Zoning amendments in Pittsburgh curb number of parking spots for restaurants
Zoning amendments approved by Pittsburgh City Council this week will, among other things, limit the number of parking spots required at restaurants.
The measure will require that restaurants — including fast food locations — must provide a transportation impact study to the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment will then ensure there won’t be negative impacts on surrounding properties based on transportation-related impacts and other factors.
The measure also cuts the number of parking spots a restaurant or fast food restaurant is required to provide for its customers.
Fast food restaurants, which were previously required to have one off-street parking space for every 500 square feet of space, will now have to provide one parking spot per 175 square feet. Other restaurants can go from one parking spot per 125 square feet to one space per 500 square feet.
The measure is meant to “realign the parking requirements for restaurants to their actual needs,” zoning administrator Corey Layman said, explaining that Pittsburgh’s existing requirements forced restaurants to provide “significantly more parking” than other similar cities.
Sam Spearing of the Bloomfield Development Corp. said he supported the measure, which could help limit vehicle use.
“Requiring unnecessary parking only serves to prioritize cars and incentivize driving over other transportation options,” Spearing said.
The measure passed along with another zoning amendment that tweaked zoning requirements for things like parking pads, garages, fences, decks and porches on residential property. The changes, Layman said, aim to “make it more efficient for the zoning board.”
The changes, which are “similar to what we have today,” will explicitly permit things that were already largely approved by the zoning board, but required their approval. The legislation, for example, explicitly permits small solar and wind energy systems on rooftops — something that was often approved but not specifically allowed in the zoning code, Layman said.
The measure was unanimously approved by City Council Monday, with no discussion.
Julia Felton is a TribLive reporter covering Pittsburgh City Hall and other news in and around Pittsburgh. A La Roche University graduate, she joined the Trib in 2020. She can be reached at jfelton@triblive.com.
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