Pittsburgh City Councilors and city residents alike expressed support for the expansion of inclusionary zoning at a public hearing on Tuesday. Inclusionary zoning requires developers of projects with 20 or more units to set aside 10 percent of them at prices affordable to people who make less than the area’s median income. Already in effect in Lawrenceville, inclusionary zoning (IZ) could be expanded to Bloomfield and Polish Hill with council’s approval.
Expansion would bolster the “toolkit of policies that we have to preserve and to protect affordable housing,” said Jackie Smith, a University of Pittsburgh sociology professor, who spoke in favor of expansion at the hearing. “It’s urgent that we do much more to make sure that we stop displacing Pittsburgh residents.”
A recent study conducted by Smith and colleagues at the University Center for Social and Urban Research found that Pittsburgh’s existing housing policies have favored privatization and the property rights of developers. That imbalance, the study contends, has contributed to an overall decline in affordable housing, as well as to the displacement of Black residents.
Since IZ took effect in Lawrenceville in 2019, it’s helped create 40 affordable homes. The policy’s implementation there came only after many large residential developments had already begun. Christina Howell, who leads the Bloomfield Development Corporation, said the expansion of IZ will help prepare the two neighborhoods as housing pressures continue to mount.
While development demand in the East End has been high for the last 10 years, Howell said, “If inclusionary zoning had been in place over the East End, we would see so many hundreds more units of affordable housing than we have now. We’re lucky that we have the opportunity … to [enact] inclusionary zoning before many large developments happen in Bloomfield.”
One such proposal is an overhaul of the former ShurSave site at the gateway to the neighborhood; another large, vacant parcel that used to be home to the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern is across the street.
Rick Swartz, the executive director of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, said his board is eager to see IZ expand. Even if there aren’t a large number of developments likely to be impacted in the near term, he said, “It’s quite possible that as existing buildings continue to age, there will be developers interested in amassing adjoining properties and attempting to build larger residential developments.”
Inclusionary zoning is “only a component, it is not a silver bullet” to address affordable housing concerns, said Andrea Boykowycz, assistant director of the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation. Still, she added, “We are hoping that inclusionary zoning will be in place before too many new high-density residential developments are advanced.” A draft plan for Oakland includes a recommendation to implement IZ.
Many people echoed Boykowycz’s assessment, and urged council and Mayor Ed Gainey to expand the policy citywide — and to require developers to set aside a greater number of units at lower prices.
Furthermore, several speakers noted that much of Pittsburgh’s development occurs in buildings of four or five units, not 20, and said council should create requirements for that end of the market as well.
The proposal’s lone opponent on Tuesday was Jim Eichenlaub, the executive director of the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh. While his organization has long supported the creation of affordable housing, he said council had overstepped its legal authority when it created the inclusionary zoning regulation. He contended that IZ violates private property rights and has a chilling effect on development.
“Inclusionary zoning is essentially [a tax] on production of new housing,” he said. “These programs increase general housing prices to cover the costs of subsidizing the designated affordable units, and as such, further limit the housing opportunities for moderate-income families.”
Dave Breingan is the executive director of Lawrenceville United and helped implement inclusionary zoning in the neighborhood. He rejected Eichenlaub’s assertions.
“The notion that this is going to kill development is just plainly refuted here in Lawrenceville,” he said, and also defended IZ’s legality. “This has been held up in many, many states all across the country.”
Councilor Erika Strassburger said Pittsburgh needs inclusionary zoning, as well as other tools to create and preserve affordable housing. Pittsburgh also needs money for the program, she added.
“I think that’s probably one of the biggest things: We have tools but then we need funds,” she said. That money can help renters and owners, as well as “well-intentioned developers who want to do the right thing, but need some gap funding to be able to make this work in some neighborhoods.”
The expansion of IZ will next go before a full meeting of City Council.
