Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I appreciate all you're doing. We'll we'll we'll take it slow. Hey, how are you? Thank you for making it today around everywhere. Well, I appreciate you. So far, it's you, myself, and uh Vice Chair O'Neal. Yeah. [sighs and gasps] So, between now and hearing in action, we got to get a few more. Let's see a few people drop out. All right. All right.

All right. Thank you so much. All right. Welcome everyone uh to the planning commission briefing for November 18, 2025. I'm going to do a sound check uh for commissioners online. It looks like Commissioner O'Neal is there. Uh and then Commissioner Woo and myself. Good afternoon to all of you. We have one item up today for briefing and it is as follows. I'm going to read it through. Uh please note that again this is briefing so we will hear the item before us for briefing and uh then there will not be public testimony but commissioners can ask questions and comment. So under briefing agenda item A is council bill 2025-2385. This is the zoning text amendment regarding waste transfer stations and this is citywide. Presenting this afternoon is Mr. Franker.

Good afternoon, commissioners. I will read in the staff report and then turn it over to uh the councilwoman for presentation on this. Thank you.

Council bill 20252385 to add a definition and use standards for a waste trans transfer station was referred to the planning commission on October 22nd for a report and recommendation per 922.05 of the zoning code. The planning commission shall act to recommend approval or denial of the application within 90 days. um which puts that at uh January 20th, 2026. Prior to introduction of the legislation, staff worked with Councilwoman Warwick's office on potential language to the new use. This research was conducted in September and October of 2025. The research looked at existing city policies, state requirements for transportation uses, and how other jurisdictions regulate the use. The research is summarized within your report. The city developed a report called roadmap to zero waste in 2020 in 2017 that among other measures to decrease waste outlines the need for the city to have its own waste transfer station. The report notes that trash is currently hauled up to 34 miles away for each uh after each truck is filled leading to inefficiencies. As one of the pot potential action items, the roadmap to zero waste report states that transfer station ownership could be private, public, or a public private partnership. As part of the city's ongoing comprehensive plan efforts, discussions have been held noting the need for a transfer station. City staff researched how other jurisdictions define a waste transfer station use. Please see attachment one for a summary of those definitions. As part of the proposed legislation, staff are recommending a modification to the language of the definition to mention that a waste transfer station

use would exclude recycling facilities and other uses intended to remove and/or use material from the solid waste stream. the report that you previously had was modified very recently. Um and that should include the new um the new language. Um so that is within within the folder online that you have access to. Um I will go ahead and read that new definition. So the new definition would be waste transfer station means a supplemental transportation facility used as an adjunct to solid waste route collection vehicles for the primary purpose of moving the solid waste from the collection vehicles to other vehicles for further transfer. This use excludes recycling facilities and other uses intended to remove and/or reuse material from the solid waist stream. [gasps] Waste transfer stations are regulated by the state department of environmental protection. These regulations include sighting requirements such as distances from nearby uses, property boundaries, wetlands, and flood planes and requirements for operational plans including soil and groundwater monitoring and nuisance and litter control. A summary of the state requirements are in attachment two of your report. The proposed legislation includes a 500 ft buffer requirement around residential and commercial zoning districts as well as schools and parks where waste transfer station use would not be permitted. Please see attachment three for maps of the 500t buffer areas. In disc in discussion with the council woman, um it was clarified that use standard 3 should reference uses and zoning districts. Um staff have proposed a modification to that language as well

and that has been modified in that same report. City staff looked at requirements from other jurisdictions and states as precedent for the 500 ft buffer. see attachment four and five for states and jurisdictions with areas with specific buffer requirements noted. Um, city staff consulted additional use standards from other jurisdictions. The city also looked at jurisdictions that have built new and more modern transfer stations and how those transfer stations are incorporated within the built environment. A model of uh an example of the Seattle North transfer station is included in attachment 7. Notice of council bill 20252385 was emailed out on November 10th and posted on the city planning web page. Um with that I will turn it over to the applicant team um for their introduction.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, commissioners. And thank you as always to uh the city planning team, the zoning team. I always appreciate their assistance. Um it's not a good idea to write zoning legislation without the help of professionals. I don't think so. I'm always happy to to for their guidance. So very much appreciate that. So um yeah, so uh this bill to you know define what a waste transfer station is and then set standards for that in the city of Pittsburgh. Um this is just the language of the legislation and to note that uh the the recommended adjustments to um to exclude recycling facilities that are for you know whether that be um paper whatever food waste etc. Right? Recycling facilities. All right. All right. So um sort of where the discussion is now with regard to uh waste trans you know waste transport and waste transfer stations in the city of Pittsburgh. So currently we do not have uh a municipal solid waste transfer station operating in the city of Pittsburgh. Um and environ we as we've heard environmental service drivers um you know we're driving our garbage trucks um they have to drive the non-recyclable municipal waste directly to the landfill which is I believe in Imperial about 20 miles away. Um that puts a strain on our environmental service vehicles and it takes time from those vehicles away from you know time that they could be picking up um you know picking up trash from residents.

Um, so you know, the issue is that the city could benefit from having a waste transfer station so that our environmental services trucks do not have to travel as far uh to to unload. Um, but right now there is no plan or guidance uh on where such a facility would go in the city in you know within the city. Um so with that in mind that is why this bill is being brought today. Um it is critical that the city find ways to meet its need for operational efficiency. Uh but uh meeting those needs should not have negative impacts on the health and well-being of residents. So this these are just some pictures of um landfills and the types of containers that are brought to the landfills, right, from presumably a a waste transfer station, right? So these are very large containers full of municipal waste that you know in these facilities are sitting in these facilities getting filled up, right? So, so that's just to understand that this is you know this is what we're talking about housing and then you know transporting to and from such a facility and the type of waste that's in there right is not recycling material but just non-recyclables. Um, so here's the city map of where so the blue is the border of like residential, commercial, the places where right you you we wouldn't have one of these stations and then the pink is where you could and the overlap is where that 500 would be where the restriction on that on that buffer, right? to make sure that those stations are not um not close to

to residents and businesses, right? Parks, schools, that type of thing where where people are living. Um so that's just to make it clear where in the city we could potentially put one of these stations should we ever uh decide to do it. Um so the community impact of large-scale waste transfer stations, right? Excessive trash and litter from trucks coming back and forth, right? you know, waste blowing off trucks, light pollution from large-scale facilities, um noise pollution from increased traffic, including large trucks and very loud equipment. Um air pollution from trucks uh and odor from from the waste being stored at the waste transportation and of course rodents, roaches, other other pests, right? That that um naturally are drawn to lots of to places where lots of waste um is there. So at any rate, you know, short and sweet, you know, it's our job as a city to find solutions to our logistical and environmental challenges, but those solutions should not harm our residents. Um, so a waste transfer station may be necessary. Um, but we should be we as a city should be proactive about determining where such a facility could be safely located rather than just simply allowing the private market to make that determination based on whatever works best for any one company or operator's bottom line. And so that is why um this bill is being introduced. And um that's all I have. I'm happy to answer any questions should the commissioners have any. Well, thank you so much for that presentation. Uh, again, at this time there's no public testimony, but commissioners get a chance to ask questions. I'm only giving a little chuckle here because there's like three of us here at the moment. Um, Commissioner, Vice Chair O'Neal is online. Um, no, I my apologies. I take that back. Uh,

Commissioner uh Blackwell is here as well. So, commissioners, we'll open the floor for questions and some dialogue or comment. Uh, is there any Commissioner O'Neal? Yes.

Thank you. Um, and thank you to the council woman for the bill and for coordinating with city planning. Um, I do appreciate their comments and I I think this is uh, you know, well thought out. Uh, I did just want to get a few comments on the record. I was comparing this use um you know as it's currently written to what we already have in the zoning code and it is you know something that the city needs and we need to be regulating. Um I just had a few questions about consistency. This is very similar to some of the other uses we have in the zoning code and looking at the use table. Um specifically the hazardous operations um incinerators and um salvage yards which are you know limited to these GI and RIBG GI districts um and those hazardous operations and incinerators are you know also conditional uses that would go through the same process. um they don't all have aligned standards even though they're dealing with kind of similar things. Um and I was just wondering how you came to the 500 foot buffer for those uses. Um yeah. So well there is as as you are aware right there is a neighborhood in my district that has um has a recycling facility right a rec which is not a waste transfer station but um that facility is extremely close to homes and um I don't know how that came to be right I don't know how that came to be allowed that such a facility would be so close to to homes and businesses um but I do know that the result of that is um you know it's in a GI uh the result has been extremely detrimental to the community. So, um, it seemed to me that we do have in Pittsburgh homes and businesses that abut the GI districts, not in every location, but in many locations. And of course, often the the residents in those communities are lower

income, right? Um, that's just sort of the nature of um of where we put things like that, unfortunately. And uh so that was the intention with the buffer was, you know, look, if it were up to me, I would have put a 1500 foot buffer, but you know, with the understanding that we do need uh spaces where we could potentially have a facility like this, it seemed that at least a a minimal buffer um to protect residents from really the worst effects of such a facility. Might we be able to pull up the map again, please? And thank you. Oh,

yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and I think that's helpful. Um, for example, the hazardous operations has a 300T buffer, but it is uh applicable to many more uses. Um, some of these other uses don't have a buffer, but they have a different process. Uh, when you're speaking about this specific area with the recycling, um, was there any thought to also changing the recycling collection use um to limit it to these two districts? right now. Um, it's permitted in I think the Riv as a special ex I'm sorry I wrote this down. Um, it's permitted by right in certain districts and as a special exception but not as a conditional use.

Um, that had not occurred to me but it's certainly something that I'd be open to exploring. Okay. Yeah. I I just since that's kind of the use that we're looking at, but I I think this is helpful because it is something that like you pointed out in your presentation um is helpful for the operations of the city and allows the um you know, waste management to more efficiently collect. Um so, thank you for the the information in the background and um for coordinating with city planning. Yep. Thank you. Okay, Commissioner Woo.

Yeah. Um I was looking at some of the attachments that you included with the report. Um and uh I just wanted to you know kind of see um you know what your thought process was with the so um the the state has um buffer requirements right that are standard from transfer stations to residential areas of what 300 I believe 300 ft. And then some of the definitions um you know do include uh recycling from some of the other communities like Harrisburg and Erie. Um what I guess what is the um in your mind or uh anyone you've talked to the difference between um the impacts of a solid waste transfer facility versus um you know that only handle solid waste versus somewhere that handles recycling. And yeah, was the 500 uh number was that um I guess was that um intended to go beyond the state requirement or was that um just something that uh you kind of you know thought was a good number?

Yeah. So, with regard to the to the recycling facility that is in my district, um, uh, that facility and as I said, this facility has caused immense harm to the community over the years. Um, back in I want to say 2018, uh, the state issued a permit to that facility, um, to be, you know, to to be used as a municipal solid waste transfer station. And given the amount of given the impact of that facility as is as a recycling station and you know the difference between the two I can only just sort of use my assumption right of if you're talking about cardboard plastic paper you know when it comes to sort of attracting rodents and smell and that kind of thing that that that would not be as bad as regular raw garbage. Just kind of similar when you put your house garbage out, right? like the the regular garbage is always a little stinkier and nastier than the than the recycling. Um, you know, given the smell and you know, and the the problem with rodents and such with the recycling, um, it struck me that and I don't know what I I really can't it it I'm very surprised that the state that the DP, you know, looked at the existing recycling facility and thought, "Oh, yeah, that would be fine." you know, that would be fine to permit as a municipal solid waste transportation, but I have no, you know, I have no jurisdiction over over um what the state decides to do. Um so that is why the the the the larger buffer.

Thank you. Um any additional questions? Uh Commissioner Blackwell, do you have any questions or comments? Not at this time. [clears throat]

Okay. Thank you so much. [gasps] Um, one of the clarifications that I I wanted to make with this um, transfer station is that the intent is that things would go there and be gone in the same day, right? I mean, when when I I mean, ideally, it goes and it's in a receptacle and it it gets sent there and then somebody else comes and gets it, it just makes the trip for the city significantly for for our people to not have to travel quite as far and to be able to have more manpower and ability in the interim. Correct. Right.

Not as much mileage on the trucks and Right. Right. Got it. Um, and just wanted to make sure that that was clear, not just for myself, cuz I get it, but make sure it was kind of clear for everybody else generally. Um, okay. Well, given uh that's it, it looks like you can conclude. Uh, we'll close up for today. Thank you very much. And, uh, we'll see you soon. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks.

Have a good rest of your day. And uh at this point it looks like uh that's the only agenda item for briefing and we will see everybody brief intermission. It's a little longer than most but about 30 minutes we'll see everybody at 2. Thank you. Kate was down for the rescue. She got me my set of eyes. Kate, you're an angel. Where were in my car? Oh, you dropped them in the street or Enough.

We're about one minute out and the room continues to fill. How are you today, sir? Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

Do we have a quorum?

Yes, Commissioner Dick, we do. It's 2:00 and uh the the room uh seems to be filling here. So, I'm going to give a couple minutes for folks to come on in. Uh, and then after everybody comes on in and can take a seat, and I know that there's a little bit kind of going on, there's some moving parts to get enough chairs, then I'll go ahead and start so it's nice and uh quiet in the room so that we can all hear as I know commissioners that are online aren't able to see what's kind of going on in the room. Hold just a moment, please. And thank you. Do we have enough seating back there for everybody? Uh just in case folks coming in uh don't see seats back there. There's a row of seats up here in front. Maybe uh five seats and then maybe one or two scattered within. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Hey, so it looks like most people are in. Uh if anybody's coming in after, I'm just going to go ahead and get started because we're at 2011 here. Uh and we're due to get back online at 2:00. Uh just for some housekeeping, uh commissioners, I do see you online. Uh to our court reporter, hello. Can you hear us?

I can hear you. Fantastic. Thank you very much for being here. Okay, so good afternoon everyone and welcome to the planning commission. This is the hearing and action portion of our November 18, 2025 uh session. So, I'm going to go ahead and get started with a sound check from our uh commissioners just to make sure everyone's here. I'm going to do roll call. Uh Commissioner Blackwell, present. Thank you. Commissioner Burton Faulk, present. Commissioner Dick, present. Thank you so much. Uh, Commissioner Gam, thank you. Commissioner Maza here. Thank you. Commissioner O'Neal,

present. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Kent, I he'll be here at some point. And Commissioner Woo, present.

Thank you so much. Okay, now that we've done roll call, I am going to go through today's agenda for November 18, 2025. and it is as follows. Agenda item A is approval of minutes. Agenda item B is correspondence. Agenda item C is hearing and action. Under hearing and action, we have three items before us today. Uh agenda item E is the director's report. I'm going to go back to agenda item A, which is approval of minutes. Commissioners, you had before you um minutes for October 21, 2025. If there are any edits, please state. If there are none, do I have a motion from the floor to approve?

So moved. Thank you, Commissioner Dick. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Commissioner Woo. I'll do roll call. Commissioner Blackwell. I Commissioner Blackwell. I thank you Commissioner Burton Faulk. I Commissioner Dick. Hi. Thank you, Commissioner Maza. I thank you Commissioner O'Neal. Hi. Thank you. And Commissioner Woo. I thank you. So, we have a second set of minutes from November 4. Uh, you've been in receipt of If There are no edits, do I have a motion from the floor to approve? So, move. Thank you, Commissioner Maza. Do I have a second?

Second. Thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. I'll do roll call. Uh, Commissioner Blackwell. I. Thank you, Commissioner Burton Faulk. I, Commissioner Dick, I. Thank you, Commissioner Maza. I, thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. I, thank you. And Commissioner Woo. Hi.

Thank you so much. [clears throat] Okay. Uh we are moving to agenda item B which is correspondence for correspondence on November 18, 2025. We are in receipt of correspondence regarding item BDA-2025-01290 4121st Street. Uh correspondence from Jeff Campbell, Strip District Neighbors. We're also in corres uh in receipt of correspondence from Gavin White of Riverlife regarding item DCP-MPPZC-2025-0000195 Council Bill 2025-1993 for Hazelwood. We're in receipt of correspondence from the following. Pastor Patricia Sters, congregation of Morning Star Baptist Church, John Harding, Haley Steinhauser, Diane Shank from uh the market, Jenna Flor, Christa Jones, Greenfield Community Association, Samuel Simon, Alageney Valley Railroad, Regarding item DCP-MPPZC-2025-0000230, Council Bill 2024-0959 Northshore. We are in receipt of correspondence from the following. Linda McNair, Allison Rupert, Paul Brown, Linda Schmidt, Gail Marcus,

Robert Fenhagen, Tim Ivers, Robert Buncher, Julie, and if I don't say this right, my apologies, Asolia, uh, Mary Joe Knock, Leslie Forester, Carolyn Biglo, K. Denowski, Patrick Frank, Carol Stanton, Virginia Casiano, John Harour, Daniel Saleman, Kathleen Nicholas, Elise Ford, Gail Nustat, Allison Yescoll, Susan King, Regina Brooks, and Kathy Ernel. Rob Conroy, Darin Perry, Jill Discan, Gail Amshell, Dolores Fur, Ronnie Ter, Nepa Majunar, Lynette Ryers, AJ Cho, Paty Hilbridge, Merryill Pink, Shannon Beerman, Roberta Corona, Nancy Levine, Sarah Thawaz, Cosette, Cornelius Bates, John Cisco, Elena Marchetti, Mike McCbell, Susan Donan, Jessica Brown, Marcia Stoner, John Nelson, Sheryl Towers, Ra Dayton, Edward Jis Jasawitz, Karen Sturgeon, Mark Fenwick, Keith

Lance, Rosemary Kalenberg, Craig Khan, Ellen Maso, Nick Kazzy, Russell Walker, Adrien Johnson, Suzanne Smolen, Sha Brady, and Candace Kaine. Nice long list. If any names were mispronounced, my apologies now. Okay, moving on to agenda item C, which is hearing and action. Under hearing and action, we have three items. I'll read them all and then we'll go to the first one and then let that uh applicant come up. Under hearing and action item number one is BDA-2025-01290 at 1 21st Street. This is construction of two mixeduse buildings. Item number two, DCP- MPZC-2025-0000230, Council Bill 2024-0959. This is a zoning text amendment for signs in the Northshore Entertainment District. Item number three, DCP- MPZC-2025-0000195, Council Bill 2025-93. This is continued from September 23rd and October 7. This is a zoning map amendment for the Hazlewood Riv GI District. Moving back to item number one, BDA-2025-01290121st Street, construction of two mixeduse buildings in the strip district neighborhood. Mr. Canila, please present.

