Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Yeah, I do. So, welcome to We have more commissioners online. One's online. Yeah. Can you hear us? So, we would walk. I mean, okay. Connect right over. So with the one online, we have quorum to go ahead and start. It's great being Hello, Paul. Can we do a sound check? Thank you. Okay. We got to make sure they understand that just one and and that's my job, not yours. But I I'll I appreciate you living here in this brush.

All right. You're giving me a project when I get back. Okay. I was by myself over there. We're about six minutes from start. Can you hear me? I can hear you. I can hear somebody. Can hear you if you can hear us. This microphone is funny. Okay, I can I can hear you. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Yep. If she does, she can sit over here.

All right, it looks like we're about six minutes to start. I know we've got a commissioner online and then we've got enough here, but we're just counting down. Just letting everybody know we're getting closer.

Look, I can't even. I've asked the staff to go ahead and print obviously the agendas, but typically I'll print these and again. We'll see. This is one.

All right, we're about 1 minute from start. Thank you. Thank you. everything.

All right, it looks like it is 1:00. So, good afternoon, good and beautiful people. Welcome to Planning Commission for April 21st, 2026 session. We're going to start with commissioner roll call and then I'll read through the briefing agenda for today. Uh LeShawn Burton Faulk present. Justin Hunt present. Thank you. Uh Commissioner Antiano present. Commissioner Kelly present. Thank you. Commissioner O'Neal present. Thank you. Commissioner Kinttonia present.

Thank you. Commissioner Repy. All right. Commissioner Vatz. All right. Uh and Commissioner Walker. Okay, Commissioners. So, we'll move forward. Thank you so much. We are moving to the briefing portion of today's session, and I will read through the briefing agenda. We have three items on our agenda here today. Briefing item A is DCP-ZDR-2021-12140 at 525 South Aken. That's a 10-story multifamily residential briefing item V. That's DCP- MPZC-2022-0000250 at Kelly Street. This is a zoning map amendment and item C which is BDA-2025-12382 at 1070 Banksville Road. This is a conditional use custodial care facility. Moving back up to briefing item A. I'll read that through. Uh just want to make note that um Commissioner Walker has come in uh is present and I believe that's it online. Thank you. All right. Um note that we are in the briefing section agenda item A DCP- CDR-2021-12140 at 525 South Aken Avenue 10story multifamily residential. This is in the Shady Side neighborhood. Presenting this afternoon is Ms. Tanden.

Good afternoon, commissioners. An application for a project development plan DCP-ZDR-2021-12140 was submitted by Indovvena Associates Architects on behalf of the property owner National Apartment Leasing Co. for the construction of a new 10story residential building. The proposal includes 117 dwelling units, 6,000 ft² of office space, and about 1,300 ft² of ground floor retail space. The project will demolish two existing multi-dwelling homes located on two of the three parcels and will retain the existing surface parking lot on the third parcel. The proposed development includes a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units along with 6,000 ft² of office space and,300 ft² of retail retail space along the South Aken Avenue frontage. The project was presented to the zoning board of adjustment in November 2022 and requested multiple variances including minimum lot size per unit, height and exterior site setback for the parcel in the RH district, floor area ratio and height for the parcel in the UNC district and residential compatibility standards related to building height within 50 ft and 100 ft of the R1 zoned property. The ZBA approved all requested variances subject to the following conditions. The applicant shall submit an alternative access and parking plan for review and approval by the zoning administrator. A minimum of 10% of the dwelling units shall be designated as affordable at 80% of AMI. The development shall incorporate the community benefits presented to the board including lead certification as well as streetscape and landscaping improvements along South Aav and Clayborn Street. And the development shall incorporate measures to reduce impacts on on street parking as presented to the board. The decision of the ZBA was appealed and quashed by the trial court and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 2025. The project is eligible for a 30%

reduction in required parking by providing bicycle parking. Accordingly, the project proposes a total of 82 residential parking spaces and eight for office use, including 36 structured interior spaces, 14 surface parking spaces, and 40 shared spaces with the adjacent apartment building under common ownership. The project is providing 39 bicycle spaces including 23 interior spaces and 16 exterior spaces. The project is required to provide nine street trees, five along South Akenav and four along Clayborn Street. Due to the presence of a utility pole, only eight street trees can be installed. An inloo fee of $600 will be paid for the remaining required tree. The project will remove 83 in of existing trees and will pay an inlue fee of $29,900 calculated at the rate of $300 per inch. The applicant has coordinated with the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure to develop an alternative access parking and loading plan. This plan utilizes on street parking along Clayborn Street for moveins and moveouts and has been submitted to the zoning administrator for approval. The applicant is also in the process of receiving curbcut approvals from DOI for South Aken and Clayborn Street. Because the project retains the existing surface parking lot adjacent to single family homes along Clayborn Street without adding new landscaping, the applicant has agreed to replace the existing chain link fence along Claybone Street and Center Avenue of the adjacent parcel and to explore additional screening measures to buffer nearby residential properties. Conceptual storm water management review has been approved for this project by the department of city planning. The department of permits, licenses, and inspections will be approving the final storm water plan. The project was pres presented to the contextual design advisory panel or CADP on February 3rd, 2026. The panel appreciated the consistency of the material pallet and the cohesive design across all four elevations. Recommendations included

strengthening the streetscape design, enhancing screening, minimizing the use of metal panels, and refining planter design. The CAD summary was attached to the report submitted to the commission. Although there is no registered community organization or RCO for the neighborhood, the applicant conducted a community meeting on March 12, 2026 in coordination with the council person's office. Under section 922.13.C, the planning commission shall review a project development plan according to the criteria listed in that section. The applicant has provided a memo indicating how the proposed development meets the criteria and that memo is also attached to the report submitted to the commission. I will now turn it over to the applicants who are here in person. Good afternoon. My name is Bill Sitig and I represent the applicant. Uh it's always good to be here, but especially so on this project. This has been a long and arduous journey at least a portion of which Miss Tanden has uh quickly summarized. Um we'll keep it brief because I know your agenda is uh pretty full today. Uh I uh will just introduce this and then uh with me today remotely will be David Gy uh the developer and Ryan Indavina of Indanei Associates. Uh just wanted to point out if we could go to the next slide please. Um, as you can see with the highlighted block, that's the site. It's set uh on South Aken Avenue. To the north is Center. Immediately to the south is Claybornne. And on the corner of uh center and uh South Aken is the uh Coronado Apartments to the left or to the west and the Arlington Apartments which is to the east and is immediately

abuing the site and that property is being rehabbed slated for rehab which is going to start very quickly and we're doing shared parking. So it's uh it's related to the Arlington. It's immediately across the street from the UPMC parking garage. Then if you go to the east along Claybourne Street, you can see um just light it out, but almost onto South Graham is a 10-story apartment building. So that's the context for this building. And as uh Miss Tanden described, we initially went in for uh 12 stories and ended up at 10. And so that's the presentation we're here for today. It was um maybe still a little Mr. GKI's Thunder, but this group way before we presented it to the zoning board in March and April 2022 for about a year prior starting in 2021 had one of the most hands-on uh personal efforts to meet with the neighbors. As you may see next month or next at the public hearing, we've certainly have people who are opposed to the density, but we also have a lot of supporters and uh they were very productive in getting us to this point in the ultimate design. A lot of changes were made to get to this product and um so there was very constructive pieces of the community and separate and apart from heavy duty opposition and we worked with those folks to get to this to this product today. So, um, we're here for, of course, the PDP approval and we'll get into more detail at the public hearing, but there's been a memo submitted. We comply with all the criteria. I think, as you heard, Miss Tandon, I think, uh, with those conditions, we're satisfied with all those. And, um, fortunately, we think we're uh, able to proceed by right on this one as compared to the prior proceedings. And with that, I would like

to ask Mr. GKI who's here virtually to u briefly address the board.

Thanks, Bill. Good afternoon, everybody. I hope you can hear me. Okay. I'm sorry I can't be with you in person today due to some uh travel restrictions I have, but look forward to being with you uh at the public hearing. Uh on behalf of our partner Mozart Management, Joel Besco and his family, uh Bill Siddig, Ryan Indina, and Indina Associates, the rest of the camp 8 team, we are really thrilled to be here today. As Bill alluded to, it's a long time in coming. Uh we are very proud of the robust community uh process that we have had throughout this process dating back over three and a half years ago. We appreciate the support of council uh member uh Straberger and her team uh and uh the rest of the very constructive input that we got that made uh this building what it is today. We're very proud to what we are presenting today as a voluntarily uh mixed income uh project uh on uh the you know the gateway to the Shady Side community at the corner of um Aken and Claybornne. Uh, I will turn the presentation over to Ryan and Deina, uh, who walk us through it and I and Ryan and Bill are available throughout the presentation uh, for any Q&A and feedback uh, the board has.

Thank you.

Thank you, David. Ryan and Deina and Associate Architects. Um, excited to be here today and I'll walk you through the presentation here. Uh, Bill stole my thunder a little bit to indicate where the where the site is here, but um, uh, you know, a very unique location. The area is highlighted in red again at the corner of Aken and Claybornne uh right really at the gateway to Shady Side as well as the gateway to the north to uh Liberty Avenue and Bloomfield and Friendship. Okay, so um reor basically orient everybody to the existing conditions on site. Um South Aken is now on the bottom of the page. Center's on the left. Clayborn's on the right. We've highlighted the subject property in pink. Um so as was mentioned in in the initial uh explanation of the site there are two existing uh multif family unit buildings that exist there today as well as surface parking. Uh so essentially everywhere in the um in the pink area except for the parking that's adjacent to the single family residential to the top of the page will be removed uh for the project. Uh but the access points and we'll get into this a little bit as we get into the proposed plans but the access points that currently service this site uh curb cut along South Aken that exists between the Arlington building which is a large U-shaped or C-shaped building on the left and the existing two structures on the right that curb cut will remain and then be retained as the access point to the site and similarly the egress point that is on the upper right corner along Claybornne will also remain. So, we're essentially maintaining all the vehicular access ways uh and pedestrian pathways that exist today. Couple site uh images here just to familiarize everybody uh with location. So, the upper left corner standing roughly at Center Avenue looking to the south along uh South Aken. The Arlington is on the left hand side. Shad Hospital on the right hand side. That context is pulled back further in the lower left corner. We have the Arlington building on the left, the Coronado building on the right. Um the uh images on the right hand side are the reverse view. So that's on South Aken looking back

towards Center Avenue. Uh you see the Arlington in in the distance there. And in the foreground uh there's similar uh scaled sort of converted uh single family houses that are all multi-user now as well as 1960s era multif family uh fourstory building. Couple views from the Clayborn side of the site. Um probably walk you back from the upper right corner here. So um in the upper right image uh we're standing at Claybornne roughly at the intersection of Aken. Uh you see the existing structure on the right uh right hand side there. Stepping back further each of the images on the left uh and the bottom right there. Kind of stepping further down the hill as Bill mentioned uh the images on the left hand side are indicating the existing 10-story condominium building that's kind of midblock along Claybornne between Aken and South Graham. Um so again giving you some context of kind of the unique uh condition of scale that exists in the site. All right. So um one of the most interesting things and kind of the the time frame uh impacting element here of this design is that the project actually situate is situated across three zoning districts. So you have the UNC and purple, the um let's say orange the RMH which is the uh lower portion and the R1VH district which is the light yellow. Um so we went through the process um extensive process for zoning to design the building so as to align by align with all the zoning requirements. So in this case the entirety of our building situate is situated only on the UNCC and the RMH district. Uh the R1VH, which is currently um service parking and will remain service parking, is essentially unbuilt as part of our development proposal. That allows us to retain a 40ft setback from the adjacent sideyard of the um of the single family residence that starts along Claybornne. Um the rest of the site, uh as was mentioned, we've gone through the zoning board of adjustment for some minor adjustments to

setbacks on the South Aken side. Uh we're doing a contextual setback that matches the Arlington uh and is relationship with South Aken sidewalk. So that's a 7 foot setback. And then on the Clayborn side, we're have a 10-ft setback portion of the site sits on the UNCC. That's in accordance with the with the requirements on that parcel. And then the RH similar uh gone through some of those um zoning processes to get to where we are today. Just want to note this um pretty excited about the site in terms of its accessibility to public transportation. uh as we went through the you know initial analysis of the project it's very approximate to a number of bus lines that exist primarily along balm and center as well as South Hen is also fairly approximate to the um um the Emily busway which is over on Negley. Um so really a great location for uh for commuters, a great location for people that would work in the general area and then be uh certainly accessible to everywhere else throughout the city via the bus lines. So I'll walk through um some of these components here. Uh it's kind of reiterating the compon the the the main pieces of our zoning process. So in the RMH and the UNCC, those are our two applicable zoning districts for the actual structure. Um the column in the middle, the permitted column is per our ZVA decision. So our minimum lot size per unit is 180 ft per unit. We are in accordance with that. Our front setback 7 ft and 7 ft. The minimum rear setback is 25 ft. In this case, we're proposing 40 ft as I mentioned. That's that buffer with the adjacent residential district. Uh the exterior side bar sideyard setback is 10. Uh the interior sideyard setback is also 10. And then our uh maximum height that was permitted for the ZBA decision was 108 uh total height which matches the Arlington's height and 10 stories. So that all exists in the RH district. And then in our UNC district, the limitation uh limiting factors was

the F and then the height. So the F uh is 5.2 to1 that was what was appro proposed uh and approved by the ZBA decision and we are in accordance that with today's presentation and similarly with the height and number of stories. Um couple other points to to note um so parking spaces we had proposed um you know the relationship between our office and residential. So we have a total of 90 spaces as was noted in the outline. We have 36 internal uh below grade parking, 14 exterior which are that sort of corridor uh vehicular access way that's currently existing and then 40 shared with the adjacent uh Arlington surface parking lot that is to remain. So in compliance there as well uh compliance with the bike parking uh ratio and then uh the kind of overlay that this this project was subject to was a residential compatibility standards uh subject from that R1VH district. So in this case again we are compliant with those three categories. The interior sideyard setback distance um the maximum height within 50 ft of the R1A and then 51 to 100 ft of the R1A. And finally as was noted uh the project will proceed with 10% of the units uh being affordable 80% AMI uh fully lead certified and then um compliance with the International Dark Sky Association requirements for uh anything on the exterior of the building. give you a quick overview summary of the building itself. So, as mentioned, it's a mixture of studio one and two bedrooms. Total of 117 units. That's primarily uh onebedrooms of decent size. So, 90 units uh are one bedrooms. Now, we have a few studios and a few two bedrooms. Uh of those total units, there will be three uh fully accessible type A units. The remainder will be type B uh convertible accessible units. So, our total residential area is about 75,000 ft². The non-residential area which is going to be our ground level is comprised primarily of our lobby area, a

