Gainey proposes zoning changes to boost affordable housing options in Pittsburgh

A suite of proposed changes aimed at increasing access to affordable housing is coming to Pittsburgh’s zoning code, Mayor Ed Gainey’s office announced Thursday morning.

The zoning amendments would require new developments to make a portion of their housing units more affordable. But they would also offer more flexibility to developers, allowing them to build more densely, particularly around transportation hubs, and to develop smaller lots. The changes also include the elimination of parking requirements for new buildings.

In a Thursday-morning press conference, Gainey described the proposed amendments as “a huge step in the right direction” towards making housing attainable and affordable.

“We are in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, a crisis that has been coming for decades,” he said. “In order for us to develop a city that reflects the diversity of our residents, it is necessary to have a diverse, diversified supply of housing.”

Some of the proposals will likely prove contentious. But calls to change the city’s zoning rules have been mounting in recent years, after the existing rules were blamed for barring even developments that were embraced by the surrounding community.

Because Pittsburgh’s population isn’t growing in the same way as some other cities, City Planning director Jamil Bey told WESA, local leaders need to get creative to attract development.

One goal, he said, is to “provide carrots for developers by reducing some of their costs, making it easier for them to invest.” At the same time, another key consideration is “being true to the residents who've been here for generations, people who want to stay in those neighborhoods, [and] providing opportunities for those folks to stay in place or stay near where they want to be.”

Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said the reforms have components that would benefit both developers and residents trying to access affordable housing.

“As we increase the supply of housing being built in Pittsburgh, without some of these cost-saving measures and without affordability protections, everyone builds units and prices them high,” Pawlak said. “By eliminating some of those cost barriers, but then also creating carve-outs for ensuring affordability, we hope to avoid displacement as we reinvest in our housing stock.”

Changes to the zoning rules must be reviewed by the Planning Commission and approved by council.

The administration said it expects the plan to come before council early next year. But it didn't take that long for at least one councilor, Bob Charland, to raise objections.

“Celebrating proposed legislation as though it were already law, before it has been introduced or much less reviewed by Council, is a well-known tactic used to pressure Council members into a vote," Charland said in a statement.

"From what little I have gathered, some aspects of the proposal might benefit my district, while others will be significantly regressive for the city overall," Charland added. And in a reference to Gainey's own looming re-election next year, he said "As we aim to become a city that truly serves its residents by making housing more affordable, rather than focusing solely on re-election, I am committed to giving all the elements of this hodgepodge proposal the meticulous evaluation it deserves.”

Inclusionary zoning

By expanding a policy called inclusionary zoning across the city, new developments would be required to make a portion of the units in their buildings affordable.

The proposed rule changes would require 10% of the units in a development to be affordable to people at 50% of the area median income, Pawlak said. That corresponds to people making about $17 an hour, he said.

“We're talking about the wages that the people who are really the foundation of our regional economy make,” Pawlak said. “We need opportunities for them to live in all of the neighborhoods in our city, both because it's the right thing to do, and it also supports those local economies.”

Inclusionary zoning has already been established in some parts of the city, like in Lawrenceville — not without opposition from some business interests. But city officials say the policy has proven itself.

“Lawrenceville is the hottest housing market in the city. It worked there and did not discourage development,” Bey said. “Expanding this across the city is going to provide us options that people can find affordability in neighborhoods where they want to be.”

David Vatz of the advocacy group Pro-Housing Pittsburgh disagrees. Inclusionary zoning, he said " increases the cost of construction for new buildings, forcing renters to shoulder the burden of our housing crisis and worsening the housing shortage.

The approach "expects renters to solve the housing affordability crisis by having them pick up their neighbors’ rent, while not requiring the same of homeowners.”

Pro-Housing Pittsburgh has advocated for several of the other reforms included in the amendment package, like allowing denser housing near transit hubs and removing parking minimums. But to Vatz, inclusionary zoning is a “poison pill,” he said, and would negate the value of the other changes.

“They're proposing some reforms that make it easier to build housing," he said, "but then they totally cancel out with one that will make the majority of development not economical to build."

More and easier ways to build

Parking spots can be jealously guarded in Pittsburgh neighborhoods, and the administration’s proposal to allow new housing without having parking built in seems likely to raise eyebrows.

But similar changes have seen success in cities including Buffalo, which removed its parking minimum requirements in 2017. And Pawlak said recent social changes have made the approach more feasible. More people have sought out alternate transportation in recent years, he said, and post-COVID changes to the work world have made economic activity more distributed throughout the city, changing the parking landscape.

And the parking requirement can inhibit new housing, he said: “We know that parking minimums have been a major cost driver for the construction of new housing. The requirement that you build parking, particularly structured parking like parking garages, is extremely expensive. … That drives up the cost of development and that's passed on to tenants or purchasers.”

The new rule would not affect existing structures or spaces, but instead remove the minimum requirement of parking spaces for developers moving forward.

Other zoning changes would allow people to build on smaller lots, or closer to the edges of the property. Bey said this could help fill in some of the city’s abandoned lots,

“In neighborhoods where we had density before — like Knoxville, like Beltzhoover, like Homewood — a lot of these lots with the existing rules that we have, you can't rebuild,” he said. “If a house has been demolished, that lot now does not meet the requirements to build again.” Changing the rules “eliminates that and provides other options for housing to be built.”

Transit-oriented development would make it possible to build higher-density housing around high-service-level transportation hubs, like the South Hills Junction, Bey said.

“There is a lot of space around there with very low density. And so you don't have a very high ridership or usership right there,” he said. “If we make it easier to put more dense housing in the proximity of those transit hubs, we provide opportunities for people to have access to reliable and efficient transportation … where they don't need a car anymore, because they're nearby or very adjacent to transit hubs.”

Permitting accessory dwelling units would allow people to add additional housing units to spaces they already have, Pawlak said. That option can be useful for multigenerational housing, such as when a grandparent or child lives in an adjoining building or addition. A homeowner could also rent out the added space and earn extra income that could help cover the cost of owning the home.

“We're trying to remove as many barriers to allow people to think about some of the options that are available for them,” Bey said.

'I'm ecstatic'
Gainey's office said the proposals would be available for public review and comment online through Nov. 5. The administration says it will also hold a series of public meetings on the topic in September and October.

The proposal's unveiling Thursday attracted supporters, including City Councilors Deb gross and Barb Warick.

“We have outdated barriers to housing in every single corner of our city,” Gross said, highlighting how required parking spaces can add millions of dollars to a project’s budget. “But at the same time, we need to be strategic about how we build a city that has half the population that it used to have…I'm ecstatic about expanding inclusionary zoning, ecstatic about parking reform.”

Other activists agreed.
Alex Wallach-Hanson, executive director of Pittsburgh United, said his organization and others were "particularly excited to see the expansion of inclusionary zoning ... as well as additional parking and transit and pedestrian amendments."

The goal, he said, was "to make sure that people have the ability to live in safe, affordable, walkable neighborhoods across the whole city."