Pittsburgh zoning board rejects variance for Irish Centre development

A controversial housing development near Pittsburgh’s Frick Park faced a massive setback with a zoning decision that would likely end the possibility of a large multi-family complex at the edge of Squirrel Hill.

The Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustments on Monday denied a variance request sought by Toronto-based Craft General, who were proposing a 162-unit, eight-story apartment building at the site of the former Irish Centre.

The proposed development would have included a pool, fitness center, outdoor space and a 182-space parking lot. The Irish Centre has sat vacant for a few years.

Developers were seeking a zoning variance for the site before a sale was completed, but that future is uncertain with the denial from the zoning board of adjustments.

It’s unclear if the developers will want to appeal the decision. A request for comment was not immediately returned.

The zoning board wrote in its decision that the developer was “unable to present sufficient, credible evidence” to approve a variance that would allow a large housing complex inside the parks zoning district, which allows for open space, cemeteries, community centers and some small pockets of single family homes.

The board echoed some of the rhetoric of the proposal’s critics, who said the development would be out of character with the area, since it sits so close to Frick Park and the Nine Mile Run trail.

“The Applicant was unable to credibly demonstrate that an 8-story structure for a multi-unit residential use on the Subject Property would be consistent with the essential character of a neighborhood that includes, as its predominant feature, Frick Park,” wrote the zoning board.

The decision is a victory for critics, some nonprofits, and community groups that popped up to oppose the housing proposal.

These groups spoke during an August zoning board meeting and claimed that traffic congestion would increase because of the development and landslides and flooding would damage any new building.

Supporters also spoke during the August meeting, and argued that additional housing would benefit Squirrel Hill and its supply crunch, as well as update infrastructure to improve stormwater runoff and pedestrian safety.

While not all evidence in opposition or support of the variance request was relied on to come to a decision, the zoning board did appear to side more with the objectors than the supporters.

The board wrote that opposition groups like Frick Park Friends, the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, and Upstream PGH all represented “significant interests that would be affected by this application.”

While the board said the supporting group Pro-Housing Pittsburgh has a laudable mission, it was “not directly related to this application and its representatives did not identify a direct interest in it.”