small retail space fronting on Aken and then an office area that fronts on Aken as well and then wraps around the the footprint of the building and I'll I'll get into the plans here in a second. Um so overall building is 10 stories above grade one below total 88 feet about 110,000 square feet and again our parking is broken out into three distinct elements interior parking exterior and shared. All right so from an accessibility plan just want to walk through this quickly. Obviously the building is going to be fully uh compliant with 2021 IBC of which the ANI code is requiring our accessibility. So, uh, within the internal parking garage, we're going to have a requisite number of ADA compliant spaces that provide direct access to our internal elevator that would circulate up through the building. And then at the ground level, um, our ground level is completely flush with South Aken. So, providing three primary entrance points, one to commercial, one to retail, one to the building lobby, all of which will be fully accessible. And as I mentioned, all the units themselves will be compliant with the accessibility standards of the current code. All right. So, getting into the more colorful plans here. Um, again, orient everybody. South Haken on the bottom, Clayborn on the right, Arlington on the left. As I started off, um, our s site entrance point is in the lower left corner of the site that's going to have people driving on Aken making a right turn entering the building or the site as it sits today. There's currently a vehicular uh access arm there. Um, so that will allow people to then circulate between the two structures. They will then turn right uh down the vehic the vehicular access egress corridor and then turn right again with the blue arrow to provide access into the internal parking garage of which there's 39 spaces inside the building. When they egress that they will make a right out of that garage and then make another right onto Claybornne which is one way in this location. So everybody will will access uh we'll actually head to the

west plan south here along Clayborn down to South Aken. Shifting to ground level circulation remains the same. As I mentioned there's three main main points of entrance to this to the site. Our building lobby for residential uh access will be at the lower right corner with the orange arrow. Uh the middle section will be our small retail area that will also be accessible from the uh internal side of the the re the residential lobby. There'll be uh bike parking directly accessible from grade uh in the middle of the building. And then the office will wrap around in kind of that lime color uh for the remainder of the site. There will also be additional amenities and such um uh servicing the residential side of things in the upper right corner. We'll get to some of the landscape here in a second. Building wise uh building planwise, excuse me. Uh the building turns into an L-shape as it extends above ground level. Uh so we'll have uh units stacked all the way up through. We're showing kind of the light colored uh studios, dark color two-bedroom, and the remainder onebedroom. The building cuts back slightly uh as we get to level four all the way up through 10. That's cutting back in the upper corner of Claybornne. was kind of a discussion point we had with the neighborhood process where we wanted to mitigate the scale and the the texture of the building which you'll see in our elevations. Uh and it kind of pulls back the uh the building a bit as you extend on the higher levels of the building. From a landscape standpoint um as was mentioned we're providing um our street trees as best we can. There is a lot of utility components along Aken that prevent us uh from maximizing that. So we'll be providing one uh street tree in lie a payment in lie of the street tree. Otherwise, uh using all native species on the site in combination with the street trees on the public right, excuse me, public rightway uh as well as significant planter areas that are at the corner of Aken and Claybornne. You can kind of see in the L-shape in the corner there, as well as a midblock uh

planter area that's out front of the uh residential lobby. And then additional planter areas along Claybornne. Uh so really trying to accentuate the landscape uh and minimize hardscape as much as possible uh on the site. Sectionally uh just give you a quick sense of how the site works. Um the ground levels on the right hand side and Aken that's our sort of dark green line and then uh it extends up to the top of the building which matches the uh Arlington height. The site does drop off as it goes to the east along Clayborn. So that's what allows us to have our access point uh for the garage below grade uh right at the corner of the building along Clayborn. Just again quick section to show sort of the scale of the building when it turns into the L-shape. So uh aesthetically I'll kind of go into the details here. We've got some zoom in versions and some renderings as well. Um really took uh some cues from the Arlington in terms of its um articulation. Uh it's a fully masonry building. A lot of the buildings around here are all masonry clad and so we took that as a queue point to maintain that architectural typology. So essentially we're using two uh colorations of brick. The dark dark kind of medium gray color that is predominant on this facade is all masonry veneer and then on the left side where we have more of the stacked punched window arrangement that is also masonry veneer and that is set back slightly off this projecting zone uh to align itself with the Arlington. taking some coloration and some hue uh points from the Arlington but really trying to create a more modern expression of the building. Uh the building is also set back significantly on the ground level. You see the sort of shadow line that's created by the overhang of the second floor and that's really to maximize the the space and the feeling of openness along uh Aken. It is kind of a heavily trafficked space and uh really want to make a nice experience for the residents and for the building users. As we shift over to the clayborn side,

the articulation of the masonry veneer, large scale windows, um that all remains and carries around the corner here. Um at the top of the building, you see sort of the contrasting coloration. That would be a concealed uh aluminum panel uh cladding uh basically for the top floor. That's to uh reduce the sort of massing of the building, but also to kind of create a step back there at the top of the building. Um, as we wrap around the, uh, parking lot side here, um, the masonry veneer wraps both corners. So, this is kind of standing on the parking lot looking up at the building, uh, ground level where the garages is all masonry veneer. As we extend upward, um, we have that gray masonry grid that wraps around the corner. Then the metal panels wrap back down. And then the entirety of the courtyard on the east side of the building is all masonry veneer. This is obviously a um very visible building. So, uh there's really no back of this building. So, we really want to make sure that it was um treated equivalently on all facads um so that you know people coming down Center Avenue from Aken um from Claybornne all experience it equally and that the texture materiality is equivalent. And then this is the view that is really up against the Arlington. Uh even in this case, obviously cognizant of the neighbors and the folks in the Arlington that get to look at this building when it's constructed. So I want to make sure that material is also uh high quality in nature and expressed in an equivalent way. Just zooming in on the materials here to get a better sense of what we're doing. Uh the majority is this endicott uh medium or light gray blend uh coloration with a contrasting grout. Uh then we'll have a lighter color almost like not necessarily white but very very light gray uh for these sort of interstitial um vertical pilasters. And then we'll have dark colored uh windows, large scale windows with then pre-cast uh concrete sills. It's really kind of tra creating a horizontal banding broken up by these large expanses of glass. Uh since certainly all the residents will

have very beautiful views from the space and really want to create a nice dynamic uh architectural expression on the outside as well. Um in the area that's directly adjacent to the Arlington that wraps around the corner. Uh we're using the predominantly light colored brick but using uh unique brick patterning. So inset areas between the windows, vertical stack bond as opposed to horizontal running bond details at the at the the horizontal bands. Really trying to make it as lively as possible uh from an articulation standpoint. When we go to the metal panels, again, high quality um concealed fastener uh raincreen metal panels or aluminum metal panels. So it'll be read flat like this um with a kind of sheen to them. Um that would be you know again treated the same way. large windows, same materiality, etc. So, a couple views from the building in context. So, this is standing across the street from the Shadeside Hospital. Looking back, you can see kind of the contextual arrangement, height, and scale. Uh, works nicely with the Arlington next door. Uh, but it sort of expresses its own self. Um, really trying to push again the windows and the and this the scale of the building um to uh as as far as we can, right? not pushing little little punch windows. Really want to make sure these are large uh and expansive views. I was thinking there we go. Okay. Uh this is a view from uh corner of Clayborn and South Aken. So again seeing kind of the overall massing of the building that sort of horizontality that's broken by the vertical pattern of uh brick infill and lighter color and then the top of the building being a darker contrasting color. It's slowing down. There we go. Okay. So, here's a couple more views just there. We go. All right. So, this is uh the building as it wraps the corner.

Again, threedimensionally. Got a sense of it from our flat elevations, but again articulating it um from this view here. Zooming in. This is at grade at Aken and Clayborn. So, as I said, the whole of the ground levels inset. So kind of creating a little bit of a peel tea of columns, exposed columns as they run along the face of the building. Our residential lobby will be bright open uh you know floor to ceiling glass. Building this planter box uh that mitigates the grade differential as a wraps around the clayborn uh and planting that with native species. You know, nice high grasses, lavender, those sorts of things really make it a beautiful space all year round. And then our street trees that wrap the corner as well. Another view here uh sort of mid mid part of the building. You see the retail space and the commercial space entrance would be kind of cut off to the left there. Um again all the materiality is consistent throughout the building. And then I think this might be the last view but uh just a long long view back over towards Ellsworth. So just getting a an indication of the scale uh relative to the Arlington and the um the approach from the south. Uh quick shadow studies here. Um a little bit hard to tell which which is our actual building here, but um I don't think I can do the laser, but uh the L-shape kind of in the middle of each of those views here. Yep, there you go. Uh is indicating where our building is. Um because it's sitting on the southern side of the site, we really have m uh minor impact uh of sun of sun shading to any neighboring parcels outside of the Arlington itself. Um so you know March through June and December uh really the most impactful condition is in uh December at 3 p.m. uh when the shadows are very very long extending towards the northeast. Uh and really the sevenstory parking garage that's across the street currently provides significant shadow and really just accentuating that a

little bit further on the existing parking lot uh to the northeast. Okay, it's going backwards. Maybe that's it. Yep, that's it. Sorry. All right. Thank you very much. Sorry. Thank you uh for the presentation. Just a reminder, we are in briefing, so there is no public testimony or questions from the public uh commission. At this time, uh, this is where we ask questions or make comments. So, if there are some, uh, please feel free. Now's the time.

Commissioner Repy.

Yes. Thanks. Uh, this is Commissioner Repy. First of all, I want to um applaud the uh the art the design team, especially on the work coming from some of the statements from the SEAP group on in regards to the paneling and the metal panel and dealing with the brick work and the kind of de that the care that's been taken with the brick work and the detailing, the high level of detailing on that. The one question I do have that came up out of Cap in our notes that was a concern was in regards to the pedestrian zone. I think there's a lot of good work that's been done in regards to the planters. The one piece that I'm that I have a little nervousness about and you'll know this from our work work on time Brian on in seedPap is the concern about the plant the tree pits. Tree pits don't love to trees don't love to be really in tree pits because they don't have a lot of room to grow. Did you explore the idea of doing a tree run or a tree trough along Aken especially since there's not on street parking on Aken? It gives an opportunity to be able to put uh longer tree pits to give those trees a chance to survive.

That's certainly something we can look at. I think um one of the main issues is just the amount of utility components that are along Aken telephone poles and hydrants and all sorts of things. But we'll certainly look at that. Yeah, that'd be great if you could look at that and get back to us on that. Thanks. Yep. Thank you, Commissioner Repy. It looks like Commissioner Kinia. Yes. Hi. Thank you so much for your presentation. The building looks great. Um my only question that I had is in terms of lighting, especially along So, we have Aken and we have Claybornne. Claybornne. Yeah. along Clayborn. What is the lighting condition like? Is the building going to have more light that's going to shine onto the sidewalk or how's that going to be treated in terms of like exterior lighting or just it from internal

exterior? So, we haven't really explored I guess if there's significant building lighting. Uh our goal here and this view actually has a good view of it. Uh we'll have a lot of down lighting that would occur in that overhang area, right? To accentuate that residential lobby, accentuate the retail space, accentuate the commercial space because it is on a residential side of the building. and certainly want to mitigate any any issue and sort of light pollution on that side. We did um go through the dark sky process, right? We want to make sure we're not doing anything that's going to create uplighting effect. Um so really there's not a lot of activity frankly on that side of the building other than the internal uh commercial space that wraps around the corner and the amenity space. So I think the primary lighting that would occur and that would let's call it pollute the sidewalk would be from internal rather than anything expressive or or uh extensive on the exterior of the building. And then that's the side on clayboard. That's the side that you're basically going to see exposed of the wall that is the garage, right?

Correct. Yeah. Like at the lower lower corner would be the garage. How's that is that going to be treated any different or is it just going to be it's the same same brick condition that wraps around same detailing as the as the rest of that light color brick. Okay. Um, I don't know if it's if obviously you guys are still at the studies uh phase or design phase, but if there's something that you guys can do about that wall. I'm just imagining thinking all the people walking up and down the sidewalk um what their experience is going to be. And yeah, and I think I I just literally have a glare here. I can't see that well, but uh and I think I see some planters. So maybe yes, the usage of planters or other things that will be a nicer way to soften that otherwise harsh just wall area.

And actually I maybe I should point that out. So, in this view, uh, where it's kind of you see that little door in the lower right corner of the of the building and then there's a flat zone. We had originally proposed that as being one of our, um, off-site, um, loading areas. Uh, but was, as we mentioned in the beginning of the pro beginning of the presentation here, uh, we've actually gone through with the with DOI, they would prefer us to utilize street the street parking area that's right at the corner of Aken for temporary uh, permitted loading. So, that actually now becomes freed up for landscaping space. So before it was going to be like you can pull your U-Haul in there or whatever. Um so we're not going to be doing that anymore. Primary loading is going to either incur internally within the garage or if it's a large scale truck or something like that. The residents will have to go through DOI to get a temporary permit utilize the what is currently no parking. It's going to be a reassigned actual parking which it used to be I think maybe 5 years ago. Um that'll become you know permanent parking but also can be permitted as a temporary use for loading. So again, I guess long way of saying we have the opportunity to explore landscaping on that corner uh a great a great deal more than currently.

Great. Thank you. Thanks. Any Commissioner Walker?

Hello. Good afternoon. Um thank you for the thoughtful presentation and I also want to call out um that I particularly appreciate the complimentation to the Arlington. I can see significant thought went into that and I looked at the seed um recommendations and I'm glad to see that some of those things made it into uh the augmentation of the design. So my question is about traffic calming and the current uh sort of traffic requirements that are there. I think on Claybornne there is a no left from 6:00 to 9 and then 3 to six. Uh with the increased level of density, do you anticipate that some of those traffic calming and sort of that left turn will need to be shifted or changed with the development of the site?

We've had constructive conversations with DOI in terms of how they would want to deal with that. Obviously, our project doesn't have much control over whether they stipulate no left turner there. When we started the project, there was parking and actually two lanes along Aken at that point, and now there's a bike lane that runs the whole way through.

Um, so we're certainly cognizant of um trying to make sure that this plays nice with the bike lane and continued traffic uh conditions. So, we're really focused on, as I said, maintaining the current circulation patterns that exist today. Um, you know, this is a larger building. However, uh you know, from a traffic study standpoint, it doesn't even remotely come to the level of needing a full-on traffic study. Um so the the impact to the daily process of people egressing the site is is limited. Um and we've had, you know, obviously good productive conversation with DOI to make sure there's no negative impact along Aken or along Claybornne. Thank you.

Additional questions, commissioners? Commissioner O'Neal? Uh, I think just following up on that, um, if we could go to slide number 14, I think it would be most helpful to you discuss. Um, so, uh, Commissioner Walker was mentioning the intersection with Claybornne and South Aken. Um, P. Oh, thank you. Um, but there's also the site entry shown from Aken to the kind of surface parking. Yep. It shows right in only, but right now it's striped that it would be left. Right now, Aken is striped that it would be left in as well. Is that proposed to change? I'm I'm not sure I'm following exactly.