Thank you, Chair Renerfolk. This is a project development plan application BDA-2025-01290 that was filed by Indeina Associates Architects on behalf of Midwood Investments and Development, the property owner for the construction of two new mixed use buildings in the Strip District neighborhood. The buildings will will contain a combined total of 464 dwelling units, 37,000 square ft of ground uh level retail spaces, and improvements around the multi-use trail that is located to the rear of the property. Per section 905.04.C3 C3 of the zoning code. The plan commission shall review and approve as a project development plan uh all new construction of 15,000 square feet or more in gross floor area within the Rivu district. This project is located within the Rivu. It is located at the corner of 21st Street and Railroad Street. The site is bordered by the multi-use trail to the rear, a six-story multi-unit residential building to the eastern side of the property. Um and then uh 21st Street on the on the west side of the property. The development site includes two parcels that are to be consolidated. The parcels are currently occupied by a one-story warehouse building. The lot consolidation was approved on October 21st, 2025. The project site is located within the flood plane overlay district. That flood plane permit has been submitted and is currently under review by the permanent of permits license and inspections. In the Riv IMU district, at least 60% of the building frontage must be located within the build 2 zone, which is imposed from 0 feet to 10 ft inward of the property line. The proposed building frontage complies with the build 2 zone requirement. The applicant is proposing one building or building A that is uh 65

ft and a second building B that is uh 85 ft in building height. The Rivonu zoning district imposes a 10-ft stepback at 65 ft in building height for buildings exceeding 65 ft in height. Uh so on building B or the second or building two, the applicant is proposing that 10-ft step back. The applicant is required to seek eight performance points. Three uh for the additional building height to go up to 85 ft. three uh points to uh encroach or to reduce the riparian buffer uh setback by 30 ft and also to encroach within that riparian buffer. In order to achieve those points, the applicant is utilizing the following bonus points. They are proposing to improve and widen the shared use path to city standards. That's worth one point. uh two points for providing an on-site public restroom that will be accessible uh to the riverfront trail users during normal uh expected hours. Uh one point for providing public access between the two buildings from the riverfront and railroad street. Uh two points for urban fabric as the applicant is intending to design the structured parking to allow for the conversion to other uses. and two points uh for the ground floor retail space of building one that is intended to be utilized as a fresh food market. Um section 905.04E.4 provides regulations about the placements of structures within the riparian zone buffer. So as mentioned before uh the applicant is seeking to go 30 ft uh reduce that buffer by 30 ft. The typical requirement is 125 ft from the project pool elevation. This would reduce that zone to 95 ft. Um, additionally, the applicant uh is allowed to encroach further into that buffer when certain conditions are met.

Those conditions are outlined in 905.04. EU41C and the applicant is compliant with those conditions. The project includes integral parking garage spaces within the two buildings for a total of 344 parking spaces. This is in compliance with the parking requirements of chapter 914. The applicant is also compliant with the bicycle parking requirements of chapter 914. The applicant also complies with the landscape and screening requirements. Those are located in chapter 918. The is providing 10-ft sidewalks along 21st Street and railroad in compliance with the Riv requirements. This project was reviewed by the Contextual Design Advisory Panel or SEAP. The panel was in favor of the design of the two buildings with a proposed use of the materials that create a cohesive and trained design. The applica or the panel recommended further emphasis on the access areas to the riverfront trail with a focus on pedestrian safety. The summary report of the SEAP meeting is attached to the report submitted to commissioners. There is no registered community organization in the strip district neighborhood and no development activities meeting was required. The applicant is also uh compliant with the requirement for six off- streetet loading spaces and those are located between the two build within the two buildings. Uh the planning commission shall review a project development plan under the criteria 92210.2 that criteria is listed in the report submitted to commissioners. And the recommended motion by city planning staff is that the planning commission approve the project development plan BDA-2025-01290 that was filed by Indina architects on behalf of the property owners with the conditions that the final condition plan construction plans including site plans and elevations be reviewed and approved by the zoning administrator prior to receiving final zoning approval. And

with that, I'll turn it over to team. And before the and quickly sorry hi before the applicant team starts I just wanted to note that I'll be recusing on this application. Thank you vice chair O'Neal.

Good afternoon. My name is Bill Sitig, sitting the applicant uh Midwood Investment and Development with me today and who will handle the presenting will be primarily Ryan Indina, but Rob Indina and Marty Buster from Ryan Indina Associates uh India Associates architects are here today. Also, uh virtually is Scott Hayner. He's a senior vice president development for Midwood and he's, you know, essentially running the project. Um just to provide a little context, the highlighted area on the sheet that's up um indicates the existing use. It's consumer produce. As you can see, it extends on the left from 21st Street over to the Helm building. That was the Oxford project that the planning commission reviewed not all that long ago. And then on the right side of U Helm is 23rd. So it does extend across, you know, an entire what's a large city block there. Uh there's an extensive community process although as Mr. Canilla not noted there's no RCO dam requirement. There were extensive meetings. Uh one of the outcroppings of that meetings uh initially um despite a lot of informal ones. The first sort of organized one was there was uh Representative McCaffrey for the brick works development was there and that's the first time I think we really saw the plans and they had an access corridor going through. Now that site is just to the bottom of the site to the south which is the parking lot now. And so what we were able to do is coordinate with Brick Works. There's going to be a visual corridor through their site. And now we're going to what initially was a single building which was going to effectively block that 22nd Street. Uh Midwood um as a result of encouragement of the design. As you'll see, there are two buildings and they're actually of differing heights too. So it'll provide some context and Ryan will show uh what's really happening with that context and on the riverfront. But the exciting part is that you break down the

massing and you you're opening another access to to the river. So um in addition to the trail riverfront improvements, we're actually um providing a separate new access. We indicate it's going to be a public easement. We are going to let people know unlike a lot of these situations, it's going to be in the midst of our residents and you know the overnight is going to be closed just for safety concerns. So uh for all intents and purpose going to be full-time public access. There's not any reason anybody would be back there at that time. We've also coordinated with the owner of the marina. I don't think they're represented here today, but there's a coordination um you know, some property clearance. We're trying to uh hopefully this will be an advantage for uh the viability and and ongoing improvements to the marina also. So, it's an exciting, as you can see from the riverfront, it's a very special piece of property. um heavy duty industrial now and it's going to you know change this section of the strip district uh for the positive um wanted to mention as Mr. Consula noted I think indirect indirect zero zoning relief. We didn't require any variances. It meets everything. We're not asking for any waiverss or any modifications. We're meeting everything with the bonus points. Um and um the other part is that we're you know bringing a grosser into the neighborhood. The expectation is um with this project which um again is going to help make the strip district become more of a livable neighborhood over time. So, um, we're all been working hard. These guys specifically with Mr. Hayner have been working hard to get here today. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Ryan. Good afternoon. Uh, Ryan Indina, Indina, Associate Architect since I in Dv I NA. Uh, thank you very much. Uh, we're excited to present the project to

everybody here. Uh, as Mr. Sitting mentioned uh the image here indicates the existing site which is entirely um covered by singlestory consumer produce structure uh with a large uh vehicular access off of railroad street. Uh the site is bordered to the southwest of by 21st by railroad street to the southeast. The helm to the northeast and then to the northwest is is a marina. Very unique condition particularly along this portion of the strip district where we actually have a use within the river. Uh so exciting to uh improve the trail as part of that part of this development uh and allow that um that marina space to be more uh you know conducively used as part of the trail experience as well as the general public experience. Just a couple uh contextual images here to share with everybody. In the upper left corner uh is the existing structure to the left. This is standing at 21st in Railroad. Uh at present the entirety of this site on its southwest border is um blocked from railroad by an active railroad line. Um that will be removed as part of this development uh as that rail line actually services this this site only. Um in the upper right corner is a view looking back towards uh downtown along railroad. You see the subject site in the sort of right hand side uh with the white structure there. Uh in the lower left and lower right uh we have views on both sides of the existing trail. Uh so this is on the river side at 23rd uh or sorry excuse me 22nd or 21st uh in the lower left and then on 23rd on the uh lower right. So the site is located in the Rivu uh it's basically the borderline between the SP8 district which governed the former buncher properties uh which have now been essentially fully developed on this side of the 16th street bridge uh and it extends further up into this rest of the strip district. Uh this particular uh site actually has a much higher height limitation on it and as Bill mentioned we've gone through a couple iterations

in the beginning of the project uh and ultimately landed where we are today. Okay, there we go. So within the riverfront uh mixeduse uh subdist uh there are no setback requirements as you'll see as we go through the presentation. We are uh providing setbacks as the building extends above its ground and second second floors uh to allow for uh our neighbors to have reasonable experience to the northeast as well as the uh users of this building uh to feel more like a street separation uh between the buildings the residential portions of the buildings uh rather than having them at a zero setback. The base height uh in this district is 60. The maximum height is actually 150. Um so it's pretty high. Uh we are as was mentioned in the beginning limiting building A to 65 ft and building B to 85 ft. So certainly not achieving that that maximum height there. Uh the bonus points as were mentioned uh we're taking a bunch of bonus points from different categories. Uh we're in compliance with all those points and I'll point out the various components of those uh how we're achieving those as we go through the presentation. Uh the project um from a parking standpoint again achieves our parking requirements. Um we have uh uh the Riverfront zoning district permits a 50% reduction. We're in in surplus of that reduction. Uh we are in compliance with bicycle bicycle parking uh both internal and external. And we are in compliance with the required off- streetet loading as you'll see in the plans. Uh we have loading for both the residential uses as well as much larger scale loading for our retail space. Um this just excerpts from the zoning uh code particularly as it relates to the repairar and buffer. I'll go through this more graphically than reading any of this stuff but uh we are in compliance with these sections. Um similarly the bill 2 uh and pedestrian sidewalk zones as mentioned uh currently the site does not have any sidewalks uh on both railroad and 21st.

So we are providing uh very large wide uh and pedestrian friendly sidewalks to link to the adjacent Helm site uh which actually dead ends into the site uh and then allowing that to wrap around 21st. Similarly, as Bill mentioned, we are providing the visual access corridor. Um so the intent of that zoning uh code is really to extend uh existing street conditions through all the way to the to the river where possible. Um 22nd actually stops at Smallman today. Uh so our brick works are extending it from smallman to railroad and we are extending it from railroad to the river. Uh solar study uh this building is located essentially on the northwest side of the of the strip here. So has very limited uh solar impact uh during the um various portions of the year. Uh it's really providing most of it shade on the uh on the riverside. Got a little delay here. Run it again. There we go. Um, so worst case is always December and we're providing the majority of the shading onto onto the river uh in the morning throughout the afternoon and sort of worst case in the afternoon uh will have some impact on the helm. Uh but as with any uh large scale building that has uh impact on its neighbors uh that's really the worst case condition. This is the existing site plan. So we'll shift over into the planning here to give everybody a sense of the layout of the site. So uh railroad street is on the bottom of the page. Uh 21st on the left and then the helm which is the large white box on the right hand side is the existing structure that is sits there today. The dash line indicates the existing structure uh that will be removed in its entirety. And then at the top of the page is the existing uh marina which is actually situated uh quite a few feet below the elevation of this this uh this site. So there's kind of a a steep grade condition between the trail as it extends down to the marina.

Um so you know I really don't see the uh marina from this uh vantage point uh but it is very impactful as as we go through the zoning uh implications here. Um our proposed building uh footprints here are indicated in gray. Uh the main uh priority or the main focus of our repairarian relief is to align ourselves with the uh neighboring the neighboring parcel both the cork factory and the helm. Uh so we're not progre pushing our building any further to the northwest than those existing structures. However, the repairarian buffer requires that we uh go through that process to get the additional points. So uh this red line outlines that existing 125 ft setback. This is a unique site in the sense that that setback is typically defined by roughly the edge of the the water. Um in this case that is projecting out into the river as a result of the constructed uh marina area. So you kind of get this hat-shaped uh setback condition. So that's the baseline. We then are requesting points for 95 ft. So a 30-ft reduction in that. That's the yellow line. Um and then we have a further um setback which essentially aligns ourselves with the helm. And that's our uh further point relief. So essentially we're only um impacting the setback conditions in both the upper left and upper right corners of our site. Uh again due to the unique conditions of the uh of the river as it sits on the uh the northwest side of our site. Let's go here. Okay, there we go. Uh as was mentioned, the building is within the flood flood plane. So the light blue area is the flood plane. The dark blue is the flood way. Uh the building has been designed to uh not impact or be constructed in any way within the flood way. uh uh once it's constructed in the flood plane, we are subject to the requirements uh in the city's flood code which are our flood plane code which we are abiding by and we will work through that uh as the project continues.

So shifting to the section of the building uh this is cut through the railroad side of the building so you get a sense of what happens above the ground level. So uh the areas indicated in kind of a pink color uh are our parking areas. The purple are residential and then the yellow are the multif family residential sitting above. So building A on the left side, building B on the right. Building A again maximized at 65 ft. There are four stories of residential on a two-story plinth. Building B is five stories of residential on a three essentially a 2 and 1/2 story plinth. Uh I'll go through how our parking works here in a second. Um but we are uh providing all of our residential above that flood plane as mentioned uh as well as the majority of our habitable space. Shifting over to a section um going lengthwise. So this is the river on the left, railroad on the right. Uh as was mentioned, we're proposing to do a large scale grosser on the ground floor of building A. That's indicated here in green. Uh so that'll occupy effectively a double height space with our parking levels, two parking levels within that same section as well as two levels of multif family townhouse structures that situate along the river uh to create a buffer and a scale reduction uh for the for the trail side. And then we'll have a residential units above. Uh shifting over to building B, somewhat similar. In this case, we have a double height retail space. Um, our building lobby behind that and actually another level of parking that is situated above the retail. Uh, but otherwise, the residential sits above that plinth with then the same townhouse structures situated on the riverside. Shifting over to our proposed site plan. So, this is our landscape plan. Again, orienting everybody. Railroad on the bottom, uh, 21st Street on the left. Uh we have uh introduced uh significant sidewalks along railroad and 21st. Starting at the right lower right corner of the site, uh we are matching the helm

sidewalk as it sits today. That'll be at the same grade elevation and our retail space on that building B will at will be at grade. Uh as you get to the visual access corridor uh penetration between the two buildings or through the site, uh that is aligned with our neighbors uh to the south of this page, the brick works. So, we worked with um both Domi and the the Maccaffrey folks to provide a pedestrian crosswalk that aligns on both sides of the site to allow people to cross through uh and utilize that uh that safe condition there. As you extend in front of building A's retail space, uh because it's a large scale um groceryer space, we've actually raised the entirety of that retail space to the uh reference foot elevation. So, as a result, we'll have a a slightly elevated sidewalk on that side of the site combined with a sidewalk at grade uh that'll be um accessible multiple locations along the length of building A via stairs and and the ADA compliant ramps uh that'll provide direct access to the to the to the retail space as well as providing uh parallel parking spaces along railroad uh in both sections. As we wrap around 21st, uh that sidewalk condition will continue quite a large sidewalk all the way out to 21st. Uh it'll be then broken by the uh large scale loading space uh that's kind of midblock as well as um the entrance into the retail dedicated parking at ground level. And then as you get to the riverside, uh we would have the entire length of the building both a a and b lined with uh residential townhouses with small sort of enclosed private yards as well as an elevated portion of uh trail or plinth that then steps down to the improved trail uh that is between our site and the railroad or sorry not the railroad the uh the marina. Um, we do not control that portion of the site. That actually is owned by the marina, but we've had conversations with them to be able to improve it, uh, as is necessary to make

that a nice link between the condition that occurs at the Cork and Helmside as well as at the, uh, edge 1909 site across 21st. Um, for the visual access corridor, uh, that actually is a vehicular access, uh, centrally located that provides direct access to the building's lobbies. So, the residential lobbies are actually uh accessed via that sort of hexagonal space in the middle or octagonal space in the middle. Um that then transitions basically midway through the parcel into a pedestrian walkway uh which is lined on both sides by residential units uh two-story town houses. Um so again that uh that space is really dedicated strictly for the residents in terms of their vehicular access. Um otherwise it's open to the public to pass from the uh railroad street all the way to the to the riverside. Um we have uh as was mentioned pursued the landscape uh requirements here and in compliance with that by providing street trees along both streets as well as providing extensive landscaping uh in the pass through as well as on the river side. Okay. Shipping. Uh this is a site plan indicating the accessibility of of the site at the ground level. Um so all areas of the building uh both retail spaces are provided with multi multiple accessible entrances. The building lobbies for the residential are also provided with accessible entrances. Uh and then the entire pathway as it extends from railroad all the way to the riverside uh are provided with accessible routes uh via ramps uh you know ADA compliant ramps uh to mitigate the grade differential between uh the proposed billing elevation and the trail. Um from a accessibility standpoint for the residential units themselves uh all building all units will be built as a type B unit. So, a convertible ADA unit and then we'll we will be providing the

required type A fully accessible units uh per code. Uh just another indication of the plan here again um just kind of calling out the more functional portions of the plan. The uh pink colors are retail space fronting all along railroad and wrapping the corner on 21st. Our magent uh I guess lavender color uh that wraps uh the trail side and then internal to the view corridor or all residential use. And then we have our parking garage spaces in white in the middle of the building. So again, the intent uh from a design standpoint is to wrap all the nonfunctional parking areas with functional dynamic use so it feels a very active site uh for the for the public. Sorry, this thing's a little slow here. Um as we go to the upper floor, level two, that's uh going to be our double height space for the uh the retail space. And then we'll have our uh second floor of parking and second floor of residential town houses as you get up backwards. Okay. As you get up to the third floor, that is the first level of residential use on the building A and then the third level of parking for building B. Uh this portion of building A has two courtyards, one internal and the one external with a pool facing the river the river. Um, so there'll be a large courtyard facing the river to um mitigate the scale of the building from the riverside. Uh, make it feel a little bit more open. Uh, and read as two towers, which we'll see in a second here. Just extending upward. Um, as you go up in both buildings, they actually set back in the middle of the site. Um, so there's a nice big buffer between the units facing each other across the the the uh visual access quarter as well as the units facing the helm. Uh so we made a concerted effort to make that feel uh like a street width uh between the two unit between the two buildings rather than being really up against each other. Um so we've got a good a nice big buffer there and you can see a little bit

