just pick one! (Preferably #4 or #5)
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) This will legalize ADUs citywide.
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) This will allow for denser development around Herron Ave, South Hills Junction, and Sheraden stations.
Parking Reform This proposal will eliminate off-street parking requirements for new construction citywide. We support this change in our policy piece here.
Minimum Lot Size This proposal will remove minimum lot size per unit requirements for Moderate, High, and Very High Density residential districts and either remove or reduce minimum lot size in the above districts (removing in VHD only). We support this change in our policy piece here.
Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) We encourage our members to comment against this proposal. We explain why in our policy piece here.
State Level
(Time Commitment: ~5 minutes written)
Help inform Governor Shapiro's Housing Action Plan by filling out this survey. It should take about 5 minutes. You will find our recommended priorities and some suggestions for things to mention in the open ended question below. These recommendations aren’t exhaustive so please use your own judgement on the items we don’t mention.
Q8
High Impact
Incentivizing the Construction of New Housing
Zoning Reform to Open Up More Land for Residential / Mixed Uses
Medium Impact
Creating and Funding Programs to Reutilize Unused Non-Housing Properties for Housing
Q10
No Impact
Limiting Tax Increases for Longtime Homeowners (paired with a comment indicating how damaging this was when implemented in California in the open ended question)
Q12
High Impact
Increasing the Overall Supply of Housing
Subsidizing the Construction of New Income-Restricted Housing Units
No Impact
Reforming Local Property Taxes to Limit Increases for Longtime Homeowners (paired with a comment indicating how damaging this was when implemented in California in the open ended question)
Q14
High Impact
Subsidizing Rental Rate for Low Income Individuals
Increasing the Overall Local Supply of Rental Units
Subsidizing the Construction of New Income-Restricted Rental Units
Incentivizing Mixed Commercial and Residential Development
Zoning Reform Allowing for Multi-Family and Higher Density Housing Options
Ideas for things you can bring up in the last question:
Allowing single staircase buildings / point access blocks which are considered safe and normal in many jurisdictions. PA building codes require a second staircase for all buildings with more than 3 stories which makes many low rise buildings substantially more expensive to build. This impedes the construction of missing middle housing and infill development.
Conditioning transit and highway funds on better land use allowing for flexibility and density in construction.
Streamlining permitting, including a maximum time limit from request to decision.
Removing discretionary Planning Commission decisions.
Encouraging counties and/or municipalities to switch to land value tax
Discouraging tax breaks for long time home owners (this was called Proposition 13 in California and had disastrous effects)
Requiring unified fast approvals through planning and permitting for projects with affordable units