Right now, it's saying you would only take a right in, but in actuality, you could be coming from center and take a left in. That's how it's currently. Yeah, you could technically be doing that. Yes, you you will be doing that. It'll stay the same. Yeah, I Yeah. Yeah, you'd either be the I guess the opposite. So, it's showing that way. It's not only right in, it's right and left in. If you're Yes. So, if you're coming from center down Aken, you can make a left across Aken to go into the site. Or if you're coming on Aken towards center, you'd make a right into the site.

Okay. All right. It just the way you show your intersection over there, it shows both ways instead of just a right in. All right. Um, thank you on that one. Um, and then as far as the access into the surface parking, can you just tell me a little bit more about the breakdown? There's interior, exterior, and shared. What is exterior that's not shared?

The So the spaces that are kind of within the the dashed line in the upper part of the plan there, those are existing surface spaces that are there today that service the site, those will remain, but because they're within this property boundary, they're tied to this project. And then the internal parking you see here on this plan, everything inside the footprint of the building is obviously part of this new development. And then the shared parking is anything that's to the upper left corner. So there's a significant re uh surface lot that services the Arlington that's to the left. So basically currently people who live in both these sites they pull in the space they drive between the two buildings. They either make a left or they make a right. Everybody has to egress out the site towards Claybornne regardless. So that's how the shared slash onsite versus internal parking works.

But in practice there won't be a distinction. Somebody can drive in and go right or left and park. Correct. Well in practice they'll have assigned spaces like they do today. Yes, exactly. All right, that was uh and then you spoke to the loading on Clayborn. Could you just clarify you were saying permanent and I think permitted parking on Aken. So the like basically from this view that last street tree which is kind of align with the Y of Claybornne essentially from around there down to Aken is no parking right today. And so what do is proposing is to eliminate that no parking and actually making it parking. Okay.

And so then a resident would be able to apply for a temporary 1 hour, 2 hour, whatever uh loading uh placard permit and they'd be able to use that for that temporary period. Otherwise, I believe it becomes permit parking for the neighborhood. Okay. It's not just like my followup question. Okay. Thank you. That's my understanding. Yep. And then if we could just go to slide number 24, please. Um, so I think this kind of help 24.

Um, I just had a question about the materiality on slide 24. And I think it might be a function of your rendering and kind of the shadows, but yep, in the kind of upper left there's a medium gray. What is that material? Is it different than No, that's that's the same metal paneling that would wrap wrapped around the whole zone. It's a little darker on the whole because it's will it's we tried to make it because it's very far set back relative to that flat part of the the elevation and I do appreciate the thoughtfulness on all sides. Um personally I walk by here all the time so um it's nice to think about coming at all angles. Um and you know there isn't a back of building

there there certainly is not a back to this building. Um and then I think finally um as a condition of the ZBA decision uh you know they asked that design features be incorporated to mitigate the impact of the massing in the operations on the nearby residences. How was that addressed? How has this changed since? So well the first piece was that we had reduced the height overall by twotory. Okay. Uh we matched the Arlington. Um we had cut out sort of that whole corner of the the building.

Okay. uh basically sets back the building, kind of reduces the mass right at the corner there. Uh articulated the whole base of the building in the same way uh you know and sort of kept all the articulation of the building consistent. So you know obviously there's not much to hide a 10-story building, but we're doing our our best uh best endeavors to do so. And again, we also uh were very cognizant of pulling this building the entirety of that 40 foot back off the off the um property line. You know, we are you know per per code allowed to go to 15 ft. So that was another piece of the puzzle to make sure we're not building at all on the R1A parcel.

And then kind of similar question I I think it's addressed here. I just wanted to see uh Cedap had said, you know, recommended to consider lightening the southeast corner massing of the building to reduce perceived bulk. Was that something? Southeast corner. Southeast corner. I know that's it took me a second. Um I I I I guess were there changes made since she went to Cedab? Not from the overall massing. No. No. Okay. Were there were there other changes though since you went to CEDAP?

We Yeah, we altered the um sort of articulation of metal panels, looked at the coloration. It was a little bit darker when we had presented CEP. So, we lightened that that from a perspective of trying to align a little bit better with the lighter gray color of the uh of the building. So, again, taking those things in account as as Mr. Rebby said, really focusing on the landscape condition at the ground level. Um, so you know, try to take as many of those points to account as we can. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, commissioners. Any additional comments?

Uh, hearing none at this time. I just will echo Vice Chair O'Neal. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness around making all sides uh very appealing. And then I will make note again that there was no RCO but there was extensive community process and that is reflected in the design here and that's greatly appreciated. Thank you for that uh effort. So uh that'll conclude today for you all. We'll see you back in two. Thank you very much and have a great day. Thank you.

All right. Okay. We're going to move on to the next agenda item under briefing and that is as follows. Agenda item B DCP- MPZC-2022-0000250 at Kelly Street. This is a zoning map amendment in the Homewood West neighborhood. Presenting that is Mr. Frager. Good afternoon, commissioners. Could we do a sound check with our applicant team? I believe they're all on Zoom.

Oh, you're all I'm That sounds good. Sound check is great. Okay, you have a whole big party today and thank you for that.

Sound check. All right. Uh this is application for application for a zoning map amendment. uh DCP MPZC 202200250 filed by MOS Architects on behalf of the redevelop urban redevelopment authority to reszone three parcels in the Homewood West neighborhood from residential single unit detached low density to urban industrial UI. The involved parcels are bounded by Kelly Street to the north, foremost away to the south, a residential home on the parcel to the east, and an institutional office building to on the parcel to the west. A copy of the proposed zoning map is attached to your briefing report. The urban industrial district allows for a broader set of uses on the site than what the R1DL currently allows. This includes multi-u multi-unit residential um as a special exception. A copy of the site development standards are attached to your briefing report. The residential compatibility requirements of the zoning code would impose certain additional development constraints on the site if the property is reszoned to the urban industrial district. These would apply to the rear and eastern sides of the site. Back in 2023, there was a similar reszoning um approved by the city council to reszone a portion of the block to the north on the north side of Kelly Street from R1DL to UI. This ended up reszoning a broader portion of the neighborhood to to UI. A development activities meeting was held virtually on March 12, 2026 with the Homewood Community Development Collaborative, the registered community organization for this area. The summary report is attached to your briefing report. Property owners within 150 ft of the proposed zone change were notified of

the proposal via mail. Notice was also posted on site and on the city planning website 21 days in advance of the hearing which is to come. The department of city planning has received a building development application for this site. That application is pending um the conclusion of this resoning. The applicant statement of compliance is attached to your briefing report. Um, with that I will turn it over to the applicant team. Thank you and good afternoon commissioners. Um, my name is James A. I'm director of real estate development with Action Housing. Um, we're the developer on this project. Um, and would be the the owner and operator of the of the uh, proposed development. Um and here to present as was mentioned um a proposed resoning of three parcels uh to to facilitate the construction of affordable housing in the Homewood West neighborhood. Move to the next slide where we'll see a little bit more of the context around the around the proposed project site. Um, this is located just east of the Fifth Avenue, uh, Kelly Street intersection, kind of right along that corridor where Fifth Avenue turns into Washington Boulevard and heads down to the to the river. Um, you can see Bakery Square kind of in the top left of this of this image. Um, and the East Bus way is located just just about a block and a half south of the of the project site that's shown there in red. Zooming in on the project site, give you a closer view. Um, highlighted in yellow there is the full uh the full site, although the three parcels in question here are the the kind of uh vacant uh tree-filled parcels here. Um, again, this project site is fronting Kelly Street. Um, to the right, that diagonal is Fifth Avenue/W Washington Boulevard.

Um, and you can see kind of the more commercial uses to the to the right that include a self-s storage facility, a beer distributor, some fast food. Um and then as you move to the left into the Homewood neighborhood, um it it transitions to more of a residential uh a residential use. The uh recent or relatively recent reszoning of the parcels that was mentioned uh during the summary is located directly across the street there um as well as the the corner lot. If we move to the next slide, you can see the um the the street view from Kelly Street of the of the four parcels. So the the three parcels to the left are the vacant vacant land that's been been vacant for about 20 years, a little little more than that. Um the one parcel to the right is a vacant UPMC building that was donated to the urban redevelopment authority a few years ago um with the express purpose of a future um affordable housing development. So, our project team, um, again, myself being with Action Housing, um, just briefly, we're a nonprofit affordable housing developer located here in downtown Pittsburgh. Um, we specialize in in building, owning, and operating affordable rental housing um, and providing supportive services for those um, those housing units. We currently have about 2,000 units in our in our portfolio. Um, and we show two projects here to the right. Flats on forward which was a low-inccome housing tax credit project that opened in 2024 um located in in Squirrel Hill and then the Pen Matilda Apartments which is a little bit older um but was a similar size project that we worked with Moss Architects on located in the Bloomfield Garfield neighborhoods. So, in addition to to Action Housing is the developer. Um, again working with Moss Architects with our our design team. Um, and then this is on behalf of the property owner.

Um, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh. Um, owns these these properties. Um, David D. Bernardo, who's the manager of residential lending, is here on behalf of the the URRA. Um, and you'll also note a letter of support was submitted with our application package. Um, I'll turn it over to Katie to dig into the, uh, the ask. Thank you.

Hello. Uh, my name is Katie Septus and I'm with Moss Architects. Um, and I'm just going to walk you through a little bit of the proposed project um, and why reszoning um, is is needed in order for the project to continue to develop. So you'll see um kind of small but dashed in blue is our project site uh which is currently split between um the existing UPMC building is currently zoned as urban industrial so that's in brown and um the three parcels that are under consideration today are in yellow which is in um residential single unit detached low density uh is the current zoning for that. Um the parcels that were mentioned that had been recently reszoned to uh urban industrial is just north of us on Kelly Street across the street. That block um was was recently reszoned to all be urban industrial. So just um the the three lots highlighted in red are the three lots we are here um to consider the zone change for. Um, Kelly Street is to the north, Foremost Away, uh, is to the plan South, and then Fifth Avenue is on the left side of the page. Um, so these three lots in combination with the the lot at 64 or sorry, 6714 Kelly Street. Those four lots combined would become our project site. Um currently residential single unit detached low density does not uh allow for um the creation of multifamily housing. Um however urban industrial does allow for that use with a special exception. And really in order to um create this project at the units needed um we need the four units together for our proposed site. Um these are some historical photos of

the site um throughout the years. Uh as James mentioned, the three lots in consideration have been vacant since at least 2004, so a little over 20 years. Um and they've been in the ownership of the URRA um since 2008. the UPMC building and the parcel directly adjacent to that were donated in I believe 2020. Um and so this these collection of four parcels together has been held for um a community oriented use. Um specifically multifamily has been um identified as the potential use for this site. Um so again just to reiterate the larger property um of the four units together is really necessary in order for us to accommodate the multifamily housing project. Um specifically where we will be going for LITC funding um and so this project without the reszone of those lots would not really be able to move forward. Um, urban industrial does allow for a special exception for um a multifamily use. Um, this zone change would um would align with the the the reasoning why UPMC donated the land to the URRA which was the intent of doing a community oriented multifamily affordable project. Um currently we are um we're kind of split between two zones. One of which is a very isolated small um island of residential zoning within a larger UI um district. Um and overall this project would align with both the city of Pittsburgh's goals to increase housing as well as the Homewood cluster plan which identified this block as um a potential gateway to the Homewood development uh Homewood community,

excuse me, and as well as an opportunity to um extend the UI use to this area so that um mixeduse housing, mixed use development and housing could be created. So, I mentioned the Homewood Cluster Plan. Um, Kelly Street is mentioned prominently as the as an opportunity for additional development to happen. Um, in this project has um we'll touch on this in a little bit, but has met with the community numerous times. Um, and so we feel like the housing um that we're introducing aligns really well with what the community is is asking for in this region. Um, and I'll switch it back to James. you can talk a little bit more about that.

Yeah. So, what we're proposing here, and again, I want to preface this by saying um you know, we're at the very front end of this process. Um I'll get into the the uh project timeline next, but um we're really at the very early stages where we're going through fe feasibility and test fitting what will work on site. Um and and a little bit of schematic design that will get us to the point where we need to be for a potential application of low-income housing tax credits. Um but what we're propo proposing here is a typical LITC project. So about 38 units is what we think we can fit on the site. Um 10 of those will be set aside for a particular population that has not been selected yet. Um on past projects that's um a population with specific needs. So it can be anything from individuals um with intellectual or physical disabilities, youth aging out of foster care, seniors, veterans, um things of that nature. and that that decision will be made in in collaboration with the community. Um, and it'll be 100% affordable as all uh the 9% LITC projects typically are. So that means that anyone um you know and all of these units would be targeted um for households at or below 60% of area median income. What that translates to currently um is the cap on income for a one person household would be around $45,000 and a cap on a fourperson household um of $64,000. In addition to that, um, with all our projects at Action Housing, we accept housing choice vouchers to increase, uh, the level of affordability. Um, and, uh, there, you know, some some shared amenities like community rooms and and things like that that we're still still uh, uh, working out the size of and the location of as we as we work through the design. And so, looking at the project schedule, we're obviously here at step one. Um, and this is an important step because the the uh being at the very early stages of this process, um, these these

projects only work with an allocation of low-inccome housing tax credits. And one of the key components of that application, which is um, which is very competitive, is to have um, uh, zoning lined up. So, that's where we are in the in the stages here. Um, the project will require uh, a few variances. So, that would be our next step. We anticipate, although the the schedule hasn't been released yet, uh we anticipate an application for tax credits um later this year with the decision happening in the middle of next year sometime. Um and that's really when we we begin the design process in earnest. Uh we typically take about a year um until we can get to a closing and then we start construction um probably a 16 to 18month uh construction period. So, we're we would be looking at lease up in 2030 or or 31 if everything goes smoothly and quickly, which it uh very rarely does. So, realistically, we're looking at about a 5-year uh process. So, um what you're looking at here is our proposed ground floor and site plan. Um you'll see that the ground floor is quite compact um on the site. Um we are proposing um off- streetet parking and loading off of the back of the site on Formosa Way which would be entered and exit exited from Formosa Way. Um along the front we are proposing um a series of landscaped steps and ramps to actually get the building um from the Kelly Street sidewalk elevation up to the existing topography elevation. um it's raised about I want to say 9 ft um that we have to to provide an accessible pathway there. Um but that would also introduce opportun additional opportunities for landscaping at the front of the project. Um you'll

also notice that the um the east side of the property is held back from where we're most closest to those existing single family houses. So creating a little bit of a buffer there with additional landscaping and an outdoor space for residents. Um the amenities on this floor are primarily for the building occupants um and the building um management. So lobby um interior bike storage. Um but we are uh introducing the idea of a potential community room that the neighborhood would have access to and that would be um that's currently shown on the upper right corner adjacent to that open space. So that could be an amenity both for the the building occupants and the neighborhood itself. Moving up um floors two and three, um you'll see there's some undulation in the facade as we get up to the fourth floor to try to set back um the building massing even further from those existing residential units. Um, as we mentioned before, there's a a unit count of 38, which is a mix of studio, onebedrooms, and two bedrooms. The massing that we're proposing, um, we feel would act as a bit of a buffer between the existing commercial uses at Fifth Avenue and the existing residential that is on Kelly Street. So the tallest portion of our massing is really on towards the Fifth Avenue side and it starts to step down in scale as you get closer to the houses. Um really trying to feel both width and height more proportional to those single family homes. Um stepping back at the fourth floor um as well as the the step back at the ground floor so that the massing you know feels more appropriate. Um we feel that this would um in addition to being a gateway to the neighborhood and potentially um introducing the