better here uh the skinniness of particularly building B uh for the the bulk of its length more floor plans as we go up. Uh we'll have a green roof on building A as it extends upward and then similarly on building B. uh shifting to materiality. Um we worked uh very very closely with Midwood design uh design group to identify the aesthetics of the building as well as the materiality. So um this is really a tripartite design where we have a solid uh base comprised of large scale glazed windows and solid full depth brick and a in a um a black diamond uh color essentially a manganese iron spot appearance. The windows will be a dark bronze or black as it shifts to the uh the rest of the building. The brick changes to a uh it's called a Beldin clarret color. So it's kind of a reddish purple color. Um that'll be uh extending for three floors kind of vertical pilasters that then transitions at the top floor for a horizontal band. Uh but essentially all the um darker colors you see here are full depth brick. We then accent that brick with highdensity fiber cement panels in a dark and light gray that accent um the uh the sort of threetory zone in the middle of the building. So really worked very closely with the design folks uh from Midwood to create this sort of base uh spine and cap to the building uh particular on building A. And you'll see a little bit of a variation on building B as we go through that. So shifting here, this is the elevation on railroad of the two buildings. You've got uh building A on the left, building B on the right. Building A has that that uh run of three windows uh vertically for the middle of the building and then sort of a cap on the top. Building B takes the same uh methodology on the ground floor and then introduces more horizontals to create more of a grid structure or grid uh aesthetic uh for the upper floors of the residential. What you're seeing here is the uh the lighter color on building B is the

sixstory portion and then the uh remaining two floors are set back quite a bit uh in plan. So that's what you're reading kind of in the background there. Shifting over to 21st again the grosser uh retail space wraps around about uh a third of the site. Then we have our vehicular access for loading uh and then we have some uh utility components. And then when we get to the corner at the at the um trailside, that's where the residential units begin again um with, you know, twotory glazing, a very welcoming access point uh for both the elevated portion of the trail as well as the main trail uh that we will be improving as part of the project. On the river side, um we have uh aligned building B roughly with the helm and the cork factory to the north. Uh so kind of creating a datim line along the river that then steps down to building A uh which I mentioned before reads as sort of two two towers with a a far set back uh connector piece uh to sort of mitigate the scale and allow um you know maximum daylight and sun sunlighting on the on the trail there. Same architectural expression occurs on all the floors and all the sides of the building. Uh this is a very visible building so there's no reduction in quality of material or uh or alteration in that manner. So um all facads will read uh read read equivalently. Uh this is a view from 21st and railroad looking at the corner of the groceryer here. So again very high floor to ceiling glazing really announcing uh a nice exciting use along railroad. Um, you would then have the articulation of the of the building above with the lighter colored brick and horizontal banding overlapping with the uh with the large windows um and the uh sort of continuous band at the top of the building. This is a view uh sort of through the access corridor just a little bit more of a three-dimensional view uh of the same elevation presented earlier. Uh again, same materiality just reading

slightly different between the two buildings uh to kind of carry that same scale and same uh expression through the site. This is a little hard to read in the in the view here, but again that sort of idea of uh the typology of the buildings as you extend from the north to the south. We've got the tallest building being the cork factory tower. Uh that then steps down to the helm that steps uh equivalently to our building B and then down to building A which then steps to the district 1909 which is the furthest building on the right hand side of the view. Uh again really trying to mitigate the scale of the building on the railro on the river side uh which will be very visible um from across the river from the trail across the river from 28 across the river as well as the neighborhoods uh further to the northwest. Uh and so the last view here is uh our proposed improvements along the trail side. Um for those who haven't been there, currently it's essentially a very skinny asphalt uh pathway right now, which is somewhat overgrown. So that'll be widened significantly uh to provide um a nice wide connection of the trail access. It also provides fire department access uh to the north side of the site. You then have this transition from the trail elevation to the main elevation of the site uh which will be accessed via these grand stairs as well as uh ramp conditions. Uh be heavy heavily landscaped uh and again completely uh accessible to the public at both elevations. Um the only sort of mitigating factor would be the uh the town houses which you kind of see in the in the left side of the view. will have uh a little landscape buffer to create almost a private yard to themselves, but that won't be um you know kind of fully fenced or anything like that. So the idea is to make this feel very uh public and private and very exciting and and sort of conducive to the public use uh that the trail uh intends to have. So with that that is my presentation.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh if that concludes your presentation uh which was very thorough uh at this time we open the floor for public testimony as it relates to this project. I know there are a lot of folks in the room. Good to see you. And there are folks online. Is there anyone here that would like to speak on behalf of this application? No. Anyone online? No.

All right. So, commissioners, it's our our time to dig in here. Commissioner Dick, I see you with the hand raised. Uh, so I'll open the floor and welcome Commissioner Kenttonia. Uh, Commissioner Dick, I'm sorry, you're on mute so we can't hear you. Give Commissioner Dick just a moment. Okay. Sorry. Okay. You can hear me now. Oh, we can hear you.

Yeah. Okay. Two questions. Uh first of all, um is uh the um floodway you're talking about being, you know, sort of on the floodway. Are there any provisions if there is uh increased flooding which is predicted with continued climate change and and heavier [clears throat] rains for more uh places for the water to go underneath the building in case there were unusual flooding? So per the uh per the current uh flood requirements in the city, we are required to have the majority of the building elevated above the reference flood elevation which is uh I think it's about

18 inches above the base flood plane elevation. So um we are not required to provide any pass through uh conditions for the building if the building is elevated that high. Um, so I guess to answer your question, we're not providing a through through conditions, but the building is being built in compliance with the the city's requirements for floodway management. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. That's that's that'll take care of that. Thank you. That concludes your questions. All right. Thank you, Commissioner Cinttonia.

Yes. Hi, good afternoon. My only question is do um are you guys also proposing lighting along the trails, the river trail? Uh we certainly would look at uh at providing lighting. Right now we are um obviously can control our side of the site. Um and we had a very productive conversation with uh with River Life and discussing how we can improve the the um the trail in that regard. And we're going to continue that conversation with them to make sure we can provide uh you know the similar similar quality experience that we have both on the cork factory and on the district and uh and edges 1909 sides of the site. Okay. And you have lighting on the on the core factory, I would imagine. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Um, Commissioner Maza, did you have a comment on Go ahead, Mr. Woo. Commissioner, go ahead, Commissioner Woo. Okay. Um, can you talk about any uh sustainability features you may have included in projects? I I know uh you put a green roof on it. Um is there any um I guess any um measurements that you've done that you know might be related to storm water or energy reduction or anything like that related to those features

from the uh from the the green roof side certainly um because we're uh pursuing the I guess the city's base storm water management is rather uh significant now right so we have both a combination of a green roof assembly for both both roofs as well as below grade storage tanks Um so it's a significant uh capture rainwater capture as part of that. Um in terms of the building itself all the systems high performance systems it's effectively uh a full electric building right rather than a gas run building. uh we'll be providing gas uh very minimally to service the retail spaces to service the large scale HBAC equipment which will in itself be high performance you know all the sort of up-to-date um energy code requirements there u but effectively you know we're not pursuing anything beyond those levels but uh overall the building with its um envelope requirements you know high performance materials long long term long-term high high quality materials I think we'll all sort of push in the direction of being a highly sustainable able building.

Thank you. Is that it? Uh, Commissioner Maza, thank you. Um, I think it's a great project. Number one, it opens up, you know, the area to get to the river with Macaffry project and this project. Um, and also, everybody always considers the Golden Triangle downtown. I don't understand why we do that. Um, this is four blocks away from, you know, Liberty Avenue or whatever you want to call it. So, this includes the whole city of Pittsburgh. So, it's actually, you know, we're starting there and I know we're going to continue into the the Golden Triangle District, but I believe this is going to open more things up and I I like your project. Thank you.

Okay. So, I'll add some final notes that um I was taking while we were going through. I want to thank you first for a very thorough presentation. work, good work with the community in terms of discussions and landing where you did. Uh I definitely appreciate the attention to to detail, the visual analysis uh or the visuals that you did on site analysis. Great job on the ger. Uh overall a great mixeduse project. I really appreciate the um space between the buildings, the harmony that you have between the vehicles, the humans, the walkway. Overall, that was uh really nice. And the use of color, material, texture changes, makes the building really interesting, makes people want to invest and engage with the building further and all the way around. Uh definitely appreciate the use of brick as I feel like it was a real nod to to the other historic structures around it. So uh super classy there. Uh those are pretty much my final comments and at at this time uh if there are no other commissioner comments. Commissioner Dick re real quickly. I'm sorry. Uh, do you have a definitive uh signed commitment from a grosser to uh fill this space?

I'll jump in there. I'm Scott Hanner from Midwood Investment and Development. No, we do not have a signed commitment as today. We've been in conversations with several different um grocerers. So, there is definitely high interest, but we have no signed commitments of as of today. Thank you. All right. Uh so commissioners, at this time uh after this uh presentation and all commission comments, do we have a motion from the floor to approve with the conditions as stated in our report? Motion to approve with all the conditions stated in report. Thank you, Commissioner Maza. Do I have a second? Second. Second. Thank you, Commissioner Woo. I'm going to do roll call. Commissioner Blackwell,

I. Thank you, Commissioner Burton Faulk. I Commissioner Dick I thank you Commissioner Maza I thank you Commissioner O'Neal recused on this one uh Commissioner Kenttonia hi thank you and Commissioner Woo hi all right thank you motion passes you have a great rest of your day great project

all right we are going to move on to the next agenda item under hearing and action which is agenda item Item number two, it is as follows. DCP- MPZC-2025-0000230. This is council bill 2024-0959. This is a zoning text amendment for signs in the Northshore Entertainment District Northshore. Presenting is Mr. Layman. And before you start, I will let you know that I am recusing. Uh, so I'll be back when this one's over. I'm going to ask that you uh move and chair this because I do believe Vice Chair O'Neal, are you back in for this one?

I am also recusing on this item. I thought so. Okay. So, Vice Chair O'Neal and I will both be recusing. I'm going to pass it over to you. Thank you.

Good afternoon, commission members, uh, everyone here. Uh this is council bill 20240959. Uh this was sent to the planning commission for report and recommendation recommendation on June 27th. The bill was um briefed at planning commission on October 7th, 2025 and planning staff outlined a number of concerns about the legislation, about the increase in the amount of signage, changes to regulatory practices and inconsistencies in the ordinance regarding uh the boundaries. The planning commission requested that staff work directly with the applicant to draft a version that would uh address the staff's concerns while uh still uh sort of sticking with the intent of the of the applicant's bill. Since then, the applicant and staff have worked together collaboratively to address the issues. Uh, I'm going to jump through a little bit of the report here. Um, I do have a a presentation as well and I want to be respectful. I know there's a lot of people here and um, time is of the essence. So, um why don't I work through the presentation and then if there's anything left that we didn't cover, uh I'll circle back with that. So, um uh oh, there we go. Okay. So as I stated the commission asked us to work collaboratively together on October 7th. So why did we pursue a collaborative

process? Uh the previous approaches had been unsuccessful. uh this uh the applicants representatives here can attest uh I think uh going on two decades of uh really having sort of two sides opposing uh with pretty strong dugin views. Um and we needed to try a win-win approach. the benefits of which include maximizing um the ability to address as many of everyone's goals as possible uh to remove friction and conflict down the road. we actually get to decision making. Um it can happen quickly which I can say uh we were able to do uh within a month. Um and uh we did have buyin and participation from everybody that was involved. Um that this approach welcomes disagreement instead of avoiding it. And so we got everything out on the table and we worked together. So, we did this over three in-person meetings and several other iterations uh through email. Uh the collaborative process was I facilitated uh we established mutual understanding and shared goals. We identified seven issues and collaborated on solutions and we worked jointly in a shared document with multiple iterations of redline revisions. uh that version that uh is being presented to the commission and to the public has been posted on the city's website. Um and uh on the planning commission's website. Uh we uh the the applicant presented the revised draft to the Northshore stakeholders and of course uh the city council office was involved throughout um as well as the city council legislative staff. Um, and

here we are. Uh, so I'm not going to read through all of these. Uh, we identified a number of goals that we all had to sort of accept and share. Uh those uh ranged from having to happen quickly uh to allow for the types and scales of signage allowed in stadium areas and other cities um to uh you know ensuring that the uh expanded electronic emotion signs would have minimal visual impact on riverfront parks and trails um and so on. uh we identified seven issues that we needed to collaborate on to develop solutions to to get to a point where we could bring this together to planning commission for recommendation. Those included temporary sign code changes uh that would work for the upcoming NFL draft. Uh a new approach to neighborhood and district gateway signs. Impact of the electronic signage on the river riverfront parks and trails. A new approach to stadium and public destination facility signs for the northshore. A new approach to ground mounted signs and expansion of electronic and large video displays in the district and how to deal with changeable content marketing of off-site events and sponsorship. The uh amended draft uh made some changes to definitions. Uh clarified and narrowed sponsorship content by introducing a new definition of district cross promotion content which allows the publicizing of events located within the Northshore Entertainment District on or off the premises where the event is promoted for a limited period of time. Uh but it has language that strictly prohibits advertising otherwise. The revised draft distinguishes between large-scale and smallcale ground signs and upstate updates the standards for regulating these. Uh the Northshore

garage no longer requires ownership or operation by a local agency. And the sponsor definition uh has adds limits on advertising allowing on premise or district related sponsorship but not prohibiting general product promotion. I'm sorry, but prohibiting but it does prohibit general product promotion. Um, for temporary event signs, the revised draft creates two separate categories, major temporary event and minor temporary event, and clarifies content size, location, and approving authorities for each. Uh, sponsorship is limited to 30% for all temporary event signs. Major temporary event signs are permitted within the special event area without limitation uh and require temporary event sign to be submitted for review and approval uh with plenty of time to approve it. Minor temporary events are limited and uh are prohibited within the floodway and uh require uh permitting through temporary certificate of occupancy. Um for public destination facility signs, structure based signs um introduced a sizebased tier instead of having a large percent of all of or having a using a percentage of all the uh combined uh aggregated facades. Uh and so uh we allowed smaller signs uh closer to grade have maximum flexibility. Um but we prohibit electronic signs from facing towards rivers and trails. Uh we have limits that uh uh introduce timing and caps brightness back to the city standard. Um and then we also have a review process for larger signs that come before city planning uh as a project development plan.

For groundbased signs, the revised draft introduces new size categories as well. uh also clarified and adjusted how we calculate sign area for both two-dimensional and threedimensional signs uh and clarified those to standards that were easy for staff to uh review and administer. The small scale signs are permitted uh at under 50 square 50 square ft. large scale signs, ground signs are permitted um but have a spacing requirement um and then the large scale marquee signs are limited to three per uh subdist and it's based on the percentage a percentage of the subdist aggregate street frontage area. Each individual sign is limited to uh 2500 square feet but is subject to design review and planning commission approval as a project development plan. Um and then I think they're further limited in the pop district. Uh public destination facility signs for large video displays. Uh that was also revised. Um maintaining we maintain the 12,200 square feet and the requirement for conditional use. Um we reduced uh the number to three in the pop district and added stricter placement requirements to ensure displays were not generally parallel to or primary primarily visible from rivers trails and parks. We also clarified the mapping uh made sure that the legislation and mapping was consistent. Uh we created a new definition for neighborhood or district gateway sign. We had a couple of tweaks to what was permit what was uh established there. Um

and I believe that is it. So um I think I've covered everything that is in here. Uh I know the applicants also have a presentation. I want to make time and space for that. staff is making a positive recommendation and uh expresses gratitude to uh the applicants for working in this way with us. Thanks. Uh good afternoon, Sean Gallagher. Uh on behalf of um the Northshore stakeholders uh which are listed at the bottom, the Rivers Casino, Science Center, PNC Park, Acasher, and the Warh Hall. Uh also with me is uh Bill Kano from Colano Design. He's going to run through our presentation. Um before we get started, I would like to echo many of Mr. layman's comments and thank you to uh Department of City Planning for taking the time since we were here during the briefing. We did work through uh a number of issues and put in a lot of time to come at a a workable solution uh for everyone. We think so. Bill, if you want to just run through and I think that we're going to start off going through some of uh Mr. Woo's comments and from the last briefing.

Good. The uh Northshore is home to 20 million visitors annually and it really was meant to be operate like a changeable stage set for the city and there are events that are happening within structures but um largely the open spaces are programmed too and the city code while it addressed uh signs on buildings uh did not really address uh things in the open space. So that's a big part of what we were here to um uh ensure we uh changed and uh Philip in our last meeting our briefing meeting you uh brought up some benchmark cities and said how do we compare uh how do we judge this against other cities and so we have put together uh three different comparisons and uh the top we just pulled Acure as a typical um structure one of many And the current allowance right now above 40 ft is the green bar on the top drawing. If you can see the yellow bar below it, we have to get a variance for every sign that was bigger than that yellow bar. And so the second drawing down shows the 5% allowance and that we would be able to take that allowance and distribute it uh anywhere that we wanted on that facade. And our benchmark here is LA. And you can see their signage area. And the middle zone uh allows up to 60% of signage coverage. So we're they're 60, we're five. And um Whoops, I didn't go too far. And for their ground mounted signs, uh they have three different categories. Uh they have a groundmounted

sign that is with a 50- foot height limit. They have larger signs allowed along freeways. They have even bigger signs uh to identify the landmark buildings that are there. What we're asking for is in the bottom left of a maximum 50ft height with a 250 foot size limit. And note that in LA they have height limits, but there is no limit on the size of the sign. And these are some photographs that show you the result of the LA code. And the um these are the the code if anybody's interested in in it. Uh we've highlighted a few u interesting differences. One of them is illumination and they allow uh uh knits that are twice as bright as our sign code. We're not asking for that. We like where they are. Second is Dallas Victory Center. Uh again, our current allowance is on the top. Our proposed is in the middle and they allow um the green area that's in the bottom. That is about 30% of the sign facade. And this is a uh photograph of what that results in. And one of the things that we uh learned from this sign code is they encourage uh cross promotion of special uh events throughout the facilities within their assigned district. So with each of these codes and there are almost every code in the city that we looked at, we've we've learned something. And lastly, here is uh Columbus and they basically don't have a sign code and uh you propose the type of uh signage that you want and uh uh they approve it or not. And we're not

asking for anything like in the bottom right where it's blatant um product advertising district map.

