Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

If the court reporter is here, could we have a quick sound check? My apologies. I'm all not doing my job. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you. Good afternoon. I like that. Hello. I felt like I had to make up for the time it took my fat finger to get unmuted. Hey,

you're not alone, sister. I do it all the time. Hey, how are you? Good, babe. How are you? I'm sorry. I am all up and trying to wrap up whatever I was doing. Good. Ola, you're right next to me. All right. you're right now a shot at that should be just completely.

All right, we've got about four minutes to start or at least what feels like. Sir, I looked at my shirt. My shirt's supposed to be white. Of course, I was out, you know, insulting, but I had this black sweater on and now I feel like my shirt is like massively I would notice. Oh my gosh. Yeah, but it's terrible. I'm noticing it. I I want to just either put clothes on or take this off. Neither in public is worth it. Oh my gosh.

Like I always have my phone on silent but um I was doing a hearing this morning. They had to call me. Yeah. So then I put it on and then I forgot to put it off. Scared me because I don't even I never use like my ringer. I try not to have it on. Right. Yeah.

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much, Commissioner Kentia as well. All right. All right. Now I'm paying attention. It only took a minute and a couple sips coffee. Oh, thanks. I like yours, too. Very seasonal. I have a green one like that, but slightly uh uh less vibrant.

Yeah, I love that green. Thank you. And it looks great with your complexion. It's pretty. either of you driving. Right, we are about a minute out less than a minute. All right,

commissioners, I can see you. Thank you. And then I've got some commissioners here at my side. Thank you. Court reporter is in and we will begin promptly at 2:00 p.m. Welcome. All right. Well, good afternoon and welcome, beautiful people of our city. I'm going to uh I've acknowledged the court reporter, our commissioners online. I'm going to do roll call just to make sure we've got all the folks that we need. Uh Commissioner Blackwell. Commissioner Burton Faulk, present. Commissioner Dick,

present. Thank you so much. Commissioner O'Neal, present. Thank you. Commissioner Kenttonia, present. Thank you so much, Commissioner Ruiz and Commissioner Woo present.

Thank you so much. All right. Well, uh, today we are starting at 2 p.m. We are starting at the hearing and action portion of the agenda. I am going to read through today's agenda. Today's agenda for December 16, 2025 is as follows. Agenda item A is approval of minutes. Agenda item B is correspondence. Agenda item C is plan of lots. We have one item under plan of lots. Agenda item D is hearing and action. We have two items under hearing and action. Number one is council bill 2025-925. Agenda item two council bill 2025-1926. And then agenda item E is the director's report. Moving up to agenda item A, which is approval of minutes. Uh, commissioners, we have before us two sets of minutes. We'll take them separately. The first set of minutes is from October 21st, 2025. Uh, given you have read and there are no edits, do I have a motion from the floor to approve?

So move. All right. There's a move. Do I have a second? Thank you, Commissioner Dick. I will do roll call. Commissioner uh Blackwell. Commissioner Burton Faulk. I Commissioner Dick I. Thank you. Commissioner O'Neal. I. Thank you. Commissioner Kinttonia. I. Thank you. And Commissioner Woo. I. Thank you. All right. Moving on to the second set of minutes. Commissioners is November 4, 2025. Given there are no edits, do I have a motion from the floor? So moved. Thank you, Commissioner Dick. Do I have a second? Second.

Thank you, Vice Chair O'Neal. I'm going to do roll call. Commissioner Burton Faulk. I uh Commissioner Dick, I. Thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. I Thank you, Commissioner Kinttonia. I I thank you. I see Commissioner Ruiz raising her hand. Thank you so much. And Commissioner Woo.

Hi. Thank you. Okay, both uh minutes pass. Moving on to correspondence. Correspondence for planning commission for December 16, 2025 is as follows. This is citywide in general. This is Kate Goats. Uh we are in receipt of correspondence from Kate Goats at the Strip District Railroad Tracks. That was a little tongue twister there. Uh that concludes the correspondence for December 16, 2025. Moving on to plan of lots, we have one item under plan of lots and it is as follows. DCP- lot 20225-0000293 at 4600 Blair Street. This is a major subdivision in the Hazlewood neighborhood. Presenting this afternoon is Mr. Shepki.

