Legislation to Reduce Zoning Burdens on Proposals for Attached Homes

Published on January 23, 2024

Pittsburgh, PA (January 23, 2024)—Pittsburgh City Councilman Bobby Wilson (District 1) introduced zoning legislation this week to make it easier to build affordable, dense, and attached homes throughout Pittsburgh in neighborhoods zoned for single-family detached housing. This legislation was drafted in close collaboration with the City’s Zoning Administrator Corey Layman and Kate Rakus, the City’s Land Use Policy and Code Implementation Coordinator.

“We at City Council have the ability to make a real impact on the housing crisis here in Pittsburgh. I’m proud to introduce these changes to the Zoning Code, which will immediately affect housing proposals throughout the city,” said Councilman Wilson. “Simplifying the process so that housing can be built faster and more cheaply is one of many steps we can take to become a more equitable place to live.”

This bill amends an existing rule within the Zoning Code that treats "attached" row houses in "detached" districts as an unpermitted use, putting them in the same disfavored category as industrial and commercial uses. Many of the City’s most attractive neighborhoods are already a mix of attached row houses and detached homes. Recognizing that this rule sets an unreasonably high legal standard for approving proposals for building future attached row houses, Councilman Wilson’s bill will do the following:

1. Allow attached single-family homes by-right in neighborhoods with lots 35 feet wide or smaller
2. Permit attached single-family homes with lots larger than 35 feet wide as a Special Exception at the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Jon Hanrahan, Vice President of Fineview Citizens Council and a member of its Housing Working Group, has been a longtime advocate of zoning reform to address the ongoing housing crisis. “This bill comes out of a struggle over long-sought housing on Lanark Street in Fineview. Eight shovel-ready community land trust homes have been blocked for months by zoning rules that prevent new houses from being attached to each other in our neighborhood,” explained Hanrahan. “In a neighborhood and city where so many homes share party walls, these rules are preposterous. In the wider context of housing inflation and injustice, this delay is an outrage. The proposed ordinance will remove one of a thousand impediments to good, new, affordable housing. It will ease the way for our community land trust homes in Fineview. I thank Councilmember Bobby Wilson and his staff for crafting this remedy and I encourage his colleagues on City Council to see this bill through.”

“Fineview Citizens and Perry Hilltop Citizens Councils partnered in 2016 because we recognized the need to stand together during this affordable housing crisis,” added Executive Director Rhonda Strozier. “Neighbors are facing displacement through raised rent, unsafe conditions, and many other predatory practices. Gentrification and lack of housing further threaten communities like ours. We are committed to connecting with partners and leveraging resources to increase affordable housing in our communities - both for renters and home buyers. We are thankful to all who are matching our commitment to replace housing density in places where homes once stood and keep neighbors in our community.”

Ed Nusser, Executive Director of City of Bridges Community Land Trust has been at the forefront of developing permanent affordable housing in many of the City’s underserved neighborhoods. “City of Bridges CLT is thankful for the leadership of Councilman Wilson on this critical issue. Zoning changes alone will not fix all of the housing challenges our communities face, but this legislation is a key first step in restoring common sense to our Zoning Code,” Nusser expressed. “To address Pittsburgh's critical shortage of affordable housing we must take a holistic approach that includes tools to fund more affordable housing, strategies to leverage market rate development to create affordable units, and legislation like this - which allows the necessary flexibility to efficiently take community-supported projects from concept to groundbreaking. Today's communities can't be built on yesterday's zoning. City of Bridges supports this effort to modernize an outdated zoning that too often makes it impossible to build back the fabric of our communities.”

For press inquiries, please contact Councilman Wilson’s Community Relations Manager, Julianne Hluska, at (412) 676-5758 or julianne.hluska@pittsburghpa.gov.