Yeah, sure. Um, this is just the overall this is the what is called the Northshore Entertainment District. Go back one though, Bill. So, the district itself extends from the casino to the Warh Hall generally in Reedsdale to the park by Alagany River. Um, now most of the signage that we have, there's three types of ma there's four types of signage. um wall-based or structure-based signage, uh groundbased signage, large video displays, and temporary event signs. For the most part, um the entire district only applies to temporary event signs. Then if you could go to the next one, we have five subd districts, which are you can see the casino subd district, science center, acer, PNC, and pop district. The other types of signage that we have, the structure-based large video displays and ground uh ground signs only apply in those colored subd districts. So that's pretty much it. We want to just run through even though Corey, Mr. Layman gave a really good explanation. I think Bill,

we're going to try to make it a little more visual for you. And so um there you're hearing a new term of structurebased. And so we've kind of shifted that from wall-mounted signage. And the Oracle Park in the lower right is a good example of how our buildings often are open. They're we're not putting signs on walls. We're putting them on on structures. So that's a something a new definition that we're uh bringing to the table. And uh the way that we are calculating this is shown visually in the uh lower right corner. And we have some signs that uh can extend above the roof parapit and we're aggregating the total of these signs and we'll keep track of them uh every time we are uh requesting additional signage uh for regulation. This is we um and I admire the planning staff for trying to really push for uh how these this code would impact their uh facilitation of that. And so with the wall signage, we came up with um three categories. And so signs that are 250 square ft or greater have staff design review required and planning commission review required. And then the next category are signs that are less than 250 square ft and uh they have staff review but not planning commission. So that's a midsize sign. And then signs less than 50 feet will require staff review, but they are not um uh we can have as many of them as we want. Uh they're usually incidental messages and wayfinding uh that are not uh significant to the facade.

And we have ground signage. And so this is some benchmark imaging. And you can see how uh sculptural and fun uh these are. They really help to enliven uh and bring energy and a positive vibe to the district. And we have three of them in our new code. They are marquee signs, which is a new type of sign, a large sign, and a small sign. And so there are regulations for each of these. And uh what are marquee signs? This is a new to the vocabulary. And what I'm showing you are completely inspirational. There's no intent to install these, but you can also consider these like selfie signs. So, it' be terrific at um Rivers to have a giant uh R outside or Cayman Science Center to have some dimensional letters that um you might interact with were their new logo. Uh, wouldn't it be great to have a giant Pittsburgh Steelers or Pittsburgh Panthers somewhere on the site that um fans could have their picture taken with and sculptural objects. And if space is tighter, uh, we'd encourage having a giant helmet or a big pee or something in the in the landscape. And wouldn't this be fun to have a big uh can that would immediately identify and brand the um uh pop district? And again, there's no intent to install these. These are just to give a visualization. And temporary event signage. Uh in the upper left, we have a Super Bowl. Hopefully, we'll have one someday. In the lower right is the NFL draft, which we're preparing for. Uh these are largely like the in the case of the draft, this is an NFL produced event. Uh we have to be competitive to what's happening in uh other cities. And I

think Corey explained the difference uh between what a major temporary event sign code would look like and a minor temporary event. So this is a whole new category of looking at how events are approved. And again, large video displays, we put limits on how many are in the district and we're keeping to the same city size and uh luminance levels and special definitions. We went over um some of these and uh these are really the the new words that we're bringing into the into the language like the difference between a major temporary event, a minor temporary event, um and on and on. And that's

Yeah, it's pretty much that's it. Yeah. Yeah. So, I think that's our presentation. And you know, again, thank you Corey and Kate, everyone. Enter up. Yeah. All right. Uh thank you to the applicants. Um at this time, uh we take public testimony. Um is there anyone in the room or online who would like to speak to this? If so, you have three minutes. Please state your name and your address.

Uh, yes. Hello all. Uh, thank you for having me here. Uh, my name is David Demco. I'm the assistant director of Scenic Pittsburgh. Um, Scenic Pittsburgh is opposed to sign proliferation, especially LED sign and billboard proliferation. Um, this is probably the worst billboard legislation I've seen. um in this forum. I've been at this for 15 years now. Um three things I'd like to say up front. Uh one, um I was not invited to the collaborative process. Uh two, uh comparing Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, we might as well be comparing it to Time Square or um Las Vegas. Uh if you know anything about Los Angeles, it's a signage hellscape. Um and three, I'd like to point out that the largest sign that we allow in the city now is 750 square ft. That's the large billboard that's only allowed certain districts of the city. I'll try to go through this quickly. Um, major temporary event signs. Um, if you look closely, there's no size limit on them. Second of all, they can be placed up to two months before the start of event and two weeks after. That's two and a half two and a half months. That's two weeks short of the entire summer. Um, small uh the small uh temporary event signs. Um, you're allowed 25 for a single fence. 25 um and they can be up to 500 square f feet. Like I said, uh 700 ft is the largest sign that we allow in city. So 500 square f feet is not a small sign. Uh billboards generally come in 300 uh square ft and 750 square ft. Um structure-based public destination signs, they're allowed on the roofs of the public destination facility. Nowhere do we allow in the city do we allow rooftop signs. In fact, most cities do not allow rooftop signs. Um it may uh extend beyond the peak or the parapit wall. Again you know we do not generally allow rooftop signs. Um

[gasps] let's see [sighs] here we are the um structure based facility signs. Uh unlimited number of signs up to 50 square feet of all of an unlimited amount of square signs. Uh smell cell ground signs under 50 ft. Unlimited of signs, unlimited number of signs. Uh maintain a horizontal spacing of 50 ft. Now 50 feet is halfway between home and first base. Um marquee style signs up to 250 square feet. That's three times larger than a large billboard. Um, groundbased signing sh also maintain space at 50 feet, again that's a short period, shall not extend more than 50 feet in height from the top of the sign to the grade. A 50 foot high sign in all the city. We only allow signs to be 40t tall. A 50-ft sign would be able to see from the purpose of 50oot sign is to be seen from downtown, to be seen from Mount Washington, and to be seen from the 279 highway. Uh finally, the uh uh the um oddest thing I hear I see is uh the attempt to regulate content. Um if you know anything about signage, uh once you've determined through ordinance that a sign is uh appropriate uh to the context and character of a neighborhood, you cannot regulate what goes on that sign. Sign owners have 100% free speech rights. um they go to this twisted uh uh sponsor means a certain person or entity. Um uh a cross-promotional event like what is that? Uh we only have a certain class of advertisers that are allowed to advertise on these LED billboards. Um how is that enforced? Um do does the billboard owner have to report?

Uh that's three minutes. Pardon? That's three minutes. Um okay. Well uh thank you very much. Thank you. Uh please vote no. Anyone else in the room or online would like to speak to this application? Sorry. Okay.

All right. Uh Candace Kaine, you can unmute yourself and provide your testimony. Thank you. Oh, join as a panelist. We can hear you. Um, please, uh, go ahead and, uh, state your testimony.

All right. Thank you. Um, my name is Candace Kaine and I live in Fine View on the north side. I add this comment to the two email comments submitted earlier. The confluence of Pittsburgh's three rivers is a remarkable natural resource with historic international significance. Our location is included in the Ken Burns presentation American Revolution now playing on public television. The confluence is [clears throat] a major location for the French and Indian War as well as the site of incredible beauty. It's unique with the steep hills rising from the river. Do we take it for granted? I think we are with this ordinance. Pittsburgh has been complimented for its progress and program to combat light pollution. This ordinance is a step backwards. It allows development more akin to the Las Vegas strip than a balanced view of all interest. What is allowed under this ordinance will cheapen the confluence of the three rivers with video billboards, broadcasts, including commercials on huge displays. Not to mention the sheer number of signs allowed, in some cases unlimited. Um, and the other uh concern is that we're not just talking about a stadium sign. We're talking about signs all across this district, which encompasses the whole Riverview Park area. Finally, the Pennsylvania Constitution says this about the natural environment, and I quote, "The people have the right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including

generations to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all people. I ask the commission to vote no. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Kaine. [sighs] Are there other uh um online brand iPad? Uh you can now unmute yourself.

Thank you. Thank you very much. My name um is Mary Francis Barbush. I live at 828 Beach Avenue. I live in Alageney West. We are the closest neighborhood to this development um to the to the entertainment uh district that you speak of and uh we I attend every meeting and this has not been brought to us for any discussion or any input from our community. Uh we are opposed to um this increase in light uh along our riverfront. um we would be impacted. You know, earlier on somebody in the commission there said that we should not harm our residents. That was a quote. Well, this would be harmful to the residents. This is only interested in the people who are coming for entertainment, but not what harm or impact would go to the people. And we have been told that you the city was going to try and reduce light pollution and this increases it dramatically. This is a bad idea. I'm asking all of you to please vote no and to to also say you did not engage with the people who are the residents and the taxpayers who serve and live here. you only brought forth the people who are in the venues that are along that would want to be the impacting uh you know to us. So it was not a fair thing at all. Um please respect the surroundings especially along the riverfront and in in our parks. This light would definitely impact uh you know nightlight which is bad for us for for our sleeping as well as all the mammals that are impacted as well. So, I I just am so sad that this is being proposed and you're going to rush to do it because of this NFL draft and then we would be, you know, these signs would be there and

then you would want to have advertising for product that you're saying now would not be happening. But I assume that once that signs up there, that's going to come next and you'll think, well, the signs are already here. So, please don't allow this. This is a bad idea. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your testimony. Okay. Um, at this time, uh, we open it up to the commissioners. Are there any commissioner comments?

This is Commission Blackwell. I just had one comment on what the transition would be after the draft with the lights. How would they change? And also, could the lights, the line, you know, the sign fixtures be more isolated to where the draft and um where the stadium and the night life per se would be, just considering what I just heard in relation to the residents. Thank you. Commissioner Blackwell, this is uh zoning administrator Layman. I'm just asking for I wanted to follow up and respond, but I I want to get a little clarity. Your question about what happens after the draft is that with with the signage related to the draft?

Yes, the large signage. Um and in reference to signage and lighting referred to as temporary. Yes.

Sure. So uh I'll talk a little bit about temporary event signs. Uh specific to the draft uh or any other major event uh there is a timeline where those signs need to be uh taken down after the event. Um and uh from what I understand of other cities experiences with the NFL draft is that they would be taken down that the drafted and and other events like this are within a large contained area. Um that's all very highly orchestrated. Um there would be I believe some tearown period. I don't know the specific time period, but I my understanding in uh what I've heard and seen from other cities and heard so far is that there wouldn't be a an intent to leave signs up uh a from from within the draft area or otherwise related to the draft after after the event for any period of time uh or any long period of time. Um the the code has a um requirement for them to be taken down or for them to to not be up uh any longer than 2 weeks after the end of the event. Um I I want to make just one distinction um and to to help clarify on temporary event signs. A temporary event sign is a sign advertising uh identifying the event. Um so typically we see those for like the marathon. Um other kind of larger events. Sometimes they're banners across streets. Uh sometimes they're located on buildings. Um we have this already in the city code. Uh the the Northshore legislation provides an expanded uh and kind of uh more a little bit more

clarity than what the current city code uh allows. Does that answer the question about about that um temporary event signs?

Yes. I just wanted to make sure residents were it was clear to the residents the specifics regarding that. Thank you. Yeah, of course. And I also wanted to respond to uh you asked about the concerns that uh residents raised about impact on the riverfronts. Uh this as I stated in my presentation, the one of the significant goals that city planning had and that we all worked together on was to make sure that the electronic signs wouldn't be impacting the riverfront, the riverfront trails. uh that was of the highest importance to us and we believe that the changes that we made uh significantly limit the ability of that type of signage to have an impact on the riverfronts.

Commissioner Commissioner Dick uh can you unmute yourself? Yes. Yeah. Uh I just want to clarify that my understanding is there is no increase in the amount of of lum illuminance allowed for per sign. It's the same thing as we have in the code now. Now certainly is that that's true isn't it? That's correct. The initial version had uh an increase in luminance and uh this version that we returned with uh restored back to the city's existing levels.

Okay. And there would certainly would be some want more light with larger signs, but the um the actual limited power of each sign is not greater than what it what it was before, I think. Right. Correct.

Thank you. Any other commissioners? I guess I will um ask my questions then. Um, so I was just looking at the uh draft legislation um and um I just had questions for I guess uh both Mr. Layman and uh the applicants as well. Um so um are like now that you've worked together on on this for a few weeks, are there any any points um of uh you know that that you feel like still need to be worked out or or um is this is this a pretty good compromise from both from both sides uh from your perspective?

Yeah. Why don't you come up if you're Yeah. You want to go first? Yeah, sure. I um I would say that uh I think that but we on all the major science types we reached a good compromise to each one and I don't think that there's anything else really. Okay. So

I will uh the only disagreement I have is uh with the word compromise. Uh the what what we did was uh come together and and sort of shift our willingness together. Um and and that was very much you know there are some things that uh I think as we went through as we looked at other cities uh what they have around their stadiums I think staff's uh willingness shifted uh through conversation uh I think that uh these folks the council office I think uh as well so um I think it was uh you know intended to to try to get to a win-win solution um and while Certainly uh you know I would certainly say that I think the what you have uh in front of you represents um a I I would say we were all impressed that we were able to to to get this in that short amount of time um and make this level of change.

Um and my second question is about the uh specific subd districts. I noticed in the legislation that um you did spell out different uh subsections for uh each of the five subd districts but left them blank. Uh was there a reason why or what what's what's kind of the u thought process of what might go in there in the future? Um if there's issues that come up I mean that's not uncommon in a zoning ordinance to have reserve sections as you know. So I think the idea if there is something that happens down the road there's a mechanism in which those changes could easily be made. Okay. All right. If there are no more commissioner comments

I'd like to make a I'd like to make a motion to recommend under the conditions and codes that have been presented today. Second. All right. Um, I will go through uh everyone. So, let's see. I won't have everyone's name here, but um, Commissioner Dick or Commissioner Blackwell. Commissioner Blackwell, Blackwell would be first. We're doing Hi, Commissioner Dick. I um, Commissioner Maza, I. Commissioner Cantonia I. And Commissioner Woo I. Thank you.

Thank you. Next question. Thank you. And with that um we will wait for the chair to come back in. I told her I told her to come in.

Okay. Thank you. All right. So, we have completed under hearing and action items one and two. Moving on to agenda item number three under hearing and action and it is as follows. DCP-MPZC-2025-0000195. This is council bill 2025-993. This was continued from September 23rd of 2025 and October 7, 2025. This is a zoning map amendment for the Hazlewood Riv GI District in Hazlewood. Presenting this afternoon is Mad Madam Madam Chair, could I ask a question first?

Sure. Um after the last hearing, we did ask for a determination from the city law department. Has anything happened? Is uh give us just one moment, Commissioner Maza? Yeah, I believe Mr. Layman may be able to answer that. Yeah, we want to I want to see if there was a determination from the city law department on the legislation and what we asked at the last meeting, but the hazel would be Puerto R.

Mr. Layman, we are on item number three. Uh, council bill 20251993. I read it in. Miss Tanden was was getting ready to to proceed and, uh, Commissioner Maza wanted some clarity on Sure. We discussed the last time how we wanted to make sure that the city law department was going to discuss what, you know, the legislation before us.

Sure. We uh we did confer with the law department and I did get um some internal communication. They're not going to publish a decision. They would be uh I'm sure if necessary able to facilitate uh an executive session and meet with the planning commission. Uh but the general uh guidance uh relates to um whether or not there uh is a preeemption uh meaning that whether or not the railroads would have some preeemption to zoning requirements. Um and is that the is that the question that you were asking about? or they

I mean these the people who are here you know I don't want to waste their time if we're going to move forward with something we can't even recommend because of that you know

yeah I so I didn't get any advice that would that would state that the commission couldn't uh make a recommendation in that way u there is a a there is a preeemption uh there's a pathway for railroads to request um request a waiver essentially Um, and certainly I'm sure the railroad representatives will speak to whether that's something that is a burden or not. Uh, everybody's going to have their own position on that. Um the uh the legislation changing to uh RIV IMU from RIBGI makes uh one of the uses associated with railroads uh special exception which is a type of permitted use but it's not prohibitive to um you know doesn't make anything illegal uh under the zoning code. Um and of course railroads do have a preeemption uh that they can claim against zoning uh permitting requirements and that kind of thing. So, uh, I'm not an expert at that and I didn't want to represent that. Um, that's my general understanding. Um, and of course, any application we'd get in the future, uh, we would, uh, apply the code as we do with anything.

Okay. Commissioner Maza, um, it seems like you might have some more. Well, I'm just making sure that we're not setting ourselves up for a lawsuit, you know, with with the preeemption. And I'm just make, you know, I just want to make sure I don't want to go through the process and then we're bringing a new administration in and then they're going to be set up for failure right right when they come in. I just want to make sure the process is right. I want to make sure these people time here is, you know, worth being here and all those things moving forward.

I will say we're going to be able to establish that this was duly noticed properly so that there isn't a risk there. uh and we'll be able to uh uh I think proceed as the as the city's code uh instructs when we have a legislative change from city council. Um and again, if you'd want to request an executive session from the law department, they might be able to give you uh more specific advice. Um but uh we have a lot of people here. Um I don't think you know that my my recommendation would be to proceed. H how are you? I mean, honestly, I'm I'm not comfortable with that myself. Okay,

that's me, you know. That's not any other commissioners. So, um I I' I'd rather request an executive session with the law department or you guys have that that uh meeting and then we come we then we move forward with that because I I know the law department right now isn't really moving a lot of things. I wouldn't think because of the new administration, but yeah, if it if it is helpful, I can tell you that it the information that I did get from the law department didn't say that proceeding with this would be an explicit risk.

So, um, give me just one moment, Commissioner Maza. And and here's why. Cuz I see Commissioner Dick's hand up and I just want to make sure at this time if there's some additional comment and then uh Commissioner O'Neal, I don't know if you had your hand up as well, but Commissioner Dick, is your hand up on this? Uh oh, no. I'm sorry. It was left from before. I didn't realize. Okay, not a problem. I'm just coming back in. So that's great. No, I'm I'm I'm very happy with what Commissioner or what the Mr. Corey says to about it. Okay. Okay. You're you're comfortable. Okay. I'm comfortable with proceeding. Yes. Okay. Um, Commissioner O'Neal.

Uh, same. I feel like to evaluate whether there are issues related to the legislation, I would need to hear the presentation and the testimony. Um, I don't think there it's, you know, facially infirm. Uh, reszoning to a district different district is pretty standard. um especially where a railroad goes through most districts, you're a little bit low and and uh so I don't know that everybody heard exactly what you were saying, but uh if you were to wrap it up into a little bit smaller summary, a little bit louder.