Thank you. Um, this is DCP lot 2025293, uh, the 4600 Blair Street subdivision. This is the proposed subdivision of one parcel into five parcels. The proposed D parcel D17 would have frontage on Blair Street and would be 29,470 ft in area. The proposed parcel D35 would have frontage on Blair Street and would be 137,39 ft in area. The proposed parcel D2 would have frontage on Blair Street and would be 308,252 ft in area. The proposed parcel D55 would have frontage on Hazlewood Avenue and would be 20,651 ft in area. The proposed parcel D1 would have frontage on Hazlewood Avenue and would be 14,587 square ft in area. The subject property is currently vacant and this is a major subdivision that was first reviewed by the planning commission on December 2nd, 2025. The recommended motion from staff is to approve the 4600 Blair Street subdivision.

Thank you so much, Mr. Shepki. First, I'll open the floor. Is there anyone uh either in the room or online that is here regarding this uh lot plan of lot? Seeing none. Thank you so much. Commissioners, do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Thank you so much. We'll take a move from Commissioner Woo, a second from Commissioner Dick. I'll do roll call. Commissioner Blackwell. I. Thank you. Commissioner Burton Faulk. I Commissioner Dick. I thank you Commissioner O'Neal. Abstain. Thank you Commissioner Kenttonia.

I thank you Commissioner Ruiz. I uh Commissioner Woo I. Thank you. And Commissioner Ruiz.

I think you're saying I as well. All right. Thank you so much. Uh motion passes. Have a great day, Mr. Shepki. Uh moving on to agenda item D which is hearing and action. Uh the following are uh under hearing and action item number one. This is council bill 2025-1925. This is continued from September 23rd 2025 and then again on December 2nd 2025. This is zoning text amendment regarding application approval deadlines and this would be citywide. I'll go ahead and um read the second one in as well while

would you like to take them as a as a pair if Yeah, I think that makes sense. It probably is is best. Um item number two under hearing and action is council bill 2025-926. This is as well continued from September 23rd, 2025 and again on December 2nd, 2025. This is zoning text amendment regarding application completeness determination deadlines and this is also citywide. We're going to turn it over to Mr. Layman.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, commissioners. Uh this is uh I'll discuss both bills then at the same time. Council Bill 1925 and Council Bill 1926 of 2025. U the first bill has to do with application timing. The second bill has to do with a deemed determination, deemed approval or um deemed completion of applications. Um these as you mentioned these bills had initially been brought to the planning commission on September 23rd. uh and at which time the commission held a hearing uh had a robust presentation from staff and a robust presentation from uh the individual Mr. Carter representing the council office. Um and at that time the commission made a motion to request that we work together and see if there might be some opportunity to collaborate um and find a way to u come you know come together on these uh I can say certainly we did end up having a meeting with Mr. Carter. Um, and I would say the the general um tenor of that meeting was uh collaborative and um you know positive. Uh you know, but it also was clear to me that Mr. Carter wasn't able to make any decisions or determinations about um potential changes. And he said that he would take uh what we discussed back to the council office. Um, and at that time, uh, we've had some recurring check-ins to to see if there had been any further updates leading up to the date that had been postponed to December 1st, two weeks ago. Uh, at which time we

heard from the council office that they'd like to request a continuence for two additional weeks for a family situation or actually undisclosed situation for Mr. Carter and uh we said that we would be willing to do that. Um and but unfortunately we haven't heard from the council office or Mr. harder since um my uh you know the the staff report that we provided um you know raised uh significant concerns about the the you know the two bills issues that um sometimes very kind of small and fixable. sometimes are were fundamental um issues that you know could cost the city uh significant uh challenges cause the city significant challenges in terms of timing and applicants uh in terms of um you know the the cost of doing business um you know and and the way that our application systems currently run. Um, and due to those significant concerns, the staff recommendation for both bills was for city council, I'm sorry, for the planning commission to make a negative recommendation to city council. However, you know, the real crux of the presentation that I made and um you know, the I think part of the reason that the commission asked us to to meet and discuss further is that you know the um there is always an opportunity. We have incredibly talented staff um who have a great deal of knowledge. uh and we are entirely open to work with our friends at city council and with administrations and with others who have ideas for innovation and uh I have identified a potential problem and

want to solve it. We are all problem solvers by nature. Um, and so my strongest recommendation is for city council to uh continue to collaborate with the to and and truly collaborate with the incoming administration, with city planning staff, with other development related uh department staff to um try to problem solve the you know try to would say try to really drill into what the perceived problems are and what might under might might be underlying them and then um work together to try to solve those problems. Um having uh you know I think a similar uh successful collaboration with uh the folks regarding the uh Northshore signage. uh at a previous meeting uh you know I can say that there is a real opportunity for people to shift and um and staff included uh when the nature of a conversation and a process is truly collaborative. Uh so I just would urge that um to city council and just for future uh folks that might be uh in in this position. Um, as I know there will be uh many more iterations of interest in trying to make doing business with the city as easy as possible.