opportunity for further development on this block um it also provides a buffer from other potential UI uses because it's multifamily. Um so it's similar in nature to the existing houses that are there. Um and the fact that the URRA is the owner of these properties actually helps to protect um that this really gets developed with community input. Um rather than potentially the zone chains happening and this project may or may not get funding and not be able to pursue the URRA is really kind of the gatekeeper of those the kind of uses that could take place on this site. So to briefly talk about um community engagement, um this our our interaction with the community, with neighbors and stakeholders dates back to 2022 when we first um uh started looking at this site and and working with the URRA and with local stakeholders. Um we we stepped back for a little bit just based on our our existing development portfolio and re-engaged um in the fall of of this past year. Um and for the last six months, we've been working with local stakeholders, elected officials, and maybe most importantly, the the immediate neighbors um to talk through this this project um what we what we think the project would look like both in shape and massing and and size um as we've as we've gone through this this kind of early feasibility stage. And that culminated with the development activities meeting um in March um so just just last month. Um and one of the things that we that we talked a lot about in the in the um in these meetings um were project benefits. And I I'm not going to read them off to you here, but I I did just want to highlight a few of them. Uh the most obvious one is the the removal of a vacant building and and long vacant lots on that block and return to to productive use. Um, we feel that this this development and this use

in particular kind of buffers the existing residential portion of the neighborhood from the more commercial uses along um along Fifth Avenue. Um, and it aligns with the neighborhood goals and the and the community plans. Um, it fits with the the cluster plan um, and with the the extensive planning that's been that's been done in in Homewood. Um and and finally, it provides much needed affordable housing, which is a stated goal of of the city and the and the county. And finally, we'll we'll end on this slide, which is just the a summary of the request um to reszone the three the three parcels in the R1DL um uh kind of island there um and reszone them as uh urban industrial um to help unlock the ability to to construct affordable housing. Well, thank you for your presentation and since that concludes, a reminder that this is briefing, so there are no questions from the public. Uh, commissioners, are there any questions or comments as it relates to this application hearing? Seeing none. All right, you came down in full force. No questions. Good job.

Thank you.

All right, have a great rest of your afternoon. All right. Uh we're moving on to the final agenda item under briefing and that's briefing item C. It is as follows. BDA-2025-12382 at 1070 Banksville Road. This is a conditional use of a custodial care facility in the Banksville neighborhood. Presenting is Mr. Johnson. Christian Johnson, senior planner with the Department of City Planning. An application for BDA 2025128, sorry, 382 at 1070 Banksville Road was filed by Bill Sitig on behalf of Dismissed Charities for change of use of existing building to a custodial care facility as a conditional use. Dismissed Charities operates as residential re-entry centers under contract to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Dismiss Charities is a 501c3 nonprofit and all projects are privately financed and owned by dismiss charities. This application includes interior renovations of the existing two-story building accommodating a maximum maximum of 104 in-house residents, 92 men and 12 women. The facility will be staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by locally hired professional trained staff. Because there is no regist registered community organization in this area, a development activities meeting was not required. However, the applicant met with Banksville Civic Association on February 12th, 2026. A traffic impact study was prepared by Kimley Horn and is attached to the briefing report. Memos from the applicant outlining how this application meets the conditional use criteria and custodial care facility criteria are included with the briefing report. A detailed site plan and landscape plan will be required of this project. if this project is approved as a conditional use. However, these plans were not required to begin this planning

commission review process. I will now turn it over to the applicant. Bill Sedig representing Dismas Charities. Um the um with me today is Kathy Belaloo in person. and she's the vice president of business development and um has handled many projects, similar projects with Dismas. Um Ken Parr is with us virtually. Uh he's an he's an architect and he is Dismouth Charity's director of design um and development. Um there's a lot of material has really to do with the use background. This isn't a development. We're just using an existing building. So it's really a review of the use very much just a legal determination. I think it's safe to say if uh everybody follows the law here, we'll get get the approval. But there's going to be a lot of emotion and um we've uh had extensive uh uh exchanges with the community. Uh there's no RCO as Mr. Johnson indicated, but there was a robust Banksville Civic Association meeting. Uh and um we've worked uh closely with uh Councilwoman Salinetro's office and notifying them and making aware of all the details, sending materials. So, so there's there are no surprises. We've been out there uh front and center. And then Kathy will be able to describe how she's really walked through the community um and um engaged with uh the most immediate neighbors which which are largely business. The site is this site, the building itself, which is owned by the Fraternal Order of Police. And if we could um I mean I could try to do this, but probably better to help. Um we go to the second page. So um that's the site. It's a little

over 10 acres. Um in the upper right hand corner is the building. Uh the entire property is owned by the Fraternal Order of Police and has been approved as public assembly and uh the uh ancillary offices related to that. And as you can see um and you'll be able to see better in upcoming slides, there's a large parking area. So um that's Banksville Avenue and then to the right is Banksville Road. So this site is very well buffered as you can see by highways, roadways, green greenways. A large part of the site is Park Zone Park. Um and what you don't see, but anyone that's familiar with that are the steep grades. So there are really no residences anywhere near this site. Um as as I indicated, you can see most of the facilities are um businesses along Banksville Avenue and Banksville Road. It does have a very robust uh transportation access which is critical. Um these these are folks re-entering from correctional facilities and the idea is to give them every opportunity to be successful and uh very few people will park, very few people I believe about 18% of the people will have vehicles. So, there's more than enough parking. Uh Jeff Depalus uh will provide some testimony and background on transportation, but there really are no transportation engineers. So, no no reason to get through that today, although we're ready to answer questions. Um the as uh Mr. Johnson indicated, the contract with the Federal Bureau Prisons is for 100 folks. Uh the facility can handle up to 104. It's 92 men in both cases. Um, we're proposing eight female residents, but it can fit up to 12, but the contract is for 100. This is a replacement for other

facilities in the city, so it will not be a net increase. Um, and what we're trying to fight against will be the typ typical stereotypes against these facilities. Um, one of the things that was interesting, you know, some somehow it's delivered with you, but the project we just saw right across the street across Claybornne is a work release facility. So, um, that didn't inhibit my client from making, you know, tens of millions of dollars of development for residential and there, needless to say, in that Shady Side area, you know, very high quality, um, residential neighborhood. So um this is a an essential part of us being a community and providing these services and we believe and um while many of you haven't seen me in that capacity in the late 80s and early 90s I did the bull work of all the fair housing act work with getting folks into communities um these types of folks um mentally me mentally handicapped primarily And those those placements have largely occurred and they've occurred successfully. And this is just another example. This will combine two existing sites into one and uh in a better facility that we think can be managed better. So the we really believe we're on all fours. I don't think there's any question about custodial care facility being permitted. It's defined as care custodial care and treatment in a protective environment for persons residing which they'll be residing postcorrectional facilities uh and halfway houses for people leaving a correctional facility and that's exactly what's happening here. So um this is exactly what city council um

envisioned whenever this was zoned this way. Um we do have the um criteria which I'll get back to later. Um which is really all this is about um and u but we'll happy to and I'd like Kathy to come up now and to work through if we go to the next slide while Kathy's coming up. This is the survey of the site just to give you a better idea. Um you can see the facility in the corner of the parking lot and surrounded by trees. Um next slide is just the the details of this mixed zoning lot. Multiple parcel numbers over 10 acres uh fully serviced and gives you the existing building information. Again, no exterior changes, upgrades, repairs, but everything is going to happen inside. And with that, turn it over to Kathy. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, Ken, I really We want to go to Ken next. Uh, the architect.

Ken, are you there? I'm here. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes, I hear you.

Ken, if you could start, if you can see page five of the presentation, which is a photo of the building, and then work through the next uh slides through slide uh 11. Uh yes. Um as you can see, it's an existing two-story building. Uh just a little over 14,000 square feet. Um it's really ideally suited for us. We looked at many properties in the Pittsburgh area and we settled on this one for several reasons. Uh one was its uh access to public transportation. We're less than a 5minute walk from our building to a bus stop. Uh which is critical for most of our residents. Uh the other things is that it has plenty of parking more than we actually need. Um and the third criteria was the size of the building. Uh we will have to make little or no changes to the exterior. Um, all the improvements will be on the interior. If we could switch over to the proposed floor plan, maybe. There you go. As you can see, uh we have uh we operate with large dormitories, uh shared bathrooms and uh laundry rooms. This first floor will be primarily the men's dormitories and uh supplemental spaces for them. There are offices and what we call a CMO, which is a central monitoring office. uh that is operated 24/7 uh 365 days a year. There's a person

posted there, usually two. Um so there you can see there were no additions required. There are some outdoor uh recreational spaces that are enclosed. Uh it really uh presented an opportunity for us that required uh little uh renovations other than interior. Um if we could go to the next page, second floor. On the second floor, you will see uh primarily counselor's offices. uh the director's office, uh the women's dormatory, uh we will make improvements. There's an existing catering kitchen that we will convert into a full commercial kitchen uh where our residents will be served meals. You can see there's a large dining room. Uh there's also separate day rooms for men and women on the interior and a very nice outdoor patio off of the dining space. So once again, this building presented a lot of opportunities for us. Uh we would not have to expand this building uh to get it to work for us. Uh we would have limited site work other than you know repaving maybe and and restriping. But with 70 parking spaces uh we have more than ample space. Uh the site 10.6 6 acres uh gives plenty of room around us and our neighbors immediately adjacent to us are commercial uses warehouses uh

uh hospitality uh small restaurant barbecue place uh so you know as I said this this site uh presented a lot of positives for us. Thanks, Ken. Kathy could introduce yourself and the correct page.

Well, it's great to have an opportunity to share Christmas charities with everyone today. Um, we were founded in 1964 by Father Derson. He was a Catholic priest working in the reformatories in Kentucky and he saw no resources being provided to the men at that time releasing from prison. I think in the 60s they gave you $50 in a suit. I know $50 goes went a long a lot farther back then and it does now. But it still wasn't it was a band-aid a temporary fix for a permanent problem. And so with the help of the Knights of Columbus, he founded the in an all volunteer staff uh out of a church. He f founded uh Christmas charities and uh we've been around for 62 years now. We have around 40 uh federal programs in 15 states. And I think that I provided a we provided a slide on page 16 that really just is a explains to you uh geographically where we're located. And our newest one is a day report center. It's not residential. It's in Honolulu, Hawaii. that we're actually going through our conditional use permit there on May 8th for a hearing uh with full support of the city uh and we anticipate opening in uh 2028 and a similar building actually it's just uh renovations inside so we're looking forward to that um I know that there's other slides and because of time I'm summarizing this this is a building that our program is not open to the public. Uh we do allow

visitation. It's scheduled for family members, uh officers of the court. Of course, there'll be plenty of probation officers and law enforcement visits. Uh we get uh visits such as that. But as far as scheduling visits, those are scheduled some in the evening, some on the weekends to make room for families that work that can't come just in a certain time. So, and they're all monitored. We have security inside and outside. We're staffed 24/7. Uh, we never sleep. Dismiss never sleeps. We're always operating. Our average resident's age is actually male and 40 years old. Um, just if you want some information about that. And over the last five years, we've had about almost 40,000 residents participate in our programs national. And the amount of recetivism back to our programs is 08%. Um so um we do random drug testing. We have a computer system that sets the the random test so not even our staff knows which resident's going to be tested. Most residents in the federal system uh do have drug offenses. There's it's either drugs usually or money crimes involving money. Uh those residents that have a history of substance abuse are tested four times a month. Um I provided pictures later on which you can look at and we'll go to that slide that anybody that comes in um that has been authorized to be in the community receives a a metal detector search. They uh through a wand they do a pat down and they're subject to a drug test as well if it's suspected. Um, most of our residents that come through

this program, this is their first stop back into the community from incarceration. uh it's not their last um accountability step before they're actually free on paper because most of the residents will go through a supervised period of three, five or usually seven years with the federal probation department who visits them often during their journey here as part of their transition back to the community. But the goal is not everybody has a place to go to or sometimes it's where they came from dictated them ending up into the criminal justice system. Uh so this is the time for those to get reestablished in the community. Um secure employment which we know without employment that that is a negative for your chances of not you know going back into the justice system on itself. and uh getting all the resources that you need including treatment, housing assistance, uh parenting, uh life skills, the basics, uh fair and uh fair practices and uh life skills that you'll need to be successful going back into the community. So, everyone was, well, how's this going to fit in my community? You know, oh no. And um just to self-report, I've been doing this for 45 years of my life. It's either been corrections, law enforcement, and re-entry has been the big piece of my life. It's been for um at least 35 years of those years. And um I I live in the country. Nobody would know, but I've had several residents that have been neighbors of mine as well. So, I don't think that being part

of the criminal justice system means that you had to come from a certain neighborhood or you had to come from a certain background. Uh, and uh, this was just an ideal location. It has a natural buffer as we've already said. It's um, a lot of I call it forest. It's just surrounded by forest. And in front of us are two hotels. uh on each side of us. I know this cuz I've walked the community. I actually took days and walked the community. Goodwill Industry uh has a has a um a a shop there. I sent I talked to the manager there several times. And as you'll see um in the back of the presentation, there's letters of support signed with signatures, addresses of local employers that agreed to hire our residents if they were qualified, as well as neighbors. And as stated, there wasn't any individual houses. I think I stopped at one behind the car wash. Uh, and it was actually a family. They had a remodeling home business, but it was in a house. So, I that was one residential house I did stop at, but I and that was se it was more than a block up the road from us. Uh across the street from us is a um barberh shop uh beauty school training site and I had the opportunity to talk to one of the uh trainers there who gave his personal story of redemption uh that he actually had been incarcerated but had turned his life around and and uh so we shared a you know a common mission here. He was on the mission training others to um find a

better path and distance charities shares in that same likeness. And you'll also see by the back of our uh presentation when people signed a letter there were several people that signed that they agreed to be part of our community relations board which is a very part of we u like to have a mixed community relation. We'll also have government officials, law enforcement, neighbors, employers. We meet quarterly uh and uh develop some community neighborhood projects to do together. It involves our staff and our residents because um we are all about giving back to our community. And I think I had attached a couple presentations in I'm trying to get this the page number here. Sorry. Um maybe include that.

Okay.

All right. But we did attach a list of good neighbors. Also, this stud does include uh government officials and and neighborhood um mom and pops, literally pop and pops that have gave their testimony that once we come, we we are a good neighbor. Uh we take every fear seriously. Um and uh we are open to any um recommendations that the city or the neighborhood may have. as as Bill said, you know, we didn't have a neighborhood association where we are that we um we took the the planning commission, the review board and met with the u the closest neighborhood to try to answer any questions that they have and I

All right. Thank you all so very much. Thank you.