Sure. Uh, I was just going to say that I think we need to hear the presentation and the testimony to determine whether there are any issues, but on its face, this is a standard uh reszone to a different district and we have railroads in almost every zoning district. Uh, so it it's not uh, you know, on its face unlawful. All right. Thank you. Um, Commissioner Maza, would you be comfortable just moving forward, let's allow, you know, the general public is is is here today and then maybe, you know, after hearing some testimony. I'm not

No, I understand what you're saying. I have no problem recusing from this as well and and moving, you know, stepping out as well because I just don't feel comfortable. That's my personal opinion. you know, nothing against everybody else and you know, I I understand the situation, what's happening over there and, you know, and I appreciate everybody that's here. I do. Don't get me wrong. I just don't feel comfortable with the way it's moved forward. That's all. So, I'm going to step out.

Well, I don't I don't No, I I don't want to see you step out. I I'd like you to stay at the table. What I'm asking is that um is there a level of comfort to go ahead and move forward and at least have the applicant present and then um allow testimony to be given. And if the decision is that we don't make a decision yet, then then that's okay. But can we move forward reasonably at least hearing, you know, the the the applicant and and any testimony beyond that. And if we hold at that point, that could be okay, too.

Okay. All right. Um, if that's fair and reasonable to the uh other commissioners, fair and reasonable. Okay. Very good. Uh, then let's move forward. I'm Thank you. Please and thank you.

Thank you. Council Bill 2025-1993 or DCP- MPZC-2025-0000195 filed by councilwoman Bob Warwick was referred to the planning commission by city council on July 14, 2025 for the commission's report and recommendation. The legislation proposes a zoning map amendment to change the zoning district on parcels highlighted in the map attached to the report and in the presentation from Rivgi which is riverfront general industrial subdist IMU which is riverfront industrial mixed use per section 922.05.b.2 an application to amend the boundaries of the zoning map district may be proposed by the city council the planning commission the owner of the subject property or the owner's agent. The largest properties within the proposed resoning area are owned by public utility companies uh such as CSX Transportation which operate the rail line and BFI Waste Services of Pennsylvania. The proposed RIV IMU um district subdist allows a broader range of uses including residential, retail, educational, cultural activities and limited industrial uses. In contrast, [snorts] the existing Rivgi subdist is more permissive of heavy industrial uses such as car washes, construction related activities and other intensive operations. The use table has also been um the use table can be referenced in section 911.02 of the zoning code. The parcels proposed for reszoning are adjacent to a mix of existing zoning designations including the R1A, VH, GI, UI, R1 AH, and the SP10 which is Hazelwood Green. Given the proximity of residential districts and existing homes, the Rivu designations is more appropriate. It provides a transitional zoning framework that limits high industrial uh activity near residential areas while allowing compatible mixeduse

development in the area. A DAM development activities meeting was held with Hazelwood Initiative on August 19, 2025. The DM report is attached to the commissioner's report. The hearing on September 23 was continued to October 7, 2025 at planning commission to allow more time for the railroad company and base transport station to meet with the community and the council office. Per commission's request on October 7, 2025 and code sections 922.01.c.1 and 922.01.c.2, Two property owners within 150 ft of the proposed zone area change were renotified of the proposal through mailed postcards and 15 posted notices were placed on site 21 days in advance of the November 18, 2025 hearing date which is today. Additionally, the notice was also posted on the website and emailed to the entire mailing list of the planning commission on October 28, 2025. And the recommended motion from staff is that the planning commission of the city of Pittsburgh make a positive recommendation on council bill 2025-1993 or MP DCP- MPZC-2025-0000195 for a zoning map amendment to change the zone from Rivgi to Rivu for the parcels listed in the report and the legislation. We'll now have the presentation from Councilwoman Thank you. And thank you once again to the planning staff for all your help with this. It's been a long road. And thank you to everybody who's here um today. So, [gasps] uh yeah. So, let's get and thank you to the commissioners. This is round three of of the hearing. So I I do appreciate um the time uh that you've all given to

this. Uh so all right. So legislation language we've gone through. Okay. So this is the map of the area for the proposed reszoning. Right. It is currently Rivgi general industrial. That's the existing and the proposed change is to Rivu industrial mixed use. Uh now here are some uh riverfront areas throughout the city that you will also see include railroads and are also you know there's various um zoning districts along our riverfronts including on our railroads that include the Rivu. So this will not be the only place in Pittsburgh where a railroad is zoned as industrial mixed use. So um here we have and then a little bit more there see around Stanton Heights etc. So all right uh so some of the uses in the current uses in the riverfront general industrial right um let you see that there's a number of them you know hazardous operations stick out incinerator uh incineration solid waste etc. Um, one thing you will notice in the current Riv GI is that there are no residential uses allowed in the G in the Riv GI because presumably uh it is harmful to have these types of facilities next to resident, you know, next to people's homes, right? Um, and if you look at the Rivu uses, this is the proposal, right? the change proposal uh in the there far more um uh uses in the Rivu potential uses um but one of them is residential right so you know there is still industry allowed right in the Rivu but but um there there

are limits on the types of industry uh which you know which so that they would not cause harm right to to local residents local businesses so we've talked a little bit about the activity to date. Um, in the initial briefing, um, I I will say from the commission just to sort of, uh, my thought process around, you know, why why we have so many folks here today. Uh, when we did the initial briefing, this really seemed pretty straightforward, right? That was the impression that I got from the commissioners and the commentary on the briefing. Um and um you know that this that this really made sense, right, to change this zone uh from general industrial to industrial mixed use just to you know do because of the proximity to um to residential and and commercial districts. Um then when the um when the first hearing came up, that's when you know we started to get lawyers from the the local property owners, right? Large teams of lawyers. Uh there was a request that we take some more time so that some of the um some of the property owners could meet with the community. Of course, always appreciate uh when local um local property owners, local businesses come and meet uh with the community. So, it's nice that this has, you know, been the impetus for um better collaboration with the community. Um I know that now some of the property owners are joining our local community groups. Uh since we've started this process, some of the property owners have um uh put forth u ideas of potential support for community groups and and other things around the neighborhood. Always welcome. Much appreciated. Um then we came back for sort of round two again. Lots of lawyers and I will I'm I'm with you, Commissioner Maza. Teams of lawyers make me nervous, too. They

made me nervous at that at that meeting. Um uh there were some concerns. So just to talk a little bit about the concerns, um there were some concerns about preeemption, right? The railroads preeemption. Uh we we did Mr. Layman and I did have a meeting with the law department and the understanding is that the railroads do have preeemption, right, over our zoning code. So that they, you know, they they are allowed to do things with their properties that other um other property owners might not be able to because they are the railroads. So that seems pretty standard um and not a concern. Um concerns about existing operations being moved that um there is no impact on look if I could change the operations that are down there now. Trust me, I would. If I could if I could get rid of some of the facilities that are down there now that are harming residents of those communities, I would. But unfortunately, I can't. Right. when you you cannot zone existing operations out of where they are, right? All that we can do is um make zoning changes that will impact what can go in an area in the future. Um there were um concerns voiced about the value of some vacant land. I recall that that was from someone over in Hayes had some concerns about the the value of his vacant land and what could he put on on that land if we made this zoning change. And I would argue to that concern, you know, that's that is why we are here, right? That is that is this planning commission and the city's um uh you know that is within our power to determine what can be done, right? What can you put on that vacant land? And if it's something hazardous and that's not what's going to work, then we need to update our zoning code accordingly. Um, and then the final concern was about notice. So just that's, you know, that there were

concerns there was not enough notice given to property owners and uh because of that and I appreciate the planning commission uh taking the you know making the decision. I was a little frustrated the day of but I'm glad that they made the decision to repost, right? to re make sure that everyone had notice and so uh I these were provided by the planning team. Uh you know just some indication of the notices that were posted you know what was mailed out um just so that everyone can feel confident that uh that proper notice was given. So, um, all right. This is just an aerial view. So, you can see just for, you know, from the sky sort of what this what this area looks like. Um, you can see the Hazlewood community right there. Um, all right. So, why the zoning change? Now, uh, this is something that we've talked about in in previous presentations. So, uh, we are, you know, as a city, uh, Pittsburgh is reimagining our riverfronts, right? We've seen that right in just previous presentations today, right? We saw a nice new uh housing develop, you know, big beautiful apartment building going up on our riverfronts. Uh care being taken uh you know, we have events going on on our riverfronts. Um over the past decade that the relationship we have with our rivers has evolved drastically, right? They are no longer dumping grounds for industry. Uh you know, they are a valuable asset for for the city, right? for our economy. Uh clean rivers improve our quality of life and uh you know we just need to look at the northshore, southside and the strip district to see that kind of future potential that we um hope to see one day in Hazlewood. Um environmental justice, right? zoning for heavy industry in lower inome

communities like Hazelwood has a dis has disproportionately impacted you given a negative impact on the health and well-being of historically marginalized Pittsburgers. Lots of those folks are here in the room today. Um we should be writing the wrongs of the past, not making them worse by ensuring that our zoning code protects nearby residents now and for the long term. And finally, um, Hazelwood is growing, uh, from affordable housing, safer streets to economic development. Uh, the city of Pittsburgh, the URRA, our local nonprofit foundations and university partners are investing heavily, heavily in the future of Hazelwood. Uh, we have a new robotics innovation center coming up with CMU. We have a um pit is opening up its bio forge for bioengineering. We have new housing developments going up on the Hazlewood Green. Uh we have new breweries that have come up right down in Scotchbottom right below the tracks right. Um and all of these things uh you know and and to support all of these things we need to make sure um that this growth is you know happening in a safe and healthy environment both for our residents and also to invite people into the community right to make Hazelwood a place that you that you really want to come to. Um so I just wanted a quick picture. This came from um our friends at Alagany Cleanways. This is the river along Hazlewood. This is a This is for, you know, this is a picture from a cleanup in the river. Now, I'm not saying all of this is coming from the industrial use, right? You know, just just right upstream, but um you know, it's not great. Our river fronts need help. Um

Oops. Um, so I really want to, and this is, you know, why we have so many people here today that I want to really impress upon the commission because, you know, we talk a lot about communities and zoning and whatnot, but I think sometimes when you're not from a place, it's hard sometimes to imagine what we're talking about, but Hazelwood is a community where people live. And so here are just some pictures of uh Scotchbottom. is the area below the tracks that abuts this current, you know, riverfront general industrial, right? So, you see, we've got houses, we've got homes, we've got little community garden spots, um, you know, we've got a war memorial, we've got a playground, right? This is this is where people live. These are these are people's homes. These are our homes. Um, so with that in mind, I just want to talk a little bit about the current living conditions for Hazlewood residents. And I'm sure you're going to hear about some of that from the folks uh who came here today to speak. Um, there is excessive trash throughout the community, especially through the Second Avenue business district and below the tracks. Much of which is from trucks coming in and out from facilities that are in this GI. You know, lots of trash blowing off those trucks. um trucks driving through the community lot all the time. Loud trucks constantly. There is noise at all hours of the day and night for residents uh living below the track. In fact, my office I just just right before this my I I got a text someone called into the office who lives on um on I believe Gladstone Street just up the hill who has measured 120 dB coming from this area below the tracks as early as 500 a.m.

as early as 500 a.m. Um, bright lights at all hours of the day and night that make it, you know, make it impossible to have your windows open. I'm sure you're going to hear about that. Impossible to have your windows open in the summertime. Forget about it, right? And then finally, obviously the big one, the smell and the rodents. I mean, it is just it's it's a mess, right? It's a mess. And that is now that is with the facilities there now. And as I said before, I wish that I, you know, and that really I think that there is more that the city should be doing. There's more that the health department should be doing. Um, you know, and and I'm glad actually that some of the the the folks who uh who have properties down below are here and are here to hear from the residents about what it is like living next to some of those facilities. Um, at any rate, so a some few pictures life next to the Riv GI. This is from someone's front porch. Just so you can see how close we are talking about. This is how close these homes are to this industrial space. This is one of the facilities. This is a recycling facility. As you can see, there's open material just out open. It smells awful down there. Couple more pictures. This is just and this is recycling material. And this is just out in the open. And here you can see you see that home right there. That's how far away it is. That's how close. If you can see here, right, that's that's another view from the backside. This is another home. You can see right right off there in the corner, the blue, that's the recycling plant. That's someone's home right there.

This is a nighttime view and a daytime view of one of those homes. You can see the light coming out. It's like, you know, it's like it's never dark. It can never be dark. Um Oh, yeah. Here's here's some of the other facilities, right? More light. This is on Langghorn Street. I think maybe the railroad folks or the railard folks might be familiar with this space. That's a community garden right there. That's where the community garden is. Again, just another picture. This is where people live. I want to underscore this. Um I have Are you able to play that? So, yeah. Let's This is This is Aaron McQueen. She was not able to come today. I just but she did want me to to share this from her. She lives on Langghorn.

Hi. I live at 50 5113 Langghorn Street. Um the load tracks. Um it's disgusting down here with the railroad tracks and all the other stuff down here that's going on with the trash and everything. I live down here like going on 26 years and they just do what they want to do. They come down here all hours of the night. They just like work, do whatever they want. It's noisy down here. Nobody had They don't have respect for us. They just come in here and do whatever they want. We don't want nothing down here. No trash down here. Hi. I live the 50.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Um, I wanted to quickly just to just to remind uh the commissioners of um of the greater Hazlewood neighborhood plan which uh which was you know passed into law in November of 2019. Um one of the top the number one environmental concern and this is from the plan um is air quality. Um, according to the American Lung Association's 20th annual state of the air report, Pittsburgh's air quality is worse now than it was three years ago. This is in 2019. Uh, ground level ozone layers are higher and soot pollution is significantly higher and worsening daily. Correspondingly, greater Hazlewood's air quality is poor with particulate matter concentration higher than the national standard. Local contributor contributors to poor air outdoor to poor outdoor air quality include vehicles driving vehicles idling and diesel trains. Air quality is also comprised by reason is compromised by regional industrial activity. Um the highest concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and black carbon are found along the neighborhood's highest traveled roadways, Second and Hazlewood avenues. and the active rail lines and rail yard located close to the Manonga Hala. Both air pollutants concentrate on the Second Avenue and Greater Hazlewood Business District, a vital gathering place which the community aims to further develop. And then a little later, it says, "Given the demographic and socioeconomic makeup of Hazlewood, as well as exposures to high levels of air pollution, children living in Hazlewood are at increased risk for poorer asthma outcomes." Um, in the economic development section of the plan, it reads as follows. Development zones. Greater Hazlewood

residents are eager to match the development of Hazlewood Green with improvements to the rest of the neighborhood that will ensure renewed vitality extends throughout and benefits the entire community. The community process identified five priority areas in which to concentrate infill and focus improvements to connectivity, walkability, and streetscapes. The Hazlewood Avenue corridor, the commercial corridor below the tracks, Glenwood and Glenn Hazel. And then finally, a little bit more about the zone below the tracks. Below the tracks includes the part of the Hazlewood neighborhood, also known as Scotchbottom, to the west of Second Avenue between Hazlewood Green and the Glenwood yards. The majority of the area is zoned for residential use, single family attached. Other zoning categories include general industrial, riverfront, general industrial, and specialty plan district. Most of the area is used for residential purposes, although commercial entities such as breweries have shown interest in locating there. They are there now. They are there now. We have the breweries. It's great. Um most of the vacant land in part of this neighborhood is privately owned and located in the Rivgi. Suggested development for below the tracks is residential infill both attached and detached. Recommendations include town homes, walk up units uh along to bordering the Hazwood Green. previously suggested business-to- business commercial production space may fit well into this part of the community to link greater Hazeswood more directly with the innovation happening at the Hazwood Green. Landscaped buffers should go in between the residential area and railway utilities. So, that's from the plan. I just want to make sure that the that the commissioners remember that this plan exists. Um, and then I do want to highlight as well just um

some letters. We got about 14 letters and I want to say um Oh, and there was someone else. Yeah. So, we got about 14 letters from people, not just from Hiswood, but from all over. I want to let you know that residents in Squirrel Hill, in Greenfield, community groups, business owners, landlords, pastors, churches, right? People are out here rooting for Hazlewood on this. So, I want I want you all to know that. Uh, one one person who is here. And I also want to note that if you take a look at how many people are in this room, it is 2:00 on a Tuesday and there are many people who could not come. Uh, I just wanted so um Zachary Carrington was here and I asked if he wanted me to mention for him. He had to leave to to meet his kids' bus. Uh, he actually used to work at the recycling plant. He said, "The recycling plant at the end of my street brings jobs for our community, but this this landfill thing will not only harm residents, but the children who play every day will be smelling garbage and trash, and it's not fair. It's not okay." And I noticed my old boss is in here from the plant. I hope he says something to help our cause. So, you know, the folks in Hazlewood don't have money to send lawyers down at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, but you all are here. And I know you may not all want to speak, but so just just so we can see. Could I see a show of hands for the everyone who is here in support of this? Thank you. I appreciate it. Um, so with that, uh, yeah, I just want to say I'm very proud of my district today. I'm very proud of all of you. So, thank you. Well, um, does that conclude? Yes. Thank you. And, uh, and I do agree that it is wonderful to see so many people down here in and in the process, uh, because that's what this process is all about. Uh, thank you for the presentation. We've got to open the

floor at this time uh, for some public testimony. Uh so we'd ask that anybody else in the the room that would like to give some testimony, please do so. Um and anyone online that is choosing to do so. Yes, sir. So here's what happens. And and maybe you're you're new to the process or not. Um but if you're going to come on up, we like you to have come on up to the podium right over there where the mic is. and then you're going to share your name with us, your address, and we give you about 3 minutes to to talk about what you'd like to give testimony on.

Okay. My name is Derwin Fuller, Senior, and that's Derwin with a U, not a E. Um, I live at 5411 Second Avenue. Um, maybe 200 feet from the uh trash place, you know what I mean? I sit out on my porch every day and I can smell and I see the rats all day every day. And another thing is the traffic. The traffic on Second Avenue is already terrible. I walk out my door in the morning. Well, in the morning from 6:00 a.m. till 10:00 a.m. Even in the summertime, I have to shut my window because I cannot sleep. There's so much traffic on Second Avenue and the and the semis that are coming through Hazlewood now is ridiculous. It's never been like that. And I'm a like resident. And another thing, I don't know if any any of you guys ever heard of John Manado. Them semis that's coming up and down Hazelwood Avenue is ridiculous. He got hit by a semi I want to say back in the 50s or something and um coming down Hazerwood Avenue and tore his head off his body. There's a elementary school up in Squirrel Hill or Greenfield with his name on it John Menadale and it's just way way way too much traffic coming through Hazlewood. And that's basically all I got to say. Uh, Hazerwood is a residential community and it needs to stay like that. Thank you.