Well, thank you uh Mr. Layman for the you know followup and sort of the the timeline and things that have occurred throughout this process. I'm assuming that Mr. Carter is not here today or anyone from the council council office. Is that would that be accurate in saying? Yeah, unless we have somebody who's we haven't heard anything and it doesn't look like we have someone online. So,

okay, very good. Um, okay. Well, um, in that case, we would still open the floor for anyone that would like to to give any testimony around it, um, online or here in the room. And, uh, would there be anyone that would be, uh, would like to speak? I'm seeing heads no. Uh, all right. So, commissioners, at this point, uh, we know that we are, um, tasked with a negative recommendation to council. Do we have any comments or questions from the commission? If none, then do we have a motion?

Um, I would I would just like to um concur with uh um Mr. Layman's uh report here. Um I I mean I think the intentions um of of you know trying to um place some uh you know predictability to the development process is is noble. Um I however the you know just the logistics and and um all the all the reviews and and just the way the city code is um um is laid out. It you know having the those timelines just does not work with some of the um you know obligations that uh um that folks would have with with the individual neighborhoods like with the RCO program. um you know with uh with um design review with um you know dam meetings things like that. So um and I I think there's a good point uh Mr. Layman that you that you made that the bill doesn't differentiate between different types of applications. So anything from a fencer shed to a large institutional master plan. um you know this this bill would um would put all those things on the same timelines and you know that I I I think the whole one-sizefits-all um approach doesn't really work in a city of this size and uh with development of this type of complexity. So um you know I I think a lot of the um figures that you had provided in the past in terms of um you know internal uh you know um milestones uh for for getting um uh responding to um applications uh through the one-stop portal and and otherwise um

you know I I think th those were really helpful as well. Um and yeah, I think uh you know applicants do want do want the chance to work with the city so that they have a better um chance of having their developments um you know received well by the community, received uh well by um by the planning commission um and and city council. So um you know we we we need to be flexible in terms of allowing that type of process to happen um you know so that uh applicants get what what they want uh which is you know not not a rushed denial um and you know that the community and uh the city is able to um you know really uh um work with the applicants on on uh their their development applications. So, um, yeah, that's, uh, all I have to say.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner Blue. Commissioner O'Neal,

uh, just briefly because my comments from the earlier meeting are included in the record. Um, I think it was very helpful and I'd like to thank, uh, Sony Administrator Layman for showing us the progress that's been made in making some of these processes more efficient. Um, and agree that there's always room for more collaboration in the future. Uh, but I don't think this one, these two bills are the way to move forward. Uh, it's a little bit slap dash and not really appropriate for these MPC provisions to be inserted into the Pittsburgh code. It creates a lot of legal issues and interpretation issues that would likely have the opposite effect of the stated purpose of the bill. Um, create some confusion um, and you know, ultimately extend timelines if anything. So, um, I look forward to, you know, new proposals from council and staff in the new year, trying to make things more efficient, but at this time, I think it's appropriate to recommend, uh, denial or a negative recommendation.

Thank you, Vice Chair O'Neal. Uh, commissioners, uh, is there anything else anybody wishes to say, or should I take it, Vice Chair O'Neal, that you were, uh, making a motion? It is a motion if there's no more comments. Okay, no more comments. So then we have a motion from the floor from Vice Chair O'Neal. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you so much, Commissioner Blackwell. I'm going to do roll call. Commissioner Blackwell, I. Thank you so much, Commissioner Burton Faulk. I, Commissioner Dick, I. Thank you, Commissioner O'Neal. I Thank you, Commissioner Cinttonia. I thank you, Commissioner Ruiz. I

thank you, Commissioner Woo. I thank you. Okay. Um, so negative recommendation. Thank you so much. Uh, and we'll move on to the uh final uh agenda item, which is agenda item D, which is the director's report. And we'll turn that over to Mr. Layman.

