Oakland Planning and Development Corp. board members resign in clash with director

Several board members of an influential community development group in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood resigned Thursday, citing differences with the group’s executive director, according to a letter obtained by the Tribune-Review.

In the letter to Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, Jake Oresick, the now-former board president of the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, announced his resignation and claimed six other board members joined him in resigning.

Oakland Planning and Development is a registered community organization that has been steering the creation of the 10-year Oakland Plan, which will serve as a guide to future development through zoning changes with the goals of increasing density, improving pedestrian and cycling safety, and other changes.

Oresick claimed that Wanda Wilson, the organization’s executive director, showed contempt for those who disagreed with her and wrote she “seems to have lost any capacity of compromise.”

He wrote that he has concerns with the organization’s ability to represent Oakland under Wilson’s leadership.

“For the past several months, OPDC’s executive director, Wanda Wilson, has engaged in name-calling, ignored, board directives, and antagonized critical stakeholders,” Oresick wrote.

Wilson said that Oresick’s letter contained false information. She said four board members resigned, including two whose terms were ending and two who had not been participating. OPDC usually has 13 board members. Six members were listed on the organization’s website on Thursday.

Board Secretary Eric Macadangdang also refuted claims that members resigned due to differences with Wilson, and said that four board members resigned at today’s board meeting in protest to a “fresh approach to prioritizing equity and diversity in our programming and centering the needs of Oakland’s most vulnerable residents.”

“This was not an outcome any of us desired, but we are invigorated with OPDC’s renewed commitment to building an Oakland that helps all its neighbors thrive,” Macadangdang wrote.

The resignations came two days after a community development plan and some zoning changes in Oakland were cleared by the Pittsburgh Planning Commission. The Oakland Plan and zoning changes that would allow developers to construct buildings up to 200 feet high and 400 feet long in certain sections of the neighborhood were approved Tuesday by the Planning Commission. The plan now moves to Pittsburgh City Council for further approval.

Oakland Planning and Development was supportive of the Oakland Plan submitted to the commission, but concerned about the zoning changes concerning heights and lengths of potential buildings. The Planning Commission ultimately sided with OPDC and voted to recommend that City Planning provide more information to show council there is no detrimental effect to having 200-foot building heights at Coltart Street and formally noted that it thought buildings spanning 400 feet long are too large.

Abass Kamara was among the OPDC board members to resign. He had served on the board for more than six years, and said he supports Oresick’s letter.

He said his resignation was motivated by concerns over recent decisions that were made by OPDC without informing all board members, though he wouldn’t go into specifics.

“When a decision was made on behalf of the organization, I should have some knowledge of that,” Kamara said.

He added that he disapproved of the tone and tenor of media statements made recently by OPDC staff, and said he worried that without better diplomacy, OPDC would be cast out of the decision-making process over development in the neighborhood.

Over the past several months, OPDC and local developer Walnut Capital engaged in a well-documented battle.

Walnut Capital has proposed a large redevelopment project near UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital called Oakland Crossings. The 13-acre project would include a neighborhood grocery store, housing, large open spaces and an elevated pedestrian bridge stretching over the Boulevard of the Allies. OPDC has been a strong critic of Oakland Crossings since it was first proposed under former Mayor Bill Peduto last year.

Oakland Crossings initially included plans for denser housing development on streets straddling Coltart Street, but those were removed following criticism from residents and OPDC.

Walnut Capital spokeswoman Joanna Doven said Wilson has been difficult to work with and it has been impossible to find common ground with her. She called Oresick a whistleblower and hopes it will lead to a deeper look into OPDC’s role in guiding Oakland development.

Doven said developers like Walnut Capital are trying to add density to Oakland in the hopes that more people who work in the neighborhood can also live there, instead of commuting to and from the suburbs.

“All along she has blocked (Walnut Capital’s) effort to communicate the merits of what will be one of the best developments in the city,” she said. “It has been difficult to watch one person’s efforts to destroy growth in Oakland.”

Wilson disputed that she is anti-growth. She said she is focused on supporting the nonprofit organization that is working on behalf of Oakland residents.

“It’s false to say that we are blocking development. These things aren’t true,” Wilson said.