Thank you for coming down and giving testimony.

All right. Yes, please. If there's testimony that you'd like to give, come on up to the podium. Please uh state your name. You may need to spell it depending on if the court reporter got it. Uh, and your address, please. My name is Theresa Ni and Agy. I live at 5229 Blair Street in Hazlewood um in my family's we're the fifth generation in this family home. I didn't realize that we weren't even supposed to be technically we're on that map in the industrial zone. It's us and the one other house. We are in the industrial zone. We are not on the perimeter of it. We are in it. I just wanted to come to say what we deal with on the daily. We have two little We have two daughters. Excuse me. I'm nervous. Please don't be nervous. This is fine. [laughter]

So, as a resident located within the general industrial zone, we would like assurances that no more disruptive activities beyond what we currently have are permitted. Our existing challenges that we deal with on the daily basis would be trans flow, which we're right next door. That photo they showed with the blue fencing, that's our neighbors that are with us. Um, we are subject. They come in at 4:30 in the morning between the employees screaming and carrying on with each other, their loud cars pulling up, the profanity lace things that come out of their mouth that early in the morning, don't understand it. Um, they come in 4:30, they're loud, they turn the machines on. Um, we don't need alarm clocks because they're machines. and the idling trucks that are lining up to do the scale and bring their load in are sitting there idling. We cannot have our windows open between the noise and the fumes from the trucks. It's unbearable. If it if you leave them open, you're up at that hour. You're up closing everything and you don't want to wake the kids up, so you're running to their room to close everything up. Honestly, it feels like living at a truck stop. That's the best way to describe it cuz the trucks are constantly coming. the trains. I get the trains or the trains and they run all night. 3:30 in the morning, them brakes are squealing. Our house shakes. It's Yeah, we've done construction and there's already hairline cracks through everything because of it. It's I guess the cost of living down there. Um the Translow did just have new lighting installed. They have not turned it on yet. We're terrified how bright that's going to be. It's their street lights are taller than the street lights that are the city street lights in there. and they're everywhere. So, we're afraid of that. On top of that, to add to it, the bright lights from CSX on the railroad towers, they exceed reasonable levels. They're flooding the neighborhood. All of down belows lit up like it's daytime

when you go down there. Bright white blinding lights. They used to be orange. They're now white. As a result, we've tinted our windows to our home to reduce the impact. And we have to keep our curtains closed in the evening because it lights the rooms up. It's ridiculous. the CSX, the train yard lights that they have on these huge towers are absolutely ridiculous. Um, for the health and overall quality of the neighborhood, we prefer to avoid any further developments that could choose to worsen these conditions and we really hope that you support this plan and I thank you for your time. Thank you very much.

It wasn't so bad. Do we have additional testimony?

Good afternoon everyone. My name is Christopher Olsen, OS N. I live at 4350 Massen Street. I hold an elected seat on the uh Greenfield Community Association board. That's a 501c3 and the registered community organization that um is the neighborhoods directly to the north and east of Hazlewood. We submitted a letter outlining uh the reasons for our support of Councilwoman uh Warick's legislation um to change the uh zoning from riverfront general use to riverfront mixed use. Um the community green the Greenfield community association is so strongly in support of this that we also want to have u someone come down and give a verbal testimony and that's why I'm here. For decades our neighborhood has dealt with the consequences of heavy industrial use. um you cannot zone out noise or air pollution. They just go across the zoning lines. We believe that Councilwoman Warwick's legislation is a thoughtful and responsible um means to reduce future harm to our neighborhood and the adjacent neighborhood Hazlewood while also providing for a more livable neighborhood and space for everyone. So, thank you for considering our written and our verbal comments. Thank you.

Thank you so much for coming and giving testimony. You guys are doing great at creating a line and um as each one is done, please come forward. Come to the mic again. State your name, address, and uh give your testimony.

Hello, my name is Terry Fuller, property at 5411 Second Avenue, and I want to speak on the rats. The rats are terrible there. They're they are rats. They are not pets. They are big as cats and some big as dogs and that is a hazard to my health as as when the steel mill was in Hazlewood. So that's what I want to speak about those rats. So we don't need any more um garbage recycle any more things like that in our neighborhood. We want to live as healthy as we can. Thank you for your testimony. Can we have the next one come on up, please? And thank you.

Uh, hi, my name is Edith Aa. I live at 1527 Wolf Avenue in Bradock, PA. Uh, 15104. Um, I've been working in Hazlewood since 2014. and I co-founded a community arts organization with Hazlewood Residents in 2015 which is called Arts Excursions Unlimited. We're currently located at 51252nd Avenue and my time there in Hazlewood uh have I have witnessed a lot of things and made a lot of connections with people who live in the in the section of Hazlewood that's being impacted so much by industrial activity. Um, part of the work that we do is we have a purple air monitor in our space so that we know what the air quality is. So, I can just say as someone who lives uh less than a half mile from Edgar Thompson uh US Steel, the air quality can be worse in Hazlewood than it is at my house. Uh we also um collaborate with Carnegie Melon University professors there and we have a air monitor that's connected to and reads uh satellite information so that we know when people are safe. In addition, we have been working on building our own air quality monitors at our space so that people can have these monitors in their homes so that they know uh when it's safe to go outside, when it's safe to open the doors. So, I just want to say like the air quality is um is ser is a serious concern in Hazlewood. probably if you just took a raise of hands of how many people that live in Hazlewood and have asthma here, you would be surprised, right? It's very

it's very high. I also want to address because of the industrial activity that moves in and out of the neighborhood. Um the number of dump trucks, the number of semis is incredibly high. Um, unfortunately, myself and other people in the room actually saw someone hit by a dump truck near the library and killed. So, this is um, you know, we we get that there's a long history of industrial activity in the region and in the neighborhood, but it's doesn't um, you know, sort of like councilwoman um, Barb said, right? There's people that live in there's people that live in this neighborhood. So I I very much encourage the planning commission here to support the change in the zoning. Um and you know for the re the region to be continued to sort of be held hostage by industry and the railroad like it's um you know we are in the 21st century here.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Can we have the next person come on up please?

Hello. My name is Terry Shields. I live at 5111 Glennwood Avenue and I'm a long life Hazerwood residence and this has been going on for a long time but it has gotten worse worse and I'm one of the ones who has asthma. So we need to stop having those industrial organizations down there dumping trash. We are not a dumping ground. Your testimony Good afternoon. I'm Lisa Atmunds. I live at 509 Johnston Avenue in Hazlewood on 5207. However, also have property at 5411 Second Avenue which my brother spoke earlier very close to the recycling place and the railroad. And so it's unfortunate as the council woman said that this resoning doesn't affect those businesses that are already there. You all have heard what the community is experiencing. We're asking you please to support this change so that these things don't increase that so that doesn't get worse than what it already is. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

Right. Hi, my name is uh Kevin Jordan Blair. Hello. Up in Glenn Hazel, uh 668 Johnson Avenue. Uh yeah, I I've actually been walking around throughout the neighborhood. I can actually hear like all the noise and everything from right at top of from the hilltop and I've actually walked already passed down towards the the recycling center and various other places. And yeah, it like I said, it's very bad. I we even had like issues with the trash where it's even started flooding the street streets and all stuff. In fact, the Boeing that Missy have mentioned uh we actually had flooding because of trash and all that stuff go going down in there like causing like like causing like more multiple issues and all that stuff. And then the the various other things that have been going on, not just noise, but also the ve the various uh amounts of like smells and all stuff. I can smell it even through through the mass and stuff. And it's pretty annoy. And the traffic is is nuts. like it it needs to be like fixed like really right right away very very soon because it's not going to be tolerable anymore until and then when people end up getting like k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k killed or like marginally hurt by and it actually really breaks people down a lot. It need it needs to happen soon or there's going to be consequences. It's going to end up hurting not just as Hazwood but the entirety of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. So I hope you choose right. Thank you for your testimony.

Hey, excuse me. This is the court reporter sir. Sir, I need him to say his name. One minute, please. I did not catch his name at all. Can you please state your name and then spell it for the court reporter? T V I N. Uh, Tevin. Okay. Jordan Blair hyphen a last name. Yes. Like Jordan, like the country Jordan and like the regular name, how's Blair is spelled like B L A I R. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Tim Smith. I'm the uh uh pastor of the Keystone Church of Hazlewood, which is located at 161 Hazeswood Avenue, and also the CEO of Center of Life. We've served Hazlewood for many years. I just want to say that the you know it I think the commission I want the commission to take into consideration the fact that we have been dealing with this kind of thing for you much longer than many of us actually have been alive. And I would remind you that Hazwood has been reszoned. And every time we get resoned we get smaller in population. And so our population is probably a little over 5,000 or more. I'm not sure exactly what the exact number is right now, but there was a time when Hazlewood went all the way down to close to the Birmingham Bridge. Uh now it's Hot Metal Street Bridge. You know, it keeps it it keeps getting smaller and smaller, but it gets smaller and because people have to move out and people have to move out. When you think about what is happening, what has happened over the years and what is happening now and I think about the number, it's like something like 28% or more of our children have respiratory issues in our community. And that's that's a serious health hazard. So in our neighborhood plan, in our greater Hazeswood neighborhood plan, this is a top priority. lessen our carbon footprint, clean our airs, clean our water, make sure that people are learning how to live differently who live in the community, but also make sure that we're collaborating and and that we're doing the thing that makes sense so that people can live cleaner lives in our community. So, I would I would encourage you to even though you're taking into consideration industry, consider putting people first, making sure that people are the priority as opposed to industry. Industry can

always find a place to go, but people live there, and we're talking five, six, seven generations deep in that community. So, thank you very much.

Thank you for your testimony. Good afternoon. My name is Sonia Tilman. Um I am speaking on behalf of Hazlewood Initiative, the community development corporation and registered community or organization serving Greater Hazlewood. Um I've been here before. This is my third time speaking at this uh hearing. Um, we've heard clearly today and at those previous meetings as well as at our Hazwood Initiative community meeting, um, how the current Rivgi zoning allows for the most intensive industrial uses. You've heard from residents about how how that impacts their existence today. Um, including um the hazardous operations that are not appropriate next to homes. Um the proposed Riv IMU zoning is far better suited to the existing conditions meaning the homes that are nearby the people who live nearby and the future goals of community regionwide. We have heard this today as well. Um families have lived for generations next to heavy industry that brought pollution and noise and rodents and truck traffic to the doorsteps of these families. We still see the results of that. You've also heard today in Hazlewood and high asthma rates and poor health conditions. For us, the zoning change is not about uh our our our neighbors in the railroad in the recycle center. This is not about them today. This is about environmental justice and public health and the future that we want for our community. The rear of IMU opens the door to cleaner, safer, and more balanced development. things like small businesses and community spaces and light industry that brings jobs without harming our health. It aligns with the greater Hazlewood neighborhood plan where residents have clearly called for development that supports a safe, healthy, and thriving community. Approving this change is also consistent with the city's commitments to equity, climate action, and sustainable development. Greater Hazlewood should be part of Pittsburgh's

greener, more inclusive future and not left behind. Therefore, I continue to urge you to support this zoning change and stand with Greater Hazlewood residents and building a healthier and more equitable neighborhood. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Good afternoon. My name is Katherine with a C Phillips. I live at 96 Courtland Street below the tracks, Pittsburgh 15207. I live exactly right across from CSX. The blue fence you saw at the railroad there, that is directly across from my house. We put up with the traffic, the dust. People have said, "Yeah, you've lived there all your life. You know what it's like." No, I was able to sit on my porch. I cannot sit on my porch. I cannot have my windows open. Through the night, we hear the recycling plant. We get rodents that travel from the recycling plant through the BNO through the CSX all through our neighborhood. The smell comes, it depends on which way the air blows. The traffic we have, like Teresa said, the traffic done at the railroad yard start between 4:00 4:30. People come in motorcycles to work in the middle of the night with the radios blasting, trains in and out. I had to actually go over when the tanker trucks come in to unload to get weighed in the morning. They when they come in in the evening or through the night, at one point, one gentleman was parking directly right across my house at the fence, idling his truck all night. I had to literally ask the manager

of the station right there to ask him to move down because we cannot keep our windows open. As for the dust, the salt plant has moved in there. We were not aware of. We cannot have our windows open and doors. When I dust, it looks like I don't even dust. If I lift up a blanket, white stuff comes out. That's in my house. I was walking doing a walk one day. I had my phone on. The screen of my phone was covered with a white hotter. So, we are inhaling all of this besides the rodents, the abandoned houses that when the recycle plant went in, we were not aware that that was coming in. Now, they want to bring more trash in. For the people who live closer than me, this is a disgrace. This is telling us that we are not worth anything. So, I ask you to please vote for this reasonzoning and help our future generations. I'm going to be 75 years old in January. I hope to live longer, but at this pace, if our quality air has changed in three years, three years, I'm not going to be here. How many of these other people in Hazewood are not going to be here? What is that saying to our generations? Our generations are not going to make it either down there. We have a long history of a lot of people who lived there all our life. We've chose to stay in our community hoping it would come back up after the mills closed, but we do not need a trash dump.

Thank you so much for your testimony.

Name's Bernie Noon. Kathy took my story. Okay. Thanks, Kathy. I live around I all my kids were born around a corner from Kathy. Mhm. You know, when we looked out the window at the third floor, we called it our train set. It was the railroad. It was always there was a railroad. Now it's a terminal. Okay. And when Kathy says about the the dust and that and the noise, you can actually close your door, go to the other side of your house, and you can still hear the vibrate and be in the trucks. Okay. Yes.

I can't believe you would let them start dumping raw garbage in Hazlewood in the city of Pittsburgh. You're going to start dumping raw garbage. You got to be out of your minds. You know, I ain't saying, hey, listen, people need jobs. But you got to have respect for the neighbors. Okay, you took Langghorn Street. Langorn Street is 400 feet long. There was trees all the way down it. Four years ago, railroad come in, brought them all down, took a spur line, took it all the way down Langghorn Street. And what they do to block the to block the noise? Put a fence up. That's it. So there's no per how can you do something? Nobody gets a permit. Nobody lets know anybody know what they're doing. They just do what they want to do and we and we pay the price. So

thank you for your testimony. Thank you. Assuming uh Miss Kryski, is there anybody on on uh line and Yeah, you got Okay, I'm sorry. We'll have you come up. Um Tiffany, uh you can unmute yourself.

Okay, thank you. Um hi, Tiffany Talton. Um, Hazlewood resident, 510 Glenwood Avenue. Um, I have been in the neighborhood for some years now. Used to work with Hazlewood Initiative as the director of outreach and sustainability. Glad to see them there. Um, and one of the things that was really important to the community when I was there was green um was air quality. Um, we worked to help get community residents purple air monitors. Um, we worked to get, you know, the greenway developed. We've planted with our partners at Tree Pittsburgh and everything. Um, while I was there, over 700 trees were planted to help with air quality because that was a major concern to the community. We had meetings with people about gardens. We had meetings with people about the future of the community and what it would mean to have a residential neighborhood and what they would be doing after all of the industry from the stillmills. And one of the things that came up in one of those environmental meetings was that they wanted to have better access to their relatives over in Swissail, over in Homestead, over in Rank and over in Bradock. And this idea of reconnecting Hazlewood um through the bike trail um uh uh nine mile run and all that, it was really important. And so we've been working um you know even though I don't work for Hazelwood Initiative anymore, I'm still a resident and still very much invested in the development of this bike trail and reconnecting communities. My own family is also over in Bradock and and in Swissail. Um and the idea that we are going to have even more trash coming into the community, a community that I have personally invested in by buying my house here, um is just really upsetting. I don't even have to rake because the winds are so strong and trash is just coming into my yard over on Glenwood. A we don't need to have more trash in this community. We don't need to have more noise in this community. We don't need to have even worse air quality in this

community with more development of industry down there. Uh um you know, I'm lucky that I'm closer to the greenway and yet I still have air quality problems here. I still have trash problems. I am a person that is sound sensitive. I am sensitive to people. um you know that are suffering of other disabilities whether it's asthma or ADHD or autism. Um my own I'm now on an inhaler since moving to Hazelwood. I never had an inhaler before in all the other decades of my life. Um so there is something here. I wear a mask a lot of times outside walking along Second Avenue because the air quality is so poor there with all the traffic. And I used to walk actually behind Second Avenue on Langghorn um because they had these beautiful maple trees and it was shaded, it was cooler, it was quiet and then a few years ago they just disappeared all of a sudden. So I'm also very frustrated by that. Um that the community wasn't notified and that it just took away one more barrier from the sound. The sound that you can hear the trains, the trucks 3:00 in the morning, 3:30 in the morning, and then 5:00 in the morning the the air quality starts getting worse again. Um, we need to reszone this area. I really appreciate the work that Barb Warwick has done to bring this up and to protect our community and I hope that the other council people and the city of Pittsburgh will do more to protect our community. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Is there someone else online? Uh, yes. Uh oh. Uh Ann, you can now uh provide testimony. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you.

Hi, my name is Anne Quinn. I am a resident in the neighborhood of Greenfield. My address is 753 Mccasin Street, Pittsburgh, PA15217. But I also am the director of a nonprofit uh fiscally sponsored program that is called the man water project. I am here to speak on impact on the impact to our rivers uh in addition to the compounded interest of all of the impacts you have already heard. So layering on top of the noise, layering on top of the uh the the air quality, layering on top of all of these other impacts that the residents here are uh describing in detail. I would like to also add the water quality issues that are associated with heavy industry and how the Mann has already foot the bill for the pollution of our region for too long. It is a river that is in the process of recovery. Um, but it will not recover if we continue have industry along its banks. I feel as though the city of Pittsburgh, we have learned our lesson that our rivers are something that we must live beside and coexist with. If we continue to try to control them and pollute them, we are polluting ourselves. We are polluting our communities and we are polluting the ability for us to create lasting relationships with the river in a way that grows and develops our communities. Please consider Barborics slides and information about how other areas of the city have embraced and developed their riverfronts to be the prize and uh opportunity for access to rivers for all of those residents. Right now, if you were to stand in the neighborhood of Hazlewood, you are not able to walk to a

river to touch it. A Riverside community who does not have river access, right? You are eliminating the ability for that river and that community to be connected. This resoning would be an opportunity for light development as well as residents to possibly be connected to their river again. That is what allows us to then partner and move forward. Appreciate the river for what it can and can't do and also protect us from the flooding and allow us to also consider the repairarian buffer of the river along that area. So on behalf of the man water project, I stand with the residents of Hazwood. I stand with the partner nonprofits in the room. I stand with the council member Warwick in this recommendation.