All right. Um, so I do have a director's report today. Um, and I think, uh, maybe Deputy Director Dash might also have some words, but, um, yeah. So, uh, typically we like to go out the end of the year on some better news. Uh, unfortunately, I have, uh, what is, at least for me, um, you know, news of, uh, of a of a change. Uh so I will be moving on uh at least not within the role of zoning administrator for the city starting in the new year. Um there will be uh potentially some role for me at the city or potentially not. I I don't at this point have a lot of clarity. Uh but um you know I really want to focus on um my gratitude uh for the opportunity that I've had for nearly 12 years to serve in this role. um to work with uh many commissioners um you know those here and those from uh previous administrations and times um and it's uh really been an honor u you know I I think um it's hard to even wrap my head around the number of projects and the number of um you know pieces of legislation that we've touched and um the design review the you know the things that were at the time uh really challenging um you know challenging processes that we were able to come through and come through for the better for the city of Pittsburgh. Uh so it's been a real pleasure to serve um and uh we'll leave you with my gratitude. Thank you.

Well, I don't think that uh you you should go out without commissioners maybe uh having something to say. Commissioners, uh, would you like to, uh, say something at this time, Commissioner O'Neal? Sure. Uh, so I had the pleasure to work with zoning administrator Layman in the department and then representing the department in the law department. It's a lot of departments. Um, and then also working on this commission. And I can truly say that the city will be at a loss without your knowledge and your expertise um, in the role of zoning administrator. I think you should be really proud of all of the work that the department's accomplished under your leadership. Um, and I personally will miss you very much.

Thank you. Additional comments. It looks like Commissioner Dick. Yeah, I have worked had the pleasure of and the joy of working with commission with you sir for the last 10 years on the on this commission and I I admired your skill and your knowledge and your dedication to your job and I we will I and the other members I'm sure will sorely miss you and I wish you every success in whatever your new the new phase of your career is and it will be our loss and someone else's benefit. So, thank you so much. It looked like um Commissioner Woo, I don't want to miss anyone.

Um yeah, Corey, it's been uh great uh working with you over the past uh I guess almost uh six years now. Uh first as a staffer at the um um at in DCP and and now as a commissioner. Um I really admire um you know your approach to the job. I feel like you are you're very impartial. Um you're you're uh really good at um you know kind of uh just being objective uh and and looking at uh things from all different perspectives, all all different points of view. Um and uh you know really um and and being so knowledgeable about the code. Um and yeah, I mean the city's definitely going to miss your institutional knowledge. Um 12 years is a long time. There have been many changes to the code over that time. You know, the Riv uh districts um you know, some of the the new um uh you know, planned uh planned developments. Um and um yeah uh it's uh you know that institutional knowledge uh it's is not uh easy to just pick up uh for for someone new a after um you know an amount of experience that that you've um you know uh blessed us with uh over that time. So um I I hope you do get to stay in city government if that's your choice. Um, you know, I I think uh I think your knowledge and your expertise is is going to be very useful any anywhere you go. Uh, and assuming uh assuming you're still uh in in the area hopefully in Pittsburgh. Um, so yeah, uh, thank you for um, you know, for all your time here and um, again, it's been

been great working with you all these years. So, uh, thanks again. All right, it looks like Commissioner Ruiz would like to say something as well.

Thank you. Um, Corey, it really just echoing what has been said already. Um, your level of professionalism, the way that you thoroughly think things through, you're a great advocate. You are, I mean, the work that you do is really admirable. And I just want to thank you from somebody who, you know, didn't have a strong background in this coming into this, just all the help and clarity that you've been able to give me and I'm sure other um commissioners here, you know, I am absolutely positive that um what you do next will be equally, if not more uh wonderful than what you've been able to do here. So, thank you very much. Any additional comments? I'll say in um sort of closing out here, Mr. Layman, uh that we thank you for serving our city. No matter what position you hold, you're Pittsburgh proud. You're Pittsburgh strong. You get to take with you many accomplishments. Keep continuing to give excellence as it is reciprocal. Keep shining, Mr. Layman. All right. Okay. Uh, uh, was I correct in hearing, Mr. Dash, that you might have wanted to say a few words or is that No. Okay, sounds fair and reasonable. Thank you so much. Um, given this, uh, we still want everyone to have some happy holidays. We're going to close out, uh, 2025. Thank you so much for all the hard work that we all do in this room and those in the offices and the floors above. Uh do we have a motion to adjurnn?

So moved. Thank you. Do we have a second? Second. All in favor? I. There is 2025. All right. Have a great day and a good evening everyone. Happy.