Just uh which will go into more detail to the extent that the commissioners are interested on uh page uh 40. There's a project narrative gives you, you know, some of the details. Kathy's trying to skim over them, but um gives it gives the details um all the facts that um will give you the operations exactly what's going on. And then following that and um as I indicated u after that two pages is our summary of compliance with the conditional use criteria. Um a lot of those as commissioners are familiar with is transportation and we'll have Jeff Depalis testify. Um it's really you know very very compatible from a con transportation standpoint. there are no impacts and um as as you'll see and we'll try to demonstrate in detail although we're um happy to answer any questions today we believe we fully comply um with the with the criteria that are applicable

and can I say one more thing I'm sorry sometimes I get nervous once when I'm in front of people but um these are these are the men and women coming back to your community

you know there there's something they h they have families here, they have children here. We offer a really nice therapeutic community. We have artwork on our walls. Um, we say, "Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. We believe everyone is important. We treat everybody with dignity and respect." And it's giving people a step up from where they've came from. You know, they came from having no selfwork, being patted down, subject to strip searches. I mean all you know you get up and you know someone tells you what you're going to eat for the day what you're going to have and this is just part of reintegrating people back into the community and giving them selfwork and there's consequences if you break the rules you can go back to prison but most people just need a helping hand with guidance and rules to be successful and that's the mission I mean we could share many things about the community that I haven't, but we just want to be a good neighbor.

Understood. And thank you so much for your presentation. You did good. You didn't have to be nervous. All right. I'm assuming that concludes, right? Um so, thank you very much for that. At this time, we don't open the floor for any public testimony, but commissioners, this is the time for questions, comments. Um do we have some? It looks like Commissioner Kelly. Yes, I do. Um, just a quick questions and I'm sure I'll have some more over the next couple. Um, what level of offenders will be housed?

Okay, we all of our referrals, our res, our clients, our residents are those that have been cleared by the Department of Justice for community uh community uh programming. These are people that are soon to be released. They're doing the last section of their of their sentencing, but they also have to meet certain security con conditions to have that clearance. So, we only get referrals from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, who have been cleared to be back in the community.

But there are no limits. Like one of the things that I inquired about, can we limit it to non-violent crime or something or and the answer is no. These are that I got Banksville School, I got Basher, I have two Union Halls directly ahead, I have an Eaton Park, I do have a barber education class right down the bottom of the street. Is there going to be recording requirements for say Megan's Law? Is there things of that nature?

And and this did come up in the neighborhood uh meeting and I did address it. We do take sex offenders, but only those that are cleared to be back into the community. They have to register within 72 hours. Not only we have the ability to do GPS monitoring on these individuals while they're even in the facility, let alone on a home confinement basis. And then uh the local law enforcement also the sex offender unit has their own treating requirements and and you mentioned Park and Eat which were one of the employers that said they would glad to hire a resident. So that

there's some kind of feedback. So it is a concern their their their movements are are are much greater restricted than that a and um so yes.

Okay. Um you had mentioned I know that it's not required as far as having the the public but you had met with the the the Banksville civic organization I believe you said correct. How did how did that go? Was that was that well received? Well, there was several people that didn't want want it in their community. Um, some felt that we hadn't reached out far enough geographically, but I I wasn't, you know, um, uh, I thought that I that dismiss did our due diligence by walking the neighborhood that was within, you know, two or three, three blocks or four blocks even of where we are and finding out, you know, introducing ourselves, providing our cards and our information. is that but I will say there was not one question asked that evening that we were not able to respond to. Um and I'm not sure you can ever eliminate everybody's fears, but I can definitely uh respond to the question at hand and let you know what we do. Our residents aren't free to come. You can't can't get up and say, "I'm going to town today. I'm going to the mall to shop today." No, we're going to get, you know, we're going to help you, assist you. We have an employment placement specialist. We have case managers, counselors. We're going to you we're going to get your um life in in a in a position where you'll be accepted in the community. Plus, we do community service as well. So, they're going to get a job, they're going to be drug-free, and if they're not drug free, they're going back to prison. That's a consequence of a poor decision. However, if you need treatment, you're going to get treatment. You know, if you need parenting skills because you've been in prison for eight years and you your

child was a baby and now they're almost a teenager, we're going to get those resources for you. We're going to sit and talk to you and have real conversations which are lacking today on what you can do to He's asking very specific questions about their monitors. Listen, that's okay. You're doing great, by the way. You're doing nice and relaxing. Okay. And but I'm sorry if I didn't ask you. Okay. It's not a fearful question. I know exactly where you are because those concerns are are real. They are real concerns. So I can tell you what we do to address them.

Thank you. We um I think we had um anticipated with the Banksville Civic Association. There was broad notice and I think um the anticipation on the community it was about 100 people and I think there were 30 plus but they were they were you know they're emotional about it there's fear no question about it and we'll see that when we come back for hearing some thank you

I did receive I did receive response that said you know I was there I didn't say anything I've been in banksville for the last 30 years and I believe in second chances I did get that conversations but um so I want you to know that I believe there are people that I do support what we do and it's a heavily as as you know um as this only certain segments of the city are that are heavily with city required employees fire police so we'll be hearing you know right so that's

I'm recently retired one of 28 years I'm a former city firefighter I know the area well Um the banks whole area just like Beach View, Brooklyn, that whole area is broken up into pockets. That's I I know what you mean. So, thank you. Commissioner Kenttonia uh wanted to and I do apologize, sir. I know you keep leaning around, but right now we only take public test. Is there a chance you could put the the top view of the area there? Well, no, not today, but and I appreciate that, but I want you to

Well, afterwards you can speak with Mr. Sitic and he'll help you out. Okay. Thank you so much. No problem. You're important, too. Thank you, Commissioner Kenta. Yes. Good afternoon. Um, thank you so much for your presentation. Just one question in terms of what you perceive, what you thinking you're going to be doing to the exterior of the building. I would imagine lighting and other type of security to make the whole area feel a little bit more better, I would imagine. Yeah, there's there's going to be landscaping and and you know, exterior work. Ken, are you still available to talk about how the exterior will be upgraded and landscaping? Generally,

um primarily we'll be doing some paint and repairs on the exterior of the building. Uh we typically uh use wall packs with cut offs to light the exterior and we have uh a very extensive camera system that our IT department sets up both inside and outside. So the outside of the building will be surveiled with cameras. Uh we may add some lighting to the parking lot. I don't think there's much there or what's there is antiquated. Uh but as far as construction wise, there won't be a lot of changes the buil to the building other than improvements to lighting, cameras, and when we get through uh permitting, I suspect we'll have some landscaping to install.

Okay. So I guess for next time it would be helpful to have some at least an idea of what you're thinking of doing terms of those pieces. Thank you. All right. Any other commissioners with no one question? Oh, Commissioner Walker.

Um in your opera. So, I'm I'm reviewing some of the um correspondents submitted and there were pervasive concerns around public safety and um pointing to to to the national organizations some issues around public safety and how the sites are managed. So, I was looking for more detail in the operation management and communications plan about how those public safety concerns would be mitigated. I'm not going to outline the individual incidences that have been identified, but I would like to understand how would how is the site managed in such a way that those concerns are addressed in the plan that's been developed.

Um everyone if you can come on the mic that would be great. Thanks.

Say um you are going out for work or let's say you've secured employment. So, we verify, we actually go on site, talk to the employer, let them know if they don't show up, they're obligated to call us and let us know. The resident uh is their schedule is put into a computer. You have to biometric sign in and out. Not only if you're a resident, but the staff has to approve it by their fingerprint as well for integrity of the system to know that it works. So, let's say you you're you're working 8 to 5 today. So, you have an hour to get to work. You're taking public transportation into town. So, um you sign out because it's already entered into the system. Uh you call when you get to work. Uh you call before you leave. Uh and the same would be uh if you want to go to church or some religious function, you know, you get it. Every movement is planned ahead of time. It has to be put into the system. Uh we even require religious pass uh attendance sheets. If you go to a doctor, you have to bring back the receipt. There's accountability that way. And then we do random calls throughout the person's sign out to make sure that they attended and they're actually there where they're say they're supposed to be. I'm not sure if that answered it in the detail that you would need it. Uh we also do perimeter checks on every ship that we have. We have male and female staffed uh at all times. So to keep the integrity down, you know, to a to a high level. Uh we do head counts. Uh we do searches. We involve the local police department usually with the canine searches. Every so often we have those too and they're done surprised. So we don't want any weapons or drugs in our facility even though we do pat

downs. We don't want any contraband at all because we're there to protect our residents as well. I know Ken alluded to security cameras, but these are high-tech security cameras that even I have access to. Uh a remote, you know, administrative staff have too that we can remote in at all time. They're recorded recorded. So, we care about what's happening in our community. A lot of our exterior cameras because we have plenty of interior ones as too. They're monitoring what's going on in our neighborhood because we don't want anyone on the property that shouldn't be here. We don't want anything going on that we think is illegal either. Um so we're here to uh be a good neighbor for that. Um we also talk to the families. Um case managers will call to find out, you know, how the communications going with the resident to see if there's things that maybe they didn't disclose to their case managers that's upsetting them. and see if this is the time they need to be pulled back and and talk about something before they go on their next, you know, visit with their family or something. So, there's all kinds of level of accountability. In fact, most of residents say, "Oh, we have more rules than they did in prison." But there's a reason for that because this is the step before they're in the community 100% of the time, and they can't just go whenever they want to.

One one last question if I may. Were the protocols that you're describing put in place before or after a lot of the national incidences that have been uh reported? The these are the protocols that we've had that I personally have known since I've been in federal uh residential re-entry for the last 35 years. You can't just come and go as you want. There has to be if you go to the store to get hygiene items, which we provide, but if there's some reason, say you're picking up a prescription or something, and you don't bring up a receipt, you're you're in trouble. Um there's consequences for not going by the rules.

Thank you. Um thank you, Commissioner Walker. That answers your questions. Uh maybe a a suggestion is some of the questions that the commissioners are asking now if you can uh for hearing and action bring those so they can be highlighted for the public who will probably have very similar questions. Vice Chair O'Neal uh as well has some comments but I think that could be a good that was going to be my opening comment. Um I appreciate all the materials and all the background including the narrative. Um very helpful. Uh but to the extent you can kind of put some bullet points or you know tables on a slide so we can cut off some of the questions

I think that would be helpful. Yeah. Yeah. And then u so I read Mr. Depalis's report um and you know looking at the intensity of the use you know is showing that you know limited impacts on traffic. Um, if if there's anything you have regarding the prior use that shows, you know, this is less intense. I know that's not the standard, but I think it certainly would bolster your case a little bit. I imagine that events with 100 people would have had, you know, bunch more traffic, had a lot of other, you know, concerns. Um, that would be helpful. I also,

just so I did a right to know, and it's limited this public assembly. It's pretty much anecdotal. Okay. um and based on you know the parking supply so and what the capacity would be. So I I struck out and trying to tried to make that apples to apples, but given the capacity, it's a relatively um low intensity use given the number of cars and how I understand. Um and then as far as public safety, um I understand this is a group based home under Pennsylvania law.

So I know there were question and please correct me if I'm wrong. Um I know there were questions about Megan's law and that's what we anticipate. Um I think there's a limit of four um registrants per group based home. I think that would also help address some of the community um questions. So if that's the case, if you could include that in your presentation. Um I know you said you can't limit it to nonviolent or certain types of offenders, but I think under law there are some limitations which may address some of the community concerns. Yeah, we can probably provide some more. Uh the Federal Bureau of Prisons probably has um even more yes

um strict limitations. So which we're glad to. It's this is going to be strictly limited to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. We're glad to incorporate any of that into the approval. So that would be great. Uh Commissioner Tiana, thank you. Um so quick question. Y'all mentioned the engagement that you had with the community association and the community itself. Um the council woman, what has been your interactions? Is she supportive of the project? not supportive of the project. Any insights you can give there?

We've had to be very careful. I've been fortunate just as a kid getting involved in the political side of it. Um and she's going to be sitting quazi judicially. So, it's been notice and coordination. Um if there was anything else, I wouldn't tell you anyway. Any additional comments or questions? Uh again just for uh review sort of the the bullet point pieces there. You're going to get your chance next come next next time next session. Thank you and uh I think that'll go a long way. Really? Okay. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. Have a great rest of your day and uh we'll see you back in two and it looks like we are uh going to break and I would say 10 minutes is good for commissioners. All right. Uh, give us 10 minutes. We'll be back at well, make it 3:00. All right. Thank you so much. We'll see you back for hearing and action then.

I just want to make sure our court reporter is present. No court reporter. We can't start without the court reporter. Oh, yeah. I see her. We got her.

Thank you. All right. Just in time. Okay. So, uh, are there any commissioners on online? We are at 3 p.m. Okay. Well, good afternoon and welcome everyone. We are here for the planning commission hearing and action portion of the agenda today for April 21st, 2026. Hearing and action means we uh hear applications and the commission will deliberate. We also open the floor for public testimony at this time as well. I'm going to go ahead and read the agenda for today and the agenda is as follows. for April 21st, 2026. The agenda is agenda item A, approval of commission minutes. Agenda item B is correspondence. Agenda item C is hearing and action. Today we have three items under hearing and action. They are as follows. BDA-2025-12920 at 3081 Sarah Street. Item number two under hearing and action BDA-2026-0000703 at 1835 Forbes Avenue. Agenda item three is BDA-2026-01814 at 510 West Station Square Drive. And agenda item E is the director's report. I'm going to do a roll call uh for commissioners before we go through each item. Commissioner Burton Faulk, present. Commissioner Hunt,

present. Thank you. Commissioner Antiano, present. Thank you. Commissioner Kelly, Commissioner O'Neal, present. Thank you, Commissioner Kenttonia, present. Thank you, Commissioner Repy. Thank you, Commissioner Vatz. Okay. And, uh, Commissioner Walker, present.

Thank you. So, moving back to agenda item A, approval of minutes. Commissioners, we have no minutes to approve uh for April 21st, 2026. Moving on to agenda item B, which is correspondence. We are in receipt of correspondence for April 21st, 2026. In uh relation to council bill 2025-2250, we are in receipt of correspondence from the following. Nicholas uh Bruscado, Kelly Saunders, Brad Kerry, state government relations director, American Heart Association, and Rachel regarding item BDA 2025-12382 at 1070 Banksville Road, custodial care facility, conditional use. We are in receipt of correspondence from the following. Doug Saramanera, Ralph Sakiro, Edmund Godelli, Deborah Wy, Joseph S. Nicholas, Vice President, Fort Pit Lodge number one, and Barbie Reinheimr. regarding item DCP-MPPZC-2022-0000250 Kelly Street Reszoning. We are in receipt of correspondence from the Urban Redevelopment Authority for item DCP- MPZC-2022- 0250 at 1835 Forbes School conditional use.