Thank you for your testimony. Is there additional testimony? Okay. Is there anyone else in the room? My apologies. We should have had you speak right after the council. All right.

Thank you, sir. My name is Bill Siddig, SITIG, and I represent CSX Transportation. Um, and with me, um, as before, uh, is Rodney Oglesby. He's the, uh, director of state affairs for CSX. So, he's involved in these kinds of community settings, uh, regularly. Um, so I've had to learn a lot here, too. Um, as Commissioner O'Neal stated, um, turns out that I I was wrong with my assessment as she had that initial assessment to say, "Well, there's lots of rail that's zoned this way." There's a big distinction. This is a rail yard. Um, obviously, if you have a rail line, CSX isn't worried about getting a a zoning permit. Um, nobody would even think to get a zoning permit. But in a rail yard, when you need other permits, then as Mr. Mr. Layman said as a result of this he would process this under this ordinance that's a problem. I think Miss O'Neal if she would look at the law and I provided the board this a prudent lawyer would agree it's a problem just as a matter of law and I know I'm here as a lawyer uh in a bigger sense for CSX and we met with Reverend Murray and we met with Sonia Tilman. it remains. Um, and I told the council woman, one of the good things that came out of this is that we're at the table. Now, unfortunately being at the table, we initiated this, but there's been no followup. I hear them. We hear them. We hear things that have nothing to do with us, CSX, like the transfer station or the waste transfer facility. But there are things that may have to do with us, which are lighting, which are dust, which we may be able to. And uh the biggest thing of all I think long term is riverfront access. Those are things that my client has historically been cooperative cooperative cooperated with with the

communities and we like to do that. We don't think this adversarial and very misplaced adversarial process is helpful. Um we didn't come here to fight. We don't want to fight. We're given no choice. Anybody that just like the neighbors if somebody came to you and said we're going to take your property and move you out. I would hope that you had a lawyer or the government would hire a lawyer or there'd be a solicitor defending your rights. I've been told, we've been told here on the record, they're trying to get rid of us. They're trying to zone us out. That's a problem. Um it's a fundamental problem because that's not what zoning should ever be used for. It's a particular problem whenever you deal with railroads. Um I don't know why the legislation was there. Um we always know that there's broad scope. Now I'm a little bit more informed on it since I've been paid to learn it, which is the greatest part of my job. My clients pay me to learn. Um, but it's broad. I mean, we all know it's broad. It's extremely broad. Um, so I just gave gave you the letter and I'll just point to a couple of passages on the second page. Um, it's these are these are quotes from cases. This is like district court cases. These are very high level cases. Uh it's difficult to imagine a broader concept of Congress's intent to preempt state regulatory authority over railroad operations. And that's referencing what's known as the ICCTA, the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act. So it's what the court stated when reviewing this, it's difficult to imagine a broader set of rights. That's the framework we're all working from. That's actually what I have to get my client off of to even extend itself beyond that broad protection to look out with our neighbors and to engage because the overall legal framework is massively massively protective. Another another quote there is state or

local permitting or precl clearance requirements including zoning ordinances are preempted. Now, that sounds like and and it's the same thing and I assume Commissioner O'Neal is a lawyer saying, "Okay, well, if you're preempted, I asked my own client, what's the problem?" Well, the problem is is that Mr. Layman, his own zoning administrator, he's charged with administering it. And he stated in his testimony that there would be a special exception. I can assure you, railroads don't go through special exception processes. You've never seen it. you many of you, you sit on the board, Madam Chair, and the railroad's not coming to ask you to do a railard. No.

So, um, what is preempted and this is the really why we're here today is the permitting process itself. So, there's no process and this is just zoning. It's not that there aren't these other there's there's light and air and there's all these other the only thing that's really targeted here is zoning. And it's so clear. Um it's disappointing that we're still here because now I went to the Hazlewood community, had very productive meetings, and now I have these folks that I should be in a collaborative meeting in a neighborhood setting to say, "What can we do?" And now, you know, I'm here the big bad guy. He's the lawyer. That's unfortunate that it's cast this way, but that was chosen politically to do it that way. It won't stop me. You folks know me. I'll still sit with all you folks and try to address your concerns as best I can. But I I would say that by making this ordinance pending that is going to trigger action. So Mr. Maza started off today and I would strongly suggest either that you recommend that this ordinance go up minus the railroad properties. It's 84% of the property. We understand we heard from one resident her property is zoned industrial. We heard about the transfer station. That's not why we're really here today. That's not why CSX is here today. We're here because there's this a directly stated I mean this this is a gold mine for a litigator frankly is this transcript. But if it goes up, it's going to trigger it because it's pending. So if an operation comes up and you recommend it today, then Mr. Layman has to process it legally to say it's pending and you have to apply for it. And for example, he may say go get a special exception. My client is not inclined to submit to that. Um, and I'm not threatening to do anything, but it's unacceptable. I would say I would recommend to either recommended that they go forth and eliminate the railroad

properties, which we've provided and will provide if necessary, or that you have the um uh executive session because I think, and I spoke with Mr. Miller, and I won't characterize any of his comments. um he can speak for itself, but I think a thoughtful lawyer would uh give you good advice and Mr. Miller certainly in that camp.

Well, well, thank you. And I don't I don't want you to leave. And you may have heard me uh say to Mr. sitic. I should have had him go immediately following uh Councilwoman Warwick primarily because I wanted to uh it would have been nice for you all to have heard what he said as you were kind of giving um your testimony. Um Mr. Layman, are you you wanting to say something? Oh, okay. Well, then I'll be quiet and let you say something first. No, please go ahead. Yeah, I I just I need to object to the characterization of my testimony which wasn't which was given in response to a question from from a planning commissioner uh and then uh taken in part to suggest that I would uh apply some standard additional uh beyond what the railroad is preempted from. Now that is I just want to say unequivocally on the record that is not the case. The zoning code ha treats has levels of permission permitted by right, special exception, conditional use. All three are permitted uses. Uh and then the process for that is prescribed for the z for the zoning code which I am required to administer. Uh but there is nothing that regarding either level of that that would stand in the way from the railroad asserting their preeemption. Uh and to my understanding there hasn't been a problem. Uh the code exists currently for GI that requires permits. So there's not a problem now. Uh there wouldn't be a problem in it in the IMU or there wouldn't be a change in the IMU in terms of of the city's relationship there. I just wanted to make that clear.

Well, I I appreciate you wanting to make uh provide some clarity. I don't necessarily know that uh if that was kind of what was I must have missed something. Uh but definitely appreciate the clarity. Um you know, commissioners at at this time, you know, we've heard all the public testimony and we should have some I'm sorry, sir. Okay. Were you in you weren't in line to Okay. Well, then I'm not going to not allow you. But are you are you all standing in the rear for testimony as well or just really? Okay. Well, I'm going to have to let you give testimony. So, please do please state your name, address, and then uh give us your testimony.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My apologies. My name is Brendan O'Donnell. First name B R E N D A N. Last name O'Donnell. O apostrophe capital D O N E L L. I'm an attorney for Alageney Valley Railroad. My address is 401 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh 15222. My client operates the Glenwood Yard. Uh the Glenwood Yard has been there since the late 1800s. My client would be the uh party whose property interest would be the most impacted within the area that is subject to the resoning because of the size of the Glenwood yard. This is not a situation that was alluded to several times where this is merely railroad tracks passing through a community or passing through a zoning district. The aerial images were shown that present the size of this railroad yard because it is a railroad yard. It is not merely tracks. Despite the the commentary that has been made that there is preeemption, there are the railroads, it doesn't matter to the railroads. Unfortunately, what I have heard here and in prior uh public hearings, including from the materials that have been presented uh in furtherance of this draft legislation, is a clear desire to eliminate my client's use from this property. This use has been here for over a century. And so we have a difficult time on one hand hearing well there's railroad preeemption we can't do anything and then this process continues it continues and statements are made of wish we could get rid of the uses that are there. My client has invested substantially into the Glenwood yard has upgraded facilities there and we are certainly willing to listen to and want to be a good neighbor to the community. So if there are issues with air, there's issues with light, things of that nature as as Mr. Sig from CSX indicated, we certainly are open to meetings with the community to deal with that in a

collaborative fashion.

However, this is a zoning ordinance related to the zoning of this property. And this is a situation where unfortunately the reality is that for residents of the community, my client can't go anywhere either because rail yards need large flat areas of which there are not many in this region. And to my knowledge, this is the only rail yard in the city limits itself. So we have made investments. We want to be a good neighbor, but we cannot sit idly by with proposed legislation, which the vast majority of the property impact is going to be on my client. And it eliminates our ability to focus on aspects of, uh, connection to the river, uh, trails, working with CSX and community groups when our rights are under attack here. My recommendation, as Mr. Sitigate indicated is that before the planning commission would take any action to confer with the city law department to evaluate what the impact is of federal preeemption of railroads before the city take the before the planning commission takes any further action and also to evaluate the timelines associated with this. I know that the city council passed a resolution authorizing an extension of time uh for a consideration. However, I do have questions and concerns associated with whether that was timely or a deemed denial of this has resulted anyway. So, with that, I echo the comments of CSX and request that the planning commission deliberate with the city law department before taking any action in favor of a recommendation of the planned uh or the proposed zoning ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. And I uh want to just um apologize. please step forward to to get to the mic because I I had put it out there a few times if there was additional testimony and I'm sorry that we've missed this many in giving testimony.

Hi, my name is Frank Chimera. C H I M A um here representing Republic Services. Uh we had submitted a uh presentation. Was that we able to bring that up? Thank you. Uh again, my name is Frank Chimera. Uh we operate the recycling center at 50 Vispus Street um in the Hazlewood neighborhood. Uh myself, our market general manager, Lori Kchinsky, and our operations manager, Mark Duncan. Uh the three of us are here to to speak to you all about who we are at Republic Services and uh what we've accomplished since taking over ownership of the recycling center in February of this year.

So is this and and forgive me, but is this going to be roughly a brief testimony or Okay. Yep. Very brief. Okay. I just want to have clarity.

Sure thing. Uh Republic is a leader in the environmental services industry. Our commitments to our people and the communities in which we serve are a large part of how we deliver on our vision to create a more sustainable world. As you can see from the information highlighted on this slide, we are an industry-leading safety and compliance focused organization providing an essential service. A large part of how we meet the needs of our customers and communities is through the 75 recycling centers that we own and operate around the country, like the one here in the Hazlewood community. These recycling centers process around 6.4 4 million tons of recycling annually. We're responsible for handling a large portion of the recycling generated across the country. Here in Pittsburgh, we are the sole processor for all of the city's residential recycling and much of its commercially generated recycling as well. This is a responsibility that we do not take lightly. We have a laser focus on operating safely and compliantly at all of our facilities to protect our people and the communities that we serve. Republic Services is proud to have been recognized by many leading organizations for our focus on operating safely and ethically, for being forward thinking, and for being people and compliance focused. These awards are given for the work that our people do every day in local communities across the country, just like here in Hazlewood. To talk more specifically about our operations here in Pittsburgh, we employ 146 people in the greater Pittsburgh area. We collect and handle a large portion of the recycling and trash generated in the greater Pittsburgh area and process 37,000 annual tons at our recycling center in Hazlewood. We responsibly and safely provide this essential service to greater Pittsburgh community. As I mentioned earlier, we took over ownership of this facility just this year back in February. Since then, we've invested $2.8 million in revitalizing the site to bring the facility up to our operating standards with another $1.4 $4 million in investment planned for 2026. We've cleaned up the property. We've installed new perimeter fencing. We've stepped up

road elimination, installed new garage doors, and now store all material inside the building. This facility not only provides responsible handling of the city's recycling, it provides jobs to Pittsburgh residents and is also a revenue generator for the city. So far in 2025, the city of Pittsburgh has received just under $100,000 in revenue generated from the recycling contract that they have with Republic at this facility for us processing and marketing and selling the recyclables generated within the city. Now, I'd like to turn it over to our Pittsburgh general manager, Lori Khinsky, to cover the improvements and our commitment to the community in more detail.

Um, thank you for the opportunity. My name is Lori Kchinsky. I am the general manager uh for BFI Way Services of Pennsylvania, which is a subsidiary of Republic Services in the Pittsburgh market. And I have a whole bunch of stuff written down. We've done this a couple times. Um you know, since we took over in February, you know, I understand the history at this location and I understand what it did to the community. It is my commitment to make this a better facility, something that the community can be proud of. If you look at these pictures here, on the left is a picture of what it looked like about a year ago. The middle picture is what it looked like when we took over, and then to the right is after a couple months of our ownership. You know, it it is it's frustrating to hear that it's no better now than what it was in the past. And I know even from the previous owners prior to the ones that we purchased this from, the owner before that, they went bankrupt. They just shut up shop and left everything there for the community to deal with for months until it was cleaned up. Republic Service owns this now. Republic Service isn't going to go bankrupt. Nobody's going to leave this community holding the bag again. Republic Services is the best company to own this facility to operate it the right way. And this is just some snapshots of of showing you and we're not done yet. This is only what we could accomplish in a couple months. We're not done. Um we have a lot a lot more to go. So again, here left side is under previous ownership. Right side is after Republic owned it for a couple of months. And again, we're we're not done. We've only been able to get garage doors on two sides of the building. We did the front side of the building when you come in, you know, to our front entrance and and the rail side. And we just picked those sides because again we only have so much time and that's where we felt

the wind was coming from the most and would have the best impact on the facility. Um oh this picture here I just want you to know like we are providing jobs for the for the community. We have a number of individual Hazlewood residents that work at this facility. This is what on the pictures on the left. This is what this facility looked like when we took over in February. to the right is what it looks like under Republic Services standards. We will run this facility the right way and it will be something that nothing will brought be brought into this facility without community input and making sure that you guys are comfortable with the way that things are being operated. That's all I got. Thank you.

Thank you uh for your testimony and I and I want to say I wasn't trying to necessarily rush uh please come on up uh your presentation at all. I just wanted some clarity so that people knew and I I appreciate you being able to give a presentation and show sort of before and after.

My name is Mark Duncan and I'm an operations manager. I heard of um a few people talk about things are the same down there. I've been there for 10 years. I was there with the old administration and you people that live down by the railroad tracks, I know you could remember when the when the material used to almost touch the fence. I mean, it used to blow over the fence and all of that. The back was the same way, the front was the same way. So, that's why I'm here to tell you there has changed. There is a difference. Um, all our material is kept in the building now. That smell, I'm going back there when I leave here. If you want to come, you ain't going to smell nothing. I'm going back there right after this. All the material is left in the building. But when was the prior organization? I did smell it. You could smell it on Second Avenue and all of that because all that material is by the fence. Right now, you will not smell that um none of that stuff but over there. Like she said, the doors are put up on one side where the wind blows in and that's helping keeping everything concentrated inside. You seen the pictures. There's no garbage outside on the fence line, none on the road, none of that. It is clean. This company has came in and cleaned that up that quick. And let me tell you, they're not going to stop there. Any concerns you got, they're going to handle it. Just the way they handle this right here. I had opportunities, but I stayed and I ain't going nowhere. Like I said, I've been there over 10 years. And then, um, the young man, you said, um, I was his boss. I don't remember who he is, but he must have been there. Um, when it was a recycle source when Gabe owned it, it was terrible. You seen those break room pictures. You seen it before and after. My guys go in there now and they just start cleaning up on their own. They appreciate what was done there. I appreciate what was done there. So, to

say that the place has not changed, that is not true. Like I said, I'm going back to You want to come smell? You can come smell. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.

Hello, my name is Jesse Zerillo. Z I R I L L O. I am an attorney and I represent BFI Waste and Republic. [clears throat] Just want to say that we strongly oppose this proposed zoning change outlined today. We ask that the zoning commission vote down this proposal or at a minimum conduct an executive session with the city's law department. I [clears throat] agree with most of the statements made by Alagany Valley Railroad and CSX. And I would like to put on the record that once again uh my client did not receive adequate notice. [clears throat] Uh postcards were referenced earlier on. Uh we did not receive one. [clears throat] The property subject to this zoning change is 84% railroad. As it was stated uh at length, railroads are federally preempted. Therefore, the stated purposes, both environmental and economic, that are being proposed, uh, would be essentially unfeasible. Councilwoman Warwick admitted at previous hearings that the recycling facility was the driving force behind this proposed change in the zoning. Furthermore, today's briefing on the text amendment showcases that our facility is the actual target of these proceedings. Because of this singling out of BFI and its facilities, this proposed zoning change is tantamount to illegal spot zoning. As for using the property for a transfer station, the current case law permits modification of current use to be grandfathered in when said use was consistent with the type of use previously utilized by the property. Lastly, there is neighboring property that is also zoned GI. said GI property is adjacent to a much more substantially highdensity residential area. In

closing, this proposed zoning change would undermine decades of city planning that decided long ago that these properties would be designated and best suited for general industrial uses like the valuable services that my client provides to the city. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Okay, so and Oh, okay. Come on. Hello, my name is Denise Johnson. I live at 5309 Girtu Street. And I'm here today because I can't sit on my porch without the fumes from the trash from the dump. Maybe he's immune to it because he works there and you don't you can't smell it. But I say come move to our neighborhood and you'll be able to smell it. and the rodents that's coming. It's ridiculous. My little grandson just got diagnosed with asthma. I've been living there seven years and it's ridiculous. Like I said, if you don't live there 24/7, you wouldn't know cuz you going to go you you're immune to the odor. I mean, I got I can say more, but thank you very much.

You're welcome. Okay. Um, sorry, pardon me. I just have a letter from the Hosanna House that I'd like to present. Okay. Can I present it to you? Thank you.

Please. And thank you. All right. Uh so typically I wait for uh fellow commissioners to say something and I am going to uh defer to commission but I I will say before um I hand it over that uh while notice was definitely an issue the last time we were here. And you know, I appreciate Commissioner Maza, although we needed to get some testimony out today no matter what. Um it I had been hopeful that with um notice and with communication with all parties, you know, sitting down and having some conversation that that dialogue would happen because on the residential side there's recognition and acknowledgment and acceptance that there are some negative impacts. Absolutely. But then on the other side, you see that there are businesses that are and companies and corporations that are in the room that are saying uh we're making some improvements. We may be new to this and that uh more dialogue uh was desired. And and Councilwoman Warwick, I I I don't know. Uh and maybe you can answer this for me. Was there uh it sounds like there had been some conversation, but not really um enough conversation to really work through cuz here here's the conundrum. The things that are there now are not going to be put out. So, they're going to stay. And if residents are bothered with the way that things are, um, them not leaving isn't a resolution.

