City Council seeks to cut red tape for affordable housing in Pittsburgh

A nonprofit trying to build affordable townhomes last year in Pittsburgh’s Fineview neighborhood couldn’t get the project off the ground because of zoning hurdles.

On Tuesday, the councilman who represents that area proposed legislation to eliminate the barriers that hindered that development.

“We cannot let the zoning block us in this manner,” Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, said.

The city, he said, needs to cut the red tape that makes it harder to create affordable housing.

Seven of his council colleagues signed onto the bill.

The legislation would change a provision in the city’s zoning code that doesn’t permit attached residences to be built in areas zoned for only detached housing.

Attached housing includes townhomes and rowhouses, as opposed to detached stand-alone houses.

Ed Nusser, executive director of City of Bridges Community Land Trust — the nonprofit that tried to build the affordable townhomes — said Wilson’s proposal would provide “new flexibility” for townhomes, rowhouses and other attached housing in neighborhoods where they currently aren’t allowed.

Nusser acknowledged that zoning bills might not seem exciting but said they can have major impacts on neighborhoods and housing availability.

“Thriving people build thriving communities — but for people to thrive, they need housing, and they need housing choice,” he said. “Zoning in our city and across the country can either help or hinder housing choice.”

Wilson’s measure, he said, could help eliminate obstacles that make it harder to create housing, including affordable options for low-income residents.

“These issues take on a more urgent tone when we view them in the lens of our affordable housing crisis,” Nusser said, citing statistics showing that the median home price in Pittsburgh has increased 25% since 2019.

The measure would permit townhomes and other attached housing in lots that are 35 feet wide or smaller in neighborhoods zoned for detached housing. For lots larger than 35 feet wide, developers would be able to seek an exemption.

For the Fineview site — which is set to include three pairs of townhouses — that means the developer would not need any variance or exemption. Switching the project to detached housing would’ve been more expensive and added about $20,000 to the cost of each of the six townhomes, Wilson said.

Currently, townhomes aren’t permitted in the area at all, and without Wilson’s measure, trying to get permission to build them there would confront the same legal hurdles as proposing an industrial use for the site, Nusser said.

Even for attached housing that would need an exemption, Nusser said, the process would be easier than seeking a variance for a nonpermitted use.

“This lowers that threshold,” he said.

Officials said the process also should be quicker.

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill, described the measure as “a small step toward a bigger vision.” Additional zoning changes are in the works, she said, that could further alleviate barriers for affordable housing of all types.

The measure will move to the Planning Commission for its recommendation before a final vote from City Council.