We are in receipt of correspondence from Michael Ye, Matthew Thorne, Stephen Walsh, Sandra Walsh, and regarding uh Manchester friends and colleagues, we are in receipt of an invitation and a flyer. Moving on to agenda item C, hearing and action. Uh again we have three items under hearing and action. I'm going to move to hearing and action item one which is as follows. BDA-2025-12920 at 3081 Sarah Street. This is in the Southside neighborhood gateway sign in the Southside Flats. Presenting this afternoon is Mr. Fraker. Good afternoon, commissioners. And we should have our applicant team via Zoom for this presentation. Um, I will begin and read in the report and then we can turn it over to the applicant team. An application for project development plan DCP ZDR202512920 was filed by Patty Beachley Sculpture LLC on behalf of the Southside Community Council, the property owners for installation of a neighborhood gateway sign in the Southside neighborhood. The proposed sign is within the urban industrial zoning district at the corner of East Carson Street and Sarah Street at the eastern edge of the southside neighborhood. The application proposes a ground sign that rises to 25 ft tall. The sign will

begin at 9 ft above grade. The total boxed area of the sign is 16 ft by 18 ft or roughly 200 square ft. The sign features a sculpture saying Southside and a cityscape with a steel worker. The sign will be illuminated. A recent council bill relaxed zoning requirements for neighborhood gateway signs. The previous regulations limited size of neighborhood gateway signs to 40 ft. The new legislation regulates area by letter height allowing letter height up to 6 ft if it is contextual. Um this project meets uh this requirement. It did not meet the previous uh square footage requirement, but we are reviewing this against the new regulations. Since the submittal of this application, um it has come to our attention that um there will be motion to this sign. Um when there's an electronic sign that has motion, uh it does require review by the zoning board of adjustment. So, there's a slight change to your report. We will need to take this report to the zoning board of adjustment and add that as a condition of approval um for this uh for this report. Staff determined that design review for the sign was not required. A development activities meeting was held on February 19th, 2026 with the Southside Community Council, the registered community for this area. the summary report is attached to your uh hearing report. With that, I'll go ahead and read the motion and um add that second motion in for you all um and then turn it over to the applicant team for the presentation. The recommended motion is that the planning commission of the city of

Pittsburgh approves the project development plan DCP ZDR 202512920 based on the application filed by Patty Bechley Sculpture on behalf of the Southside Community Council with the condition that the final construction plans including site plans and elevations be reviewed by the zoning administrator prior to issuing zoning approval. And the second motion that we we will add in here is that the application be re reviewed and approved by the zoning board of adjustment prior to issuing zoning approval. Um with that I'll turn it over to the applicant team if that so I can

Hello. I'm Patty Beley with Patty Beley Sculpture and um I'm going to walk you through the present. Can you hear me? Okay, we can hear you. Thank you.

Okay. Um, I'll be partnering with Ray Applebee of Technique Architectural Products. Next slide, please. Um, this project is sponsored by the Southside Community Council, and I'm joined today virtually on Zoom um by Southside Community Council members, President Jackie Kaiser, Vice President Mike Clark, and board member Rick Extramm. Next slide, please. Um I also have submitted with this a letter of support from the Southside Community Council as well. Uh this uh image is a 3D model of the proposed sign. Um the construction materials will be uh quarten steel backing plate with contoured cutouts of the skyline and the foundry worker. Uh the housing for the uh lettering of Southside uh will be made of steel as well and it will be a U channel that houses the LED exterior grade neon. Um the bottom uh cursive lettering come walk with us which is part of the tagline for the new branding campaign of the southside uh will be cast out of aluminum and be mounted in relief onto the steel backing plate of the side. It will be uplit for readability uh in the evening as well. Um the supports are uh steel HBAM supports. Next slide please. Um this is an architectural drawing that um shows the height of the lettering so that you can see that it complies with the under six feet regulation. Uh the

lettering uh will be 30 in. Um and uh the smaller lettering will be the come walk with us and that will be approximately uh a little around 12 in or 1 ft. Um according to the 1 to 10 ratio for readability. Um that would mean the uh southside lettering would be readable from 300 ft. Um whereas uh the uh come walk with us lettering will be readable from 120 ft. Next slide please. Um this shows a uh survey of where the the sign will be located and this is um when you are entering um from the east end of Carson Street or the hot metal bridge side. Um and uh this is at the conjunction of Sarah Street and East Carson Street. Um it's the plot of land outlined there. Um right now right behind it is a clean express car wash. Um so there will be plantings and a home created for the sign uh through greenery um in that particular space. So it feels like it has its own space. Um the sign will be oriented towards Carson Street and be seen um from um the uh Carson Street across uh those four lanes from car traffic. Um and anybody walking in that area will also be able to see it clearly. Uh next slide please. Um this goes over some of the elevations and scale. So the overall square footage is around 124 square ft of actual

material. Um and the height of the sign face um is about 15 ft 24 ft total height and 9 ft from the ground to the bottom of the sign. Next slide please. Um some of the historical features are um that it highlights the industrial past of the southside uh producing a third of the world's glass and of course the iron making and steel making along the mine. Um it also incorporates the silhouette of the old Dukane brewery clock which is now the iron city brewing clock. Um it showcases the Birmingham Bridge there. Um and then it also um includes neighborhood skyline attributes with koopas and rooftops of the cityscape. Next slide please. Um and then this is just uh to discuss that it will be a stage lighting event similar to you can think of the heints ketchup bottle where um old neon lights up in stages. So the first stage would be the pouring of the metal uh down to through the the mold. The sign acts as a mold. So the metal pours all the way down to the bottom and comes across. Um so the bottom would be one stage coming across would be a second stage. The third stage fills up side and then the fourth stage fills up south. Um and then it holds and then it would repeat. So there is a timing to it. Um so uh it's a timed illumination or a stage lighting event occurring. Um and um of course being made of steel is part of the identity of the steel city. And then it also incorporates the the lettering of

the branding campaign, the specific font, the way the S is backwards, um the positioning of side beneath the word south. Um and then it also part of the branding campaign is the new tagline come walk with us highlighting the walkability of the neighborhood. Um next slide please. Um this is a view um using Google Earth with um a model of the sign uh placed on the particular plot location um which is designated urban industrial. Um it shows uh a car from the turn lane coming into the neighborhood with Sarah Street on the left and then um straight away in front would uh be Carson Street as you would be coming into the neighborhood. Next slide, please. Uh this is a little bit of a closer view so you can see how the scale of the sign would fit within the space. Next slide, please. And then this is a community engagement timeline. So, um the RFP happened over the summer. Um then the award um was uh bidded out to May and August. Um and then design review meetings happened with the Southside Community Council over the fall. Um, I also participated in a community engagement meeting with the Southside Community Council as well as Southside residents that were invited to attend. Um, and then on February 5th, there was a final design review with the community council. And then on the 19th, um, it was presented at a development activities meeting or a dam meeting. Um,

initially I was scheduled to go to a ZBA hearing on uh March 19th um in order to address the the size of the sign um being over 40 square ft. Um so as far as the lighting's concerned, that's a new thing that I learned about this morning that I'd have to take it back to the the the ZBA for a variance on the lighting. Um, I thought I was clear there, but uh, whatever needs to be done in order to move the project forward is ideal. Um, that's my last slide. Um, thank you for your time and consideration.

Well, thank you very much for the presentation. Uh, and very thorough at that. Uh, at this time we open the floor for public testimony. Is there anybody here or online that would like to speak regarding this application? And I'm pausing just because we're trying to see if somebody and it looks like somebody's online, right? Yes. Uh Jackie Kaiser, you can unmute and speak. Are you part of the applicant team? I'm so sorry. I am. Yes. Thank you.

Okay. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Uh, I am part I am part of the Southside Community Council. Um, am I available to speak now or would you like me to wait? Oh, if you're are you giving public testimony? We are the we are part of the applicant team technically because we own the uh contract with Patty and the property and are supporting the sign financially within the neighborhood. Understood. But you're not looking to speak on behalf of it, right? Just part of the team to answer questions. Yes.

Okay. Well, then um then we're we'll hold for you. Thank you. We've we've got the presentation. We're looking for those with raised hands potentially to speak on behalf of it uh from the neighborhood in support or not. Uh is there anyone there? There are no additional hands right now. Okay, great. Thank you so much. All right, looks like no one's in the room and uh no one's here. Commissioners, any comments, questions? I just have one question for clarification. The the lower part, come walk with us, that is not illuminated. Is that correct? It will not be made out of neon, right?

It'll be it'll be washed from below from the the uplight, but it doesn't have its own internal lighting. All right, that's all. Correct. Correct. Yes. Thank you. All right, that's clarifying. Commissioner Kinttonia. Yes. Hi, good afternoon. Um, I just want to say that that is actually a pretty cool sign. Oh, thank you. Thank you. I love it. That's I was very impressed. It was It's really really great. So, I can't wait to see it up. And that's pretty much it. All right. All the comments then a question. There we go. I love it. Anything else, Commissioner O'Neal?

Yeah. Uh, just some clarifications. Um, and I think the first question is for staff. I understand that there's movement proposed and you know there may be a visit to the ZBA required. Can you remind me what code section that's under and why? Is it because it would be considered an electronic sign or am I missing something else? I just want to make sure when we're reading our conditions in I'm reading them incorrectly. It's electronic motion under 919.03.03.A.

03. Could you read that again? O 0.3. A O3.A. Yes, she prohibits electronic motion. Yeah, that is helpful. Um, and then as far as the motion on the sign, I just had two quick questions. Um, I do appreciate the design. It's really interesting. Um, will it be illuminated throughout the day and night? Is that correct? And then it'll just be uplit at night. Is that how this will work in terms of timing?

Um, that's correct. So, the lighting um on the come walk with us will come on in the evening, of course, when it's needed to be able to see that. Um but the actual uh LED exterior neon that lights up the the channel where the metal comes down and fills the sign, uh that will be on all the time. And just just as a point of clarification because I was surprised that it would need to go back to the variance is that um multiple emails were sent to me saying that I it was not an electronic sign. It's not it doesn't advertise. It's only illuminated. So, I was surprised because of the stage illumination that it would be considered an electronic sign after I sought clarification on multiple occasions for that. So, it is what it is and I'm happy to do whatever needs to be done, but um I'm I'm kind of baffled by that happening at 11:00 a.m. today.

Yeah. Um totally understand. I think as and I don't want to speak too much for staff but as we learned a little bit more about the sign and the movement involved that was where there was a little bit of ambiguity not saying it's on your part or anybody's in particular uh but we just want to make sure you have all of the approvals so that the sign can work at full capacity. Um so and very similar to today when commissioners are asking questions when you're presenting here at hearing a hearing in action uh that clarity is very helpful and as uh vice chair O'Neal mentioned it's not on on anybody's uh fault but you get more information now you know what to do with it fair and easy very good

okay and then sorry just one quick question with the color of the sign and its relation to the intersection Are there any concerns about kind of interference with traffic signals? Uh, one of the code requirements is that we're not kind of having mixups with traffic signals and signs. Um, I think here the the risk is pretty limited because it's kind of a red yellow. So, more people would stop than would go.

Um, but was that something that was taken into consideration in terms of placement? I know you said that this is visible up to 120 feet away. Um, so, so 120 ft for the tagline, but 300 feet for the larger because that's a 30 inch southside. Each of those, each line is about 30 in uh for the height of those letters. Um, the positioning of it was taken into consideration that it would be positioned um there's a lot of um I would call visual noise in that intersection. we have multiple lights, uh, telephone poles, things like that. To to position it in between the two lights was one of the things that is considered as it's oriented towards Carson Street. And then really the the coloration of the neon is uh more of a visual conceptual coloration of it being orange like molten metal or molten glass. So that that was more of the the thought for the actual color.

Yeah. Oh, makes perfect sense. Thank you. Um and thank you for answering those questions. Any additional comments or questions? No. All right. So, uh did you have an additional No. Okay. Uh so, do we have a motion from the floor uh commission uh with the conditions as stated in your report with the addition of the 9/19.0.3.8? A. So moved from Commissioner Cantonia, second from Walker. Commissioner Walker. I'll do a roll call. Commission. Uh, Commissioner Burton Faulk. I, Commissioner Hunt, I. Thank you, Commissioner. I. Thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. I. Thank you, Commissioner Kentia. Hi. Thank you, Commissioner Repy.

I. Thank you, Commissioner Walker. I. Thank you. All right. The motion passes. Thank you again for adding so much more clarity for us all here today. You have a great rest of your day. You're good to go. Wonderful. Thank you so much to you all. Have a great day. You're welcome. Thank you. All right. Moving on to the next item under hearing and action item number two BDA-2026-0000703 at 1835 Forbes Avenue. This is a conditional use school, elementary or secondary general. This is in the uptown neighborhood and presenting is Mr. Johnson.

