Judge blocks zoning variance for affordable housing project in Pittsburgh

A zoning variance for an affordable housing project in Pittsburgh’s Fineview neighborhood has been overturned by a judge, forcing the project back to square one.

Earlier this month, Common Pleas Judge Mary McGinley ruled that a variance should not have been granted to the community group the Fineview Citizens Council and its developer for a project to build eight homes in a community land trust in the North Side neighborhood.

The Sept. 11 ruling was a victory for two Fineview residents, Candace Cain and Ellen Mazo, who live near the property and were seeking to block the affordable housing development. The project was set to be a community land trust, which means the community group owns the land but sells the properties to homebuyers who make 80% average median income or lower, or about $75,000 a year for a household of four.

The land trust is being developed by City of Bridges Community Land Trust, who sought to build three pairs of duplexes and two detached single family homes on eight parcels on Lanark Street.

It needed a variance because the area is zoned for residential, single-family detached homes, and six of the eight units were proposed to be attached duplexes. There are some attached, single family homes in Fineview, but those were constructed before Pittsburgh’s zoning code was established.

McGinley’s opinion stated the zoning board of variances “committed an error of law, abused its discretion or made findings not supported by substantial evidence.” The development now must go back to the drawing board.

City of Bridges argued that a variance to allow for single family, attached homes on the property would allow for greater efficiency, better accessibility for federal disability requirements, and reduce the potential impacts on other nearby structures, according to court documents.

McGinley wrote in her opinion that the developer “did not present evidence sufficient to establish an unnecessary hardship” and wrote that it was proven that single-family detached homes couldn’t be built on the parcels.

Neighbors Cain and Mazo opposed the project for a myriad of reasons, but most notably the proposal’s lack of including off-street parking, according to WESA.

City of Bridges said in a social media post they were disappointed by the decision and noted the plan was endorsed by community members and would bring investment into a neighborhood that hadn’t seen much for decades.

The group also criticized the city’s zoning code for making it more difficult to build affordable housing projects.

“The zoning code as currently written makes it nearly impossible to restore the fabric of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, where we are short more than 17,000 affordable homes,” said City of Bridges.

David Vatz of the group Pro-Housing Pittsburgh said the Fineview project will now cost more money to finish, and the zoning code is to blame. He said the city should update the code so projects cannot be easily blocked by community activists known as NIMBYs, referring to the Not In My Back Yard community movement.

“We need to change these policies and make it legal to build affordable housing everywhere in the city, regardless of NIMBYs objections,” said Vatz.