Developers seeking approval from the City of Pittsburgh may have to provide affordable housing impact statements, if proposed legislation being considered by City Council is approved.

The measure, introduced by Councilmembers R. Daniel Lavelle and Ricky Burgess, is meant to address concerns that affordable housing remains out of reach for tens of thousands of Pittsburgh families.

Between 8,000 and 12,000 new housing units are proposed to be built in the city, the legislation said, though none of those will be affordable for low income families. Pittsburgh needs 21,580 housing units that are affordable and available for families living on extremely low incomes, according to the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania.

“The failure of the local housing market to meet this demand makes housing in this city increasingly unaffordable for low income families,” the legislation says.

If the legislation is approved, Pittsburgh would join cities like Austin and San Diego, which have had policies requiring affordable housing impact statements for years.

The affordable housing impact statements would need to address information including “the types of housing proposed, the targeted market demographics, affordable dwelling units within the development and within the market, and the number of dwelling units proposed to be demolished.”

Proposed developments that do not have a housing component would be required to submit a statement that includes information regarding anticipated housing demand.

A second proposal, sponsored by Burgess, would grant City Council members greater control over the developments in their districts by granting them review power over applications for new developments.

Under the proposal, the city’s zoning administrator would have to share the developer’s application to the member of City Council who represents the district where the development would be located. The councilmember would then have 14 days to report “significant community concern” to the Planning Commission.

The legislation also proposes to cut the time the Planning Commission has to make a decision on a project from 90 days to 60 days.

A third piece of legislation introduced by Burgess declares housing as a human right in the city and mandates the creation of a Housing Plan to eliminate the affordable housing shortfall.

“I’ve been in office 14 years,” Burgess said. “Every other thing, every single thing council has attempted to do to solve the affordable housing crisis still leaves us critically short, and we fall behind further everyday. The time has come to try something different.”

The legislation comes after city officials earlier this month released a report revealing that Pittsburgh’s Black residents and those who live in the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods are less likely to get a mortgage for a home than their white counterparts.

The study showed that low-income neighborhoods, particularly those that are predominantly Black, “are on the verge of extinction in this city because banks refuse to lend to Black families,” Burgess said.

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