Good afternoon. Christian Johnson, senior planner with the department of city planning. An application for VDA 202600703 was filed by Wildman Jmer's design on behalf of Glassport Academy Charter School for change of use of medical clinic to a school elementary or secondary general. The current building on this parcel was converted to medical office suites in 2007 and now sits mostly vacant. Passport Academy Charter School is a public charter school with an enrollment range of 125 to 150 students. Ages ages range from 16 to 21 years old. Most students would arrive to the school by public transportation at the bus stops near the property. Schooling is divided into two in-person sessions per day. No more than 80 students are in the building per session. This application includes interior renovations of the building and does not include any changes to the existing infrastructure of the property. No design review was required as the application includes limited site and exterior improvements. Existing on the site is a parking lot to the west of the building which is to remain. The applicant prepared an operations letter with DOI included with the report. A development activities meeting was held virtually on March 16th, 2026 with Uptown Partners, Hill CDC, Hill Consensus Group, and Hill Collaborative, the registered community organizations for this area. The summary report is attached to this hearing and action report. Additionally, the applicant presented at the Uptown Partners REDD committee meetings on March 10th and March 26th. A plan conformance report showing conformance with the Uptown Eco Innovation Plan was conducted by the neighborhood planner and it's included with this report. Memos from the applicant outlining how this application meets the conditional use criteria and school use criteria are included in the hearing and action report. A public posting was conducted via on-site posters, mailed postcards, and emailed notice 21 days before hearing and action according to 922.06B

of the code. The recommended motion from the planning commission of the city of Pittsburgh is to make a positive recommendation to city council on conditional use application BDA 202600703 filed by Wildman Shmer's design with the following conditions. All doi permits will be reviewed and approved prior to issuing the final record of zoning approval and the final construction plans including the site plans and elevations will be reviewed and approved by the zoning administrator prior to issuing the final record of zoning approval. I will now turn it over to the applicant who will be presenting virtually.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Uh, can everyone hear me? Okay, we can. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you again, members of the planning commission, Chair Burton Faulk. My name is Robert Max Youner. I'm a chair of our public sector group at BAPS. Uh, and happy draft week to to all of you. Thank you for allowing us to participate virtually. Uh our office in Gateway Center is is closed for the week. Uh and I'm joined with by CEO Joe Olifant. Uh school is in session today. Uh uh so we appreciate the opportunity to participate uh virtually. Uh we were here two weeks ago for the briefing. Uh we have not made changes to our slides. Uh so I don't have anything to uh point out uh that's different from our presentation two weeks ago. Uh we'll uh just see. I know we have pretty much everybody who was here last time, but in case there aren't any or our new uh attendees or any other members of the public, uh we do have our hashtag uh WATS here on the opening slide. Uh not PACS. Uh so we'll just see if anybody can remember from two weeks ago or can guess as we go through the presentation what exactly uh that means. Um we uh appreciate uh the opportunity uh to present uh here today. Uh and we'll just run through our presentation again. Uh next slide please. Uh just to orient again the planning commission to uh the uptown neighborhood where we are proposing uh to purchase this medical office building. Uh we do have it under an agreement of sale. We are in due diligence and are seeking these zoning approvals as part of that process. Uh you can see uh we are on Forbes Avenue. Uh we do have uh Watson Street right to our rear uh just street uh right to the right of the Wshaped existing building. Uh and pulling back a

bit more, you can see UPMC Mercy off to the left. Uh and the uh Fifth Avenue lofts and the former Fifth Avenue school uh is right there above uh the white circle. Uh right now, as was mentioned, this is zoned and and operated as a medical office use. Uh it has been losing tenants for some time now. If you do go on Google uh street view, you'll see the for sale sign uh out front. Uh but next slide, please. Once again, this is a a conditional use. Uh we are seeking permission from city council ultimately uh for a uh elementary or secondary uh school uh general use uh as defined and uh provided for in the zoning code. Uh we are not proposing a a land redevelopment. We're not proposing a reszoning uh no subdivision or anything else uh with respect to this application. Uh as you can see in the first bullet point there uh primarily from a building code perspective uh also will be changing from a B business use to e educational. So we will uh be required to meet the you know new and updated requirements of the Pennsylvania UCCC with respect to educational uses. And because we are an approved public charter school, we are also subject to provisions in the school code as well as the department of education for an approved public charter school. Uh just for some building history, uh as you can see here, uh this is a relatively recent building. It is not one of the the older structures. Uh it's not an existing school uh that we've seen in other parts of the city. Uh it was constructed as recently as 1996. Originally as a training center for the program for

female offenders, but then converted use in 2007 to the medical office suites. It's had eye doctors, dental uh and other types of offices in the last several years. It is two stories generally. Uh the main building uh has the two stories, but you'll see in some other pictures uh the side of the W uh is not fully two stories. Um as we mentioned before, we are not proposing, you know, major renovations here. Uh we'll be doing interior work to set up some classroom and some office for uh the staff facilities. uh and and might be doing some changes to the windows to let more natural light in but intend to keep the existing landscaping and everything else uh with respect to the site and the adjacent parking lot. Uh we have met with doi has been mentioned we have met in the development activities meetings and have gone through uh many discussions uh with the RCOS's uh in both the uptown and the hill district area. Um I think with our next slide, I'll turn it over to our our CEO uh Joe Olifant to explain uh some of the history and the operations of PACS or Passport Academy uh with respect to its non-traditional structure uh for secondary students and what we need uh this site for. Thank you, Joe.

Absolutely. Thank you. Um so, welcome everyone. um to start uh share about our school. Um we are in our 12th 12th full year 1213 um but started out of a vision of of two of uh former board of directors at the Hill House who are actually still active members on our board um just seeing that the um amount of uh high-risisk students um were um were were getting higher the percentage were getting higher and students were not finding success in the their school system. So um they pulled together and voted to um in an effort to create u an an alternative option not an alternative school alternative option for those students to not have success. So that was uh founded um with the u the niche that um students would not only find academic success but also be prepared for any um post-secary future ready um items after they've received their diploma. So, uh, we mentioned we're a public charter school, not an approved p private placement, supporting students 16 to 21 years old, um, primarily from Pittsburgh public, but, uh, we support kids from about 15 different districts. Uh, we're in our 12th year. Uh, and we have certain enrollment periods so that way that students stay on track and we can really identify their start and finish. Um, so that way they don't have partial credits that really just ends up um, hurting students in the long run if they don't have a continuation of services or credits. Um so we're um about plus plus 700 students. We'll have a probably another 90 students that should graduate this year. Uh enrollment ranges from 125 to 150. Um and our classes again are pretty pretty small um depending on the class um depending on the subject. Um so um the the student toteer ratio is pretty uh pretty low. Um most of most all of our students um come to school from public transportation. Uh and as far as our schedule, uh all the the students have personalized

schedules. So depending on what needs they have, uh what credits they're lacking, we try to make sure that we um can give them a good, you know, deadline and timeline to say, "Hey, here's what you've missed at some of your former schools, and here's what we're here to support you with." Um and two sessions per day, 8:30 to 11:30, and then 12:30 to 3:30. Um and then outside of that time if students are in person the opposite. So AM PM time um is for um anytime learning uh or out of school time. So that could be for internships um any other online classes that the students may have um work study just different options uh for um the continuation of those credits. So next slide please. Um just to give a kind of a timeline a breakdown. I mentioned that it was, you know, founded in the um um in the Hill District up in the Kaufman building. So, this is before my time. Uh and we moved prior to the pandemic downtown um right on Penn Avenue. Um but we're not um we were not able to uh extend our lease due to development. Uh our landlord is putting um condos in the building that was there. And so, um we kind of had to figure out a solution. uh as we've been looking for uh you know homes our proposed home obviously in uptown but um until that is prepared and all the permits and and finalization of all the terms uh we are in a temporary space in Garfield currently. So next slide please. So this um I think the big two words to sum this up is this slide here is economic mobility. Um when the um you know our founders kind of um had an idea about the school, it was like how can students really um remain in the region, make use of community partners, make use of jobs. And so a couple years ago, we wrote a um a large grant and received some funding um to really identify um you know study goals around our

curriculum around how we're using utilizing partnerships um how we are getting student supports. So you can't do all these things to support students unless you are, you know, providing them with some of the basic needs. And so um but we kind of identified some core clusters of jobs in the area. You can see on the box on the right and then um kind of a preparing a blueprint for us to say, hey, if you want to get students to in those jobs, in those career fields, you kind of have to do some outreach and figure out which community partners are aligned with some of those jobs. And so, um, since that report a few years ago, we've really been intentional about, uh, preparing our students and tapping into some of the community resources, um, that, uh, would help equip our students for, you know, staying in the region and being an active, uh, member in our in our community, um, receiving, you know, wages, which are very important that are competitive. So, um, next slide, please. So, a couple of a couple of those uh partners you can see in the top right um are some of the uh partners we've worked with uh in different different varying um you know um timelines and and needs but from uh you know the top left from the the CVS Witzy which is in the Hill District you know providing pharmacy tech training call center training um other supports to um driver's ed you know to uh robotics we have a pre-apprenticeship program that is preparing our students to be uh have credentials to be hired as robotics technicians um to an arts program with um industrial arts workshop which is in Hazlewood. So all of these partners are very intentional that came out of kind of the study but we've really worked tirelessly on engaging those students for you know so that way they come to school for their in-person time and then um in that other block of time they can you know make use of um tapping into resources from you know experts in in the region. So um again from teen parenting to UPMC career captures to um

different things from center for victims for social uh social services all very intentional about supporting your students and make sure they know how to access resources. Um next slide please. Just a couple more examples from you know the trade institute where students have access to masonry and carpentry to the pre-apprenticeship program in the top right which what I spoke about um to new century careers which is on the south side. Uh we've had cohorts of students that have gone over there um to to prep. So that way when they finish their graduation and they get their diploma, they say, "Hey, here's a free program that I can, you know, um tap into to get credentials to to have a good job." Um to the bottom right where um CNX, which is a um gas and oil industry, has a mentorship program. We're working with their students to do kind of the same thing on a on a different scale. So um just very intentional. Um next slide, please. All righty, Max. back to you.

I'll take it back from here. Thank you, Joe. Uh yes, just looking at the the site, uh when we're looking at the requirements for conditional use for a school, uh they are specific to uh transportation concerns and impacts the vision of large school buses coming through and and how they would circulate both through the local streetscape and uh the site itself. Uh we don't have that concern here. uh because of our operations uh we don't utilize uh the traditional yellow school buses. A majority of our students uh do take public transportation. So we've identified the two bus stops in close proximity. Uh we have one-way streets you know all throughout the area. We're not proposing any changes with respect to that. Uh we will will have uh a bike options. Uh we will include a shower for for staff and and things of that nature to encourage the use of bikes. Um but uh by and large uh students will be taking public transportation. 18 staff members uh will be able to park on site. Uh will likely uh have their own vehicles but could also take public transportation as well. And if in the the uh you know chance that we have one of the smaller school buses or vans uh it will be able to circulate through the parking area uh we will stripe that and and provide directional arrows uh so we aren't having stops you know right in front of the the building on Forbes Avenue or or on a side street. Uh next slide please. Uh looking again this is the existing uh sort of blueprints uh showing uh the existing building and the uh 43 parking spaces. Uh we have ample handicap spaces as well. The connection both at the rear of the building but the main connection through the front uh that is interior to the site and the walkway coming to the

uh front doors. Uh as we come to the Wshaped building, um as we mentioned in our discussions with DOI, we will be putting in directional arrows uh to circulate traffic uh in the parking lot. Um so we will be able to address that in our compliance comments. We we addressed the the other parking uh transportation and other factors in the conditional use both specific and general requirements uh and have worked well with the city uh to specify a full-blown traffic study is not needed. Um but the materials submitted were acceptable in terms of those discussions. Um, when we look at this site and this location here, and I just wanted everyone to think back to to what Joe went over in terms of all the opportunities that are available outside of this physical building. Uh, just to point out that you don't see, you know, any playgrounds, any athletic fields, any auditoriums, or any other types of of specialized uh, school uh, activities and uses. Uh, because our focus has been on the the core curriculum. uh making sure students get the credits that they need uh and that they can seek other opportunities outside of the school walls at those internships and those other uh facilities. So with respect to the impact uh on the immediate neighborhood um because although we meet the definition of a of a school uh we're not a traditional school for either middle school or or high school students uh you will not see you know the other typical uh accessory uses that you see associated with another type of school use. Uh we don't have a cafeteria as you see they have an area for the staff uh a lunchroom as it were but because of that split schedule with an AM and PM and students not carrying over uh we don't

have the need for a cafeteria area and therefore we have limited deliveries. There's no food trucks coming in to to deliver uh as you'd see at a a traditional school. Uh next please slide please. Once again, just to go back on on the operations, these are taken from our our application uh as well as the operations letter uh that was submitted. Um but once again, we just want to compare this with the traditional school that might go from 8:00 a.m. or maybe even have athletic practices for the swimmers uh or the other uh students uh maybe at 6:00 a.m. uh or there even earlier. uh and then going into the evening with additional activities and practices uh on the school campus. Uh here we have a 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. first session uh and then the 12:30 to 3:30 second session and as we've noted no more than 80 students in the building per session. Uh and we have been able to, you know, successfully do this at those other locations that we've identified um as part of the history of the school. Um we've already talked about the the core classes that are needed for students for graduation so that they can walk across the stage and gra gain that uh uh diploma. Um and so we do hope that we get the recommendation from the planning commission to take this application to the full city council uh with respect to the movement of this established uh public charter school. It's authorized by the school district of Pittsburgh. We've also worked in concert with them. They're aware of our needs to to move and the the loss of our our lease due to the redevelopment um uh at that location. So, I I just asked to switch to the next slide, please. Okay. And thank you for for everything.

I somewhat gave it away, but I I will ask Joe to uh explain what hashwatas is and see if anybody picked up on the clue I dropped.

Totally did. Last slide, but uh that's one of the items that we kind of seek to, you know, encourage students and families and even teachers uh to walk across the stage. So, that's a very monumental thing. Um, lots of times our students don't realize the impact that family has on pushing and pushing and pushing and mentoring and everything else, but um, that's something as far as any of our uh, logos or t-shirts. Um, just really, you know, encouraging kiddos to push hard to walk across the stage. So, um, thank you. Thank you again for your time to today and this afternoon.

Well, thank you. Uh, very good and thorough presentation. At this time, we open the floor for public testimony. Looks like you'd like to speak, please. And thank you. Come on up to the podium. If you could state your name, your address, and then you have three minutes to share. Thank you. Uh, good afternoon. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak. Um, my name is Steven Walsh. Uh, my wife and I live at 1904 5th Avenue. Uh we are situated directly across the road from where this proposed school is uh um about to take place. Um we are two of four or five homeowning residents who live closest to that property. Uh we have lived there for 18 years and we walk these streets sometimes twice a day. The proposition to bring school students into this social environment which currently exists and quite frankly hasn't really changed a lot is both I think negligent and lacking awareness or recognition of what surrounds this building. I have nothing against Passport Academy. I've been a teacher for most of my life. I recognize what good things they do but this is completely out of place. Watson, Forbes, Fifth, and especially Gist are constant avenues for drug dealing, drug taking and prostitution. The park on the corner of Gist and Fifth, which now I see is going to be in the pathway to public transport, whilst looking innocuous as you drive by on a nice Sunday or a nice sunny summer's day, is used for drug use, dealing, and underage drinking. Um, I see this personally from my yard. It hasn't changed and it only gets worse as the

weather gets better. Also, just recently, my wife and I, the reason we walk, we walk the streets, we have a large Great Dane, and so we walk around the streets constantly to keep her exercised. Unfortunately, we've noticed recently the number of needles has increased. It's been a constant for our 18 years. We know where we live, but we've just noticed recently there's an increase in that. Um, and that's also of concern if you're having a school within the proximity of where all this is happening. I'm sure at least I hope people proposing to place a school here are aware that part of Uptown has been referred to on social media if you search hard enough um as Crack Alley. One part of Watson Street has been prominent and that nickname is in the darknesses of social media. I see it every single day. statistics which I am sure will be used to refute my descriptions. All right, do not tell the truth in relation to reality as it's seen. We have encountered this for 18 years and I think that's why things haven't changed drastically cause statistics say these things aren't happening. Finally, let me say when this propose this proposal is passed, Watson Street has to be addressed. the speeds, the traffic use and the various other uses which cause concern for anyone who wishes to place not just a school here but children really needs to be addressed. We see it every day. Every single day and I really shudder at the fact that we have 16 to 21 year olds who will be walking

time. Please wrap up. Done. You can wrap up. Walking walking to public transport. That disturbed me even more when I heard that. who will bypass and encounter this. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you for your testimony and for coming in here today. Have a great day. Uh is there anyone else uh online maybe that wishes to speak? No. All right. Okay. Um commissioners, at this time, are there some questions, comments as it relates to this application? I just want to note before we get to the votes and I don't need to recuse myself, but I do have a relationship. I'm on the board of the IW, which is one of the functioning groups with this, but I don't think there was any kind of any any kind of is that uh bias or I just want to put it on the record.