While there are other things that may be able to happen, there are still things that could remain the same. And so I like to to look at things from a uh you know I if you're having conversation with what you perceive to be an opponent and you can find some common ground then you move forward collectively is kind of how I I I like to see things. And I um and that doesn't mean the way that I I'm seeing them is right. That just means that um I I feel like there might be some confusion that if something changes as it relates to zoning that some of the activity and behavior stops or goes away altogether and that's not that's not accurate and I think that you've been clear about that but I but I don't necessarily I'm concerned about there not being a dots connected to that and now we're we're um trying to push something forward without making sure that there's peace and um what word do I want to use? Maybe maybe there is tree lining. Maybe there those things will need to happen regardless of what the future looks like in terms of zoning. So I I almost feel that it's it's uh my initial thought and of course commission will need to to speak on this as well but my initial thought is that more communication needs to happen and I kind of thought that was going to occur before getting back today. Please, please. And and um you know, I I don't

want to nor do I feel comfortable with there there being this sort of thought that that if there's acute trauma perceived and that acute trauma will not disappear, then what? So, I think that when we're talking about the zoning, I think it's important to remember, we've heard a lot from the various companies, right? And specifically, if you want to use the recycling center as an example, right? Uh, two owners ago was a terrible owner, right? They just went bankrupt and they left everything all over the place.

The last owner was also a terrible neighbor, right? And now we have Republic Services, a new owner. And um they well the previous owner as as as we've discussed, right, totally under the radar with zero community input got a uh permit to put a waste transfer station into this facility, right? Totally on zero zero outreach to anybody in this room. Republic Services has made it abundantly clear that at some point in time they would like to do that, but they never made that clear to the community. They never did any outreach. That was just something they were going to do. And the only reason and again I welcome the fact that and we have sat down, right? We took a tour of the plant. Um, you know, we saw, you know, well, I I showed some photos that I took just a couple days ago. So, just so everyone's clear on what the plant looks like now, right? Um, you know, at this point in time as the city, we're just talking about trust, but trust doesn't get you. Trust doesn't protect this community from future harm, right? The county health department needs to step up. And I'd say the city I don't know, I actually don't know. Um, and it's something I I will certainly look into with PLI, etc. Like, what can the railard do in terms of just flooding people's homes with like because I cannot believe that the folks here in this room have never heard these concern, I cannot believe it's in the greater Hazeswood neighborhood plan, these issues back from 2019. So, while folks have come to the table and I did get a phone call, but I didn't ever get a meeting request. There was, I believe, a meeting with Hazlewood Initiative. I did get a phone call from from Bill where we talked a

little, but you know, there was never any like real effort to reach out, sit down. It it was just sort of like we're going to sue you if you do this. And that does not feel like outreach to me. And and and I would concur,

but I I you know, I'm a lover. I don't I I don't necessarily want to see war. And if there's war, then of course there's no conversation. The expectation, my personal expectation was notice was an issue and conversation was an issue. And I um even as you're you're sort of sharing, yes, there might not have been communication prior and trust is absolutely an issue. Trust has to start somewhere and this moving forward doesn't change what's already there. It it doesn't change that. Um and that and that's not to say don't don't go for change. I think I just I I would rather see even beyond executive session where there's just a decision made and somebody's mad and somebody's happy. I would rather see communication be very very different in this matter. Um because if what I'm hearing from both sides is true and if it's not then we just come right back here. But I don't think the communication people haven't rolled up their sleeves, haven't gotten the trenches and both sides kind of seeing the issues. I mean, we

I'm I'm asking if that is something that is possible, if I have to get in the trenches with everybody personally and then come back to this table and recuse, I would like to see that occur. Uh before we just look at some decision making, you know, because there's there's two sides to to this. And if people want to do right, um, and that doesn't mean you can't still do the same thing, there's no no reason that that trigger couldn't be pulled at any time, but I but I think that peace rather than war might be the move and there might be more mileage out of that.

Yeah. I mean, I'm not sure if like war and peace I think it's protecting communities versus not, right? It's this is the first time this city has taken any step whatsoever to protect this community from the industrial activity that has been going on for decades and that is a fight and that is you know I and it's semantics whatever you know however we you know sort of uh gift wrap it but I you know I again uh my general thoughts are I would feel most comfortable if that was because there's nothing to be lost, right? Uh but everything to be gained because you can still do this tomorrow or the day after or that you you you understand what I mean? I and and that doesn't mean that's where we are. I am not the line. I I don't draw the line here. But I just want you to know that those are my thoughts and those are my feelings. That's to everybody in the room. Um because what you're what you're after is is change. You're after behavior and activity being very different than what it is present day. And if what I'm hearing sounds like activity and behavior can change, you can still do this and that, right? Um but I'm going to sort of throw it over to commissioners. Uh unless you wanted to say something, councilwoman, in addition, no. Uh, and and you can hang out there. Maybe one of the commissioners might have a a an additional question or two.

Sure.

What what I would what I would say is we continue to play the blame game. Nobody's going to win here. It's there's a lot of unanswered questions and I I believe in the community and what could be done. I believe in collaboration. If we can't get to that point, it is a fight and it one side's going to be on one side, the other side's going to be the other side. And who's going to win? Nobody. The kids aren't going to win. community is not going to win. You know, you don't we don't want a government entity to come in here and say this is how it's going to be and push something through before we really have to. I honestly think more collaboration needs to be done with the railroads and the community. Okay, if those trees tree line was knocked down, why can't we plant new trees? Why can't we go out there? Why can't we get community? I'll go and help you plant the trees. Why can't we all work together to get this thing done and fixed right before Excuse me. We've done that.

Okay. Well, the trees. I understand that. But we have to do something to try to work together. Otherwise, we're not going to have the ability to work together any again. And I don't know what all the answers are either. I And I'm not sure what that is. I mean, that the whole thing started with me was because there wasn't any collaboration between the attorneys and, you know, the city or however that went down. I don't know. Okay.

But that that's the issue there. That's why I asked that question in the beginning. Okay. So, until that decision would would be rendered, then it's hard for me to move forward with this and have the ability to, you know, make this thing right. I, you know, it's it's it's very difficult position because we shouldn't put ourselves in a position of failure. We should try to work together. Commissioner uh Woo. Yeah. Um, Commissioner Maz. So, I I mean I I'm I'm very appreciative of everyone who came to you. Yeah. No doubt about that. Yes. Very much so. Um, and for the council woman to uh site, you know, specific absolutely

portions of the greater Hazlewood neighborhood plan. Um, I think that's very important. um as uh you know um the purpose of those plans is is basically to to guide the the neighborhood for the next 10 20 years whatever. Um yeah, I mean all the photos that you know that you put in that showed the the proximity of homes to the recycling facility or um you know just the the fences, the lights, etc. Um the respiratory issues, I heard a lot about that. Um, yeah. I mean, I I I think the the Riv imu is kind of I I would I would hope it's, you know, kind of like more of a uh I don't want to say compromise. I use that word a lot, but it is kind of a compromise because, you know, the the Rivu is not going to force force out any property owners um or any any zoning designation is not going to force any property owners that are already there. And you know, in terms of plan commission's role, our role is not to eliminate uses. We're, you know, um, councilwoman, the members of the public, they don't speak on behalf of the plan commission or or department of city planning in terms of what what uh, you know, what is an appropriate use for for an area um, part of a community. So, um, you know, any talk about, um, you know, folks trying to push push someone out or push, you know, uh, or force someone out of an area. That's that's that's not plan commission's role. And I don't I don't think any of us here um I I don't want to speak for everyone, but I I don't think any of us here are are trying to uh to do that. So, um, yeah, I I mean I I think having the new zoning designation, what it does is it prevents

um as as as someone from the audience said earlier, it prevents um an expansion or um you know more of the same type of use. It's it's not to get rid of the use. Um and you know freight freight terminal um that that's a that's a use that's conducive to a railard and currently that's permitted in the GI district in the Rivu. It would be a special exception and a special a special exception does not you know it's not defined as an exception to the rule. special exception is is a permitted use, but because of its potential impact, it requires a hearing with the um zoning board of adjustments. So, you know, it it's still permitted use. It it just has um you know, a hearing associated with it. So, um you know, I um and and as someone else said earlier, the railroad can assert preeemption uh with zoning, and I think that has been done many times. Um, I mean related to the the the use of a freight terminal, there's many municipalities in Pennsylvania that have it listed as a special exception, too. So, it's it's not a permitted use everywhere. Um, and I don't I don't think anyone would expect a freight terminal to be a permitted use in an R1 district, you know, for single family homes. Um, so you know, I I I I think I think there is a balance between what zoning allows and what uh you know, what what uh what is allowed by uh any federal law. So um I I would like to see more uh from the law department uh discussing that. I I think I echo everyone else um you know on on that aspect. Um and you know as as far as impacts um is it is there a bigger impact big bigger positive impact of putting uh

Rivu zoning across this area or revising the use table at some point to potentially permit um you know recycling facility as a special exception or whatever. I would argue that, you know, having the RIV IMU has a bigger positive impact. You know, changes to the changes to the um zoning code can always be made. Um your your briefing earlier, uh councilwoman about um separating the the definition of waste transfer facility and recycling. I I didn't really understand why that was coming up earlier, but um you know, if if you do separate that definition, you're able to say, "Yeah, we don't want uh we don't want um trash, but a recycling facility might be an option." So, you know, I I think that legislation that you have might could still be in the works. Um you I mean you could be you could be collaborating with uh Republic Services or or anyone else to say you know if we if we um if we separate this definition can we you know can we compromise with you maybe recycling center or recycling facility is listed as a as a use in the Riv IMU. So, I mean, I think there's many conversations left to be had, but um I I I mean, I I think all the testimony here um about uh you know, folks daily lives, generations of living in the area, you know, dealing with asthma. Um

it's real. Yeah, it's real. Also, the Greater Hazelwood neighborhood plan that cannot be ignored and I think you're correct about that. Thank you. And I don't know that we're saying no to that, but yes to additional conversation. Vice Chair O'Neal. I believe uh Commissioner Blackwell had her hand for you. She's welcome. Oh, I'm sorry. I don't even see it.

Thank you. Uh, I just wanted to also thank the council woman for listening to the community and taking preventing future harm um to the community residents. Seriously, I too would have liked to have seen from the facility, more information and more response to the concerns that the community had which were the same last hearing for this hearing. Um, [clears throat] and I understand the concerns of the railroad, but I too believe that with more time that there could be a compromise because this is an opportunity, you know, to set a precedent. Um, and those are my reflections and I yield to Commissioner O'Neal. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Blackwell. Thank you. Uh because I know we're talking about potentially postponing. I don't might we be able to turn up on uh the the volume. I'm sorry, Vice Chair O'Neal, but the volume's kind of low. Good job. Sorry. much.

Uh, since I know we're talking about continuing, I don't want to launch into all of the legal analysis and um, you know, spend too much time with this, uh, it it did seem like the testimony uh, from the public, which I I do appreciate and I appreciate everybody's um, you know, information about their lived experiences and what's going on there. Um, I want to make sure that what we're doing moving forward is addressing that concern.

Um, and because we're not an enforcement board, because this is, you know, a zoning change to regulate, you know, future development and future reuse, um, it doesn't really touch on a lot of the issues that were, um, you know, spoken about. uh it may be as effectively as some sort of settlement or community benefits agreement. And I know I'm facing the camera and seeing um you know, Chair Burton Faulk, not the council woman, but you know, I think this is an opportunity um to use this legislation as leverage to negotiate something like that and, you know, put guard rails on or talk about guard rails with um you know, the businesses that are here. um you know because they seem to be willing to discuss you know how their operations are working and you know maybe there is some room for a limit on noise a limit on hours um because I honestly would be ready to vote for this. I'm I have no issue with that. But I think that um you know we may be able to get some legislation through and also you know some concessions from some of these industrial businesses that have been there and are not going away. Um un that's not within this board's power. Um but it does, you know, allow for the evolution of this area as a more residential friendly

um you know, district. Um so I guess I'd just like to see and I I'm sorry I think we're talking a lot, but Councilwoman Warwick, I would be putting this to you. Do you want us to go to a vote today? um or do you want some time to try and negotiate some sort of agreement like that?

I would prefer a vote today because the reality is and I am absolutely open to sitting down and talking about better fencing and better, you know, and reductions in the light and all of these things. I'm more than happy to do that. However, we all know in this room, everyone in this room knows that there the future intentions of at least some of the property owners in this zone are to introduce, we know, are to introduce more harmful facilities to the community. And that is not going to change that. And so, you know, that is that is ultimately what the core issue is. And I I really would like to say that um I'm I'm not a fan of the notion that this community who've all come out today and who've been experiencing all of this in order to um that that the the power of this city to protect its residents should should hinge upon, you know, our fear that the um industrial neighbors in this community might not make the changes that they know they should make changes that they should have made years and years ago and that we're sort of you know and I I I am I don't feel that I am threat I mean we and we know right we've heard from commissioner Woo there there is no threat to any existing facilities right that are that are currently operating as as very bad neighbors at this point right and so yeah I would like the commission to move forward because I think that again the

reasonzone and I cannot stress this enough. This reason is to protect this community for the future. Right? As far as what to do as far as sitting down, I'm glad I I I I hope that CSX is at the table for the long run and that, you know, this isn't just like, well, we'll make improvements, but only if you don't do this thing that we don't want you to do. You know what I mean? Only if you don't but but you understand. So I am open to the negotiations.

I want to sit down. I want to find out how we can how our our industrial um businesses can be better neighbors to the community. Um I think that's overdue. But um but I don't think that that that conversation justifies not doing the thing that we know would improve the situation for the long term. us us as as the commission and then after that as city council. [gasps] So go ahead commissioner. Well um I that's a little bit disappointing but that is completely your decision. Yeah. Um go ahead. Uh

sure. Yeah. So, I would I encourage um you know, continued discussions, but I will say with the information that's presented, I'm in favor of moving this forward and keeping it moving. um to some of the comments regarding the law. It is a fun uh law school exercise looking at this. But just to be clear, you know, Councilwoman Warwick presented uh you know, substantial information in the community, presented substantial information that there's a rational basis uh for this reasonzoning that would improve the health, safety, and welfare of the community in the future. Um that is all that is needed within uh planning commission and ultimately city council um you know to move forward with legislation um is that there is some sort of rational basis uh tied to promote health safety or welfare. Um as Commissioner Woo said you know statements of the public are not statements of the commission. Um that said, uh you know, the uh emotional or purpose behind an ordinance isn't necessarily something that the courts take into account. Uh you know, where there is that rational basis and I think there's more than sufficient evidence for it. Um you know, this is an area that is adjacent to uh single family districts, to parks. Uh so this less intense use um makes sense moving forward. Um it is rational and uh you know otherwise lawful. Um just a few comments regarding you know some of these industrial uses. This isn't targeting a single use. There are over 40 parcels under a variety of owner

entities. Um it's not targeting a single use ex and as has been said multiple times any lawful use is permitted to continue as a legal non-conforming use. Uh the city uh zoning code already permits expansion of certain law lawful non-conforming uses by right

um more than that um through zoning boards. Um there are certain utility and uh railroad uses that are exempt from the zoning code. Just to be clear, uh you know there is limited power to zone some of those things. Um when they are exempt or preempted um you know is something that is mostly for the service transportation board or the public utility commission to decide and then you know it's something for the zoning administrator to evaluate. Um so merely having with this law on the books um is not unlawful. There is not an express preeemption within the public utility code. Um you know railroads are not monoliths. They are not a single use. They have tracks. They have freight stations. They have lots of different things and only some of those are um you know preempted. So, us putting this out there, um, you know, doesn't run a foul of federal or state law. Um, it really is a case- specific analysis and something that can be directed to the zoning administrator if there is a future application. Um, so just so we're kind of clearing some of the air on that. Um, but I don't think this substantially or detrimentally hurts the existing businesses. Um, Councilwoman Warwick, happy to talk about other future uses. Um, you know, we do have some sort of uh operational standards in the city that should apply to these uses um that you know, existing buildings throughout the city um should be complying with. If there are higher standards that can be addressed, you know, that's also something we could discuss as future legislation. Um but based on all of that and thank you for coming to my TED talk. Um I would be in favor of this.

Okay. So um where are we? So is that a motion that Commissioner O'Neal? Uh if there's no additional comment, I would motion to um recommend approval as and I have a second provided in our report. Commissioner Dick, did you want to vote or did you have something you wanted to say?

Oh, I'm sorry. You're you're on mute if you're talking. Now, would you accept a condition to that motion that that we highly recommend uh negotiations between the uh citizens and citizens organizations and the existing uh businesses which are problematic in the community now to improve conditions in the future that we you know we would vote for. I absolutely encourage that and be happy to amend my motion. Okay. then I I would put that amendment on it. Okay.

Okay. Um is there is there any further discussion or is there any other motion that would like to be put forth? I I would like to make a motion to to hold this for more conversation to get the community benefits agreement or whatever you want to work on together before we put this thing forward because if something does happen, we can't unring the bell here. So that's my motion is to hold it for community. That's I think I think we would have to vote on the motion that's on the floor first up or down. I understand that. But if I were to make a motion, that's what I would say. It's all

Oops. That was the motion was made. I understand the motion's on the floor, right? I got that. That was my fault. Yeah, that's that was my fault. That's no problem. Sorry. That's my fault. Excuse me. Um Okay. So, a motion was made, a second. Now, we'll call for vote. Sure. Okay. Um, and this is a Commissioner O'Neal's motion with Commissioner Black with um this was the amended uh a second the amended. Yes. Correct. And I'm not going to read through what that was with the conditions. Yes. Okay. Um motion second. Commissioner Blackwell

I. Thank you. Commissioner Burton Faulk. No. Commissioner Dick. I Commissioner Maza. No. Commissioner O'Neal. I. Thank you, Commissioner Kentton. I think we might have lost him. Did we lose him? And Commission. I think so. I'm not seeing his square. Uh, and Commissioner Woo. I All right. I think Yes, I think the eyes have it. Okay, there you go. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Oh, whoops. I still have to wrap this up. My apologies. Okay. Uh, everyone, that ends the hearing and action portion. We'll move to agenda item E, which is the director's report. There is none. Thank you. All right. A motion to adjurnn. There's no direct I'm sorry you can't hear. There is no director's report. I make [laughter] a motion we adjourn. Motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor? I. Good evening everyone. Have a good night, commissioners. Thank you. [clears throat] Byebye. Thank you.