Fantastic. Thank you so much for doing that. Um, Commissioner Reppy, anybody else? Uh, Commissioner O'Neal,

uh, just being cognizant of Mr. Walsh's uh testimony. I hope that the applicant will be taking that into consideration. I know that our purview here is limited today. Um elementary and secondary schools are permitted in this district provided they meet the requirements and aren't more impactful than a traditional elementary or secondary school. the the presentation and the materials provided demonstrate that the programming and operation and traffic impacts would be less than most schools or if not equal to. Um so I would have trouble uh you know making a recommendation against this but um you know those are some serious statements that Mr. Walsh made um and I'm sure you're very concerned with the safety of your students. So um please take that into consideration and maybe reach out to Mr. Walsh.

Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Um, commissioners, given no questions or comments, our recommendation is uh to our vote here today. Do we have a motion for making a positive recommendation to city council on conditional use of application BDA-2026-00703 filed by Wildman Chalmer's design with the following conditions. Condition number one, all doy permits will be reviewed and approved prior to issuing the final record of zoning approval. And condition two, the final construction plans, including site plans and elevations, will be reviewed and approved by the zoning administrator prior to issuing the final record of zoning approval. Motion from the floor.

So moved, Commissioner O'Neal. Thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Commissioner Repy. Uh, I'll go in order. Commissioner Burton Faulk. I, uh, Commissioner Hunt. I, thank you, Commissioner Antiano. I, thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. I, thank you, Commissioner Kenttonia. I, thank you, Commissioner Repy. I, thank you. And Commissioner Walker, I. Thank you. All right, the motion passes. Get connected and uh, hopefully you can make some changes. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you again for coming down. Thank you uh to the applicant and have a great rest of your day.

Thank you very much. You're welcome. All right, moving on to uh the final item under uh hearing and action this afternoon, item number three, which is as follows. BDA-2026-0184 at 510 West Station Square Drive. This is Riverhound Sound Sign PLDP amendment or FLDP and this is in the Southshore neighborhood and Mr. Conila is presenting.

Thank you, Chair Brennon Faulk. And I just want to do a sound check with the applicant group to make sure they're on and we're able to hear them. Okay. Okay. Are they there?

I think it's Belinda and Dan. Are you able to uh hear us and and speak to let you know that we can hear you? We can hear you. Can you hear us?

Yes. Great. Thank you. Um yes. So, I'll just go in and read the report and kind of walk through. There's a little bit of um nuance with this application. So, I'll just provide that information to the commissioners. Um, so this initially came in as a BDA uh-2026 01814 as a final land development plan for um new signage replacement at the Riverhound Stadium, which is located in the specially planned district 4, which is colloquially known as Station Square. Um, so they initially applied uh as a as a FLDP um through the BDA uh for signage uh to replace to put in new sponsorship signage for the Riverhound Stadium um under zoning code section 909.015B 015B signs and sign structures subject to sign guidelines adopted by the planning commission as a component of the preliminary land development plan. Um so those signed guidelines were initially adopted by the planning commission as an amendment to the original PLLDP in March of 2002. um when the Riverhound Stadium was constructed, there was a a further amendment to the PLDP to add in signage for um for entertainment and entertainment event uses. Um and so the current exhibit E2 and specifically B2 uh language which uh regulates the signage under UN for this event venue um is the PLP amendment in question. Um so the review procedure um for amending a preliminary land development plan is the same as adopting an original plenary land development plan albeit it just

requires planning commission approval under the criteria 922.11.b.2 and that criteria is uh a part of your um report to commissioners. Um, so there are there are four s there are five signs total that are part of this sign package. There are uh two wall signs. Uh an additional sign on the inward facing scoreboard. Uh there's a canopy sign at one of the entrances and then there is also a sign on the exterior side of the scoreboard, the side that faces the Mananga Mananga River towards downtown. Um so that is the that is the sign that was kind of flagged um upon initial review by the zoning reviewer um that it did not meet the existing criteria existing sign guidelines uh for this signage type. So if you look at the language under um exhibit E2 B2 language there is a maximum uh signage allowable signage area of 200 square ft. Um although there is also the allowance for there is no any logo is not um is exempt from being included in that signage area which um you know we had discussions with the applicant and staff felt that you know this is not how the city regulates uh signage areas in the in other parts of the city. Typically we are measuring it for the fullest extent of the sign regardless of we don't differentiate between logo letters and so we felt that um you know given the way that uh this sign is being designed with the FNB logo and then the lettering kind of s surrounding it that it was best to amend it to align with the language for how signage in the rest of the city is is measured which is the fullest extent and

that language is included in the recommended uh change to the PLDP that was submitted to commissioners. Um to make that change as well as to then subsequently increase the allowable signage area. Um the signage area that they're proposing based off of that definition is 412 ft. Um and staff's recommendation is to allow a little bit of wiggle room knowing that in the potential as in this case that there could be a future different sponsor for the stadium and so to just create a more um a little bit a little bit of wiggle room to be 420 ft is the recommendation. So there would be a striketh through of the 200 ft to be 420 ft and then there would be a strike through of uh the language where it would start from rectangle around the widest part of the letters any logo is excluded to be that uh underline language which um essentially the measurement would be the furthest extent of all the content within the sign. So that would be the the change in how we measure and that again that is directly taken from the signage code language in uh 9/19. Um so should the should the amendment you feel that the amendment was not appropriate and did not agree to pass the amendment uh this applicant would need to go to the zoning board and seek a variance uh for the signage height. Um staff did determine that the design review uh for this sign was not required. So CDAP this did not go before the contextual design advisory panel. Um as as another note um so the 922.11.b7 requires that a notice be provided anytime there is a lapse of 10 years

between amendments to a preliminary land development plan. Um, in this case with SP4, the last time the PLLDP was amendment was in 2017. So, we're within that 10-year window. So, no notice was required for that. So, that's why um we were able to take this to straight to the hearing for today. Um, there's also no active uh RCO in this portion of of Pittsburgh and so no development activities meaning was uh conducted here. Um so staff's uh recommend there are two recommended motions here. So the first recommended motion is uh that the planning commission of the city of Pittsburgh approve the amended preliminary land development plan under DCP- MPZC-2026-000098 that was filed by Belinda Coast on behalf of Shaolinburgger Properties LLC the property owner for the amendment specifically to uh section B.2 two of exhibit E2 for the signage guidelines updates to the SP4 district. And then the second motion is um that the planning commission of the city of Pittsburgh approve the final land development plan which is filed under BDA-2026-01814. Um, again based off the application filed by Blender Coast on behalf of Shaolinburgger Properties LLC with the condition that the final construction plans, site plans, and elevations be reviewed and approved by the zoning administrator prior to the issuance of the final record of zoning approval. And with that, I'll hand it over to the applicant team to kind of walk through their presentation and go through the signage package.

Thank you. Thank you. Just want to confirm everybody can hear us again. We can hear you loud and clear.

Perfect. Appreciate that. And I apologize. I'm not sure what's what happened with our camera, but uh it's it's not wanting to cooperate and I don't want a chance losing, so I'm not going to mess with it, but I do apologize about that. Um so, with that said, we were uh contacted by the Pittsburgh River Hounds. Um as as mentioned they do have an expiring agreement with the current naming sponsor uh with that being highark and and they have reached an agreement with a new naming sponsor with that being first national bank. Um we can go ahead and go to the next slide. So what this means there are five primary signs around the stadium that distinguish the naming sponsor. You have one at the east gate and the west gate. You have one on the rear of the press box and then two on the scoreboard. One in the front and then one into the rear. Um from our stance we were we were contracted to design, manufacture and install. And you know certainly uh just wanted to highlight that the materials selected the design process um everything that went into the fabrication uh certainly is is you know within the uh codes um and designed specifically for you know snow loads, wind loads uh ul certifications for the electrical components um and all of that as well. Uh next slide please. And I apologize about the scaling of this, but trying to fit stadiums and signage and uh little little tough there. But so again, this is just highlighting where the the five signs are from an aerial map uh so that you can see where those gates are, the press box, and then the scoreboard. And then

essentially the uh the scope of work is going to be to remove the existing uh five naming right signs being high mark and install five new naming right signs being first national bank. Next slide. And then this just really goes through each slide uh or each sign um in terms of what the specs are of them. And then it's going to talk about the attachment schedule and the electrical. So on the East Skate, it's a raceway mounted channel letter set. The raceway is going to be painted to match the structure. We've got white acrylic faces, translucent vinyl applied to those faces. Uh white returns, white trim caps, and then uh principal Sloan LEDs again being UL certified. And this sign is compliant with the uh the current codes as written. Next slide, please. And then on the west gate, it's uh it's it's more of the same. We've got raceway mounted channel letters. Again, the raceway will be painted to match the structure. Uh we've got the white acrylic faces, the translucent vinyl, white returns. Uh it's it's b it's it's essentially the exact same sign just on the other side of the stadium. Next slide, please. Back of the scoreboard. This is uh you know, similar signage. uh still raceway mounted. Everything has got the same construction type. These are your your standard industry channel letters uh that are going on a raceway to you know eliminate the need for multiple penetrations. Uh it mass the wiring harnesses and and housing units of the electrical better than than trying to run everything into the press box. Uh but exact same configuration UL certified. Uh and this sign as as well is compliant. Next slide, please. And then we get to the scoreboard. So, we on the front side

of this, we have flush mount channel letters um that are are illuminated as well with the uh the the acrylic faces uh UL certified. This sign is compliant as well. And then the the fundamental premise of why we're here is the the next slide. This is the rear of the scoreboard. This is the the largest signage of all of the naming right signage at the stadium. Um this is similar construction again. It's just a larger scale, but it's it's raceway mounted channel letters. Uh nothing, you know, unique or or specialized here. Um that's going to be structurally mounted to the back of the scoreboard. Um obviously ULcertified. It complies with all of the um design, fabrication, and installation codes. uh it is just non-compliant from a a a size restriction. Um next slide please. And then as Paul indicated, so the the situation here is that we've got specifically this section B2 of exhibit E2, the amendment to the station square sign guidelines that allows the the signage to be up to 200 square feet, but it doesn't include the the logo side of that. So where this played in favor of the stadium um is that the high mark logo is actually incorporated into the letters. Uh so therefore it it it did not really fall under the uh the code allowance in terms of what size restrictions can or can't be. And what we're asking um is that we amend that existing section uh B2 of exhibit E2 amendment to the station square sign guidelines as follows. Um and that's I I believe that is in your guys's packet and what what Paul referenced. But

essentially the only thing that we are looking to do is is just take this signage application and apply it back to the city's intent under uh 919.01. 01. And um with that, that that is our presentation. That's essentially everything in a nutshell with what's going on with the first phase of stadium signage there and you know the the issue with the the backside of the scoreboard signage.

Well, thank you so much. And given that concludes your presentation, at this time we open the floor for public testimony. Nobody in the room, anybody online? Given nobody online, uh commission, we're going to take this in uh two parts. Well, three first. Are there any questions or comments? One two question and a statement. Just for the record

for just a bit of historical perspect historical perspective. The reason why I mean that I noticed because I actually wrote this back in the day. The reason why the logo was included, it was because of the Hard Rock Cafe guitar. And if you drew the thing around the guitar stem, this is not really useful, but if you drew the if you drew the guitar the the box around the guitar stem that extended like 30 feet in the air, it would have been like 10,000 square feet or something like that. So that's why logos are reduced. So I'm fully in support of the amendment to do that. The only other question I know you you mentioned a couple of times, but not on everyone. I want to make sure that on every one of those the five signs that the raceway behind will be painted to match. Is that correct? That is correct. Yes.

Okay. Just wanted to confirm that. Otherwise, with that, I don't have any other questions. Well, fantastic. Since you don't have any questions and you said you'd be willing to support, we're going to take I'll make a motion to to approve both motions. Okay. So, uh, we'll take it first. The, uh, motion to approve the amended preliminary land development, the PLLDP DCP MPZC-2026-000098 filed by Belinda Coast on behalf of the Shaolinburgger Properties LLC. Uh, you made a motion. Do we have a second? Second. All right. So, I'm going to do roll call. Commissioner Burton Faulk. I Commissioner Hunt. I. Thank you, Commissioner Interiano. I Thank you, Commissioner O'Neal.

I Thank you, Commissioner Kenttonia. I Thank you, Commissioner Repy. I Thank you. And Commissioner Walker, I. All right. Fantastic. Part two. Uh, do we have a motion from the floor? So moved. All right. to approve the final land development the FLDP for BDA-2026-01814 uh based on the application filed by Belinda Coats and with a condition a the final construction plans including site plans and elevations be reviewed and approved by the zoning administrator prior to issuing the final record of zoning approval. We have a motion on the floor. Do I have a second?

Second. Thank you, Commissioner uh Repy and Commissioner Kenttonia. Uh roll call. Commissioner Burton Faulk. I Commissioner Hunt. I thank you, Commissioner Antiano. I thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. I Thank you, Commissioner Kentia. I Thank you, Commissioner Repy. Hi. Thank you. And Commissioner Walker, I.

Thank you. And so it is approved. Thank you so much. And have a great rest of your day. Thank you, Paul, for uh Mr. Canila for the clarification. Uh we are moving on to the next agenda item for today's commission which is agenda item E that is the director's report and welcome.

Hello commissioners. Hi.

Um um first I just want to say thank you again. I hope all is going well after your first couple meetings. Um, and just excited to see everybody having good discussion. Um, I did want to just provide a quick update on the comprehensive plan. I know a couple of you have participated in um, either the steering committee or the working groups that we started I think it was April 10th or so a week ago and then I've seen some of you at community meetings. So, thank you for um, both your support and participating as a neighbor. um wanted to just uh remind everybody and ask you to share with your networks. Um we have six or so meetings left tonight. I'll be at um the Kingsley Association in Lmer to talk about the East End and then we'll take a pause for the draft and next week we will be um in the north side at two meetings downtown Tuesday night and in the West End I think Wednesday or so. So all the details are on the website. um encourage you to you know share with your friends, colleagues. We are sharing the ideas citywide at all the meetings and then zooming in to each part of town for more of a discussion. Um but you will see similar content at all of them. Um and along with that, I know it's um we do have the intention to work with planning commission to brief you along the way and make sure that there's no major surprises by the time the plan is complete. So, um I'll probably be connecting with the chair on how to do that best and whether that's in some smaller groups or um something similar. So, I think after next week, we're looking at a detailed schedule because originally we were slated to try to come back in June with a draft a final draft plan. Um right now we're looking at the first two weeks in June and seeing when

that is going to land. So sometime in the next month, we will be hoping to connect with you and share a more final draft before we go back out to the public. So um any questions for me? Commen. Thank you so much for all the hard work. Thanks. Okay, we'll see you soon. Thank you. Have a good rest of your day. Okay, so commissioners, this is the time where we get to close. Uh thank you for a good session today. Uh do we have a motion from the floor to adjurnn? So moved. Thank you. Do we have a second? All in favor?