Title
Ordinance amending the Pittsburgh Code, Title Nine, Zoning, Article I, Section 902.03 Zoning Map, and Article III, Overlay Zoning Districts, Chapter 907, Development Overlay Districts, Section 907.02, IPOD, Interim Planning Overlay District, by adding a new section 907.02.J to establish a new Interim Planning Overlay District for the Riverfront Zone.
Body
The Council of the City of Pittsburgh herby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Amending the Pittsburgh Code, Title Nine, Zoning, Article I, Section 902.03 Zoning Map, by creating an Interim Planning Overlay District overlaying certain parcels as identified in the Allegheny County Lot and Block System, as provided in the map attached herein.
Section 2.
Amend Article III, Chapter 907.02.J - IPOD-5, Riverfront Zone, to read as follows:
907.02.J IPOD-5, Riverfront Zone
907.02.J.1 General Boundaries
The Riverfront Zone Interim Planning Overlay District is generally defined by properties located in the Marshall-Shadeland, Chateau, North Shore, Troy Hill, Esplen, Elliott, South Shore, South Side Flats, Hays, Glen Hazel, Hazelwood, South Oakland, Bluff, Central Business District, Strip District, Lawrenceville (Lower, Central, and Upper), Morningside, Highland Park, and Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhoods that in the low-lying areas and bounded by the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers; and by topographic features, infrastructure, and surrounding neighborhood fabric. Specific boundaries of the district are mapped a supplement to this Section and as an amendment to the City's Zoning District Map.
907.02.J.2 Need for Interim Zoning
The Riverfront Zone Overlay District is necessary to provide the proper balance between competing land uses, development pressures and regional economic factors. The updated zoning will provide adequate balances by providing:
(a) A mix of uses and magnitudes of uses which stabilize and conserve the value of land and buildings;
(b) Design requirements for development consistent with the evolving character of the neighborhoods;
(c) Development criteria which facilitate high quality development;
(d) The ability for neighborhood stakeholders to provide input on projects which have a high impact on the public realm;
(e) Adequate connectivity to regional multimodal transportation networks, including riverfront trails; and
(f) Adequate protection for the natural environment and wildlife habitat.
907.02.J.3 Intent
The intent of the Riverfront Zone Interim Planning Overlay District is to create a regulatory mechanism in an area where substantial development is imminent and where both the impact of individual development projects and the collective impact of such development on public resources and private properties is not mitigated through the existing zoning mechanisms. Due to the unique circumstances involved with development near riverfronts, the existing zoning mechanisms do not serve to carry out the purpose and intent of Chapter 901 (General Provisions) and all provisions of this Zoning Ordinance. Specifically, the intent of the Riverfront Zone IPOD is to encourage quality development by:
(a) Protecting and preserving existing industrial, residential, commercial and office uses and encouraging new development that is complementary to the range of uses of Pittsburgh’s riverfronts without creating new use restrictions;
(b) Protecting and enhancing the area's architecture, which includes building siting, massing, facade treatment, materials, proportion, and scale;
(c) Allowing for a thorough and effective community process that encourages quality development along the City’s riverfronts;
(d) Providing for a riverfront setback that will benefit bank stabilization, wildlife habitat, water temperature modulation, pollution control, flood mitigation, and sediment removal; and will create space for a linear, continuous riverfront trail;
(e) Protecting public access to the riverfront at regular intervals; and
(f) Enhancing public safety.
907.02.J.4 Applicability
The Riverfront Interim Planning Overlay District will create two zones:
(a) Zone A: For all parcels which are located, in full or in part, within two hundred (200) feet measured from the full pool elevation of the Allegheny, Monongahela, or Ohio Rivers, in addition to conforming to all regulations of the Zoning Code, be in accord with an Overlay District Project Development Plan adopted pursuant to Section 922.10.E.2. and approved by the Planning Commission, where such projects involve the following:
(1) Full building demolition;
(2) A new or enlarged parking area located between a building and the street, publicly accessible pedestrian easement, or the riverfront;
(3) A new or enlarged primary structure located adjacent to the riverfront;
(4) A new structure erected of a size equal to or greater than two thousand and four hundred (2,400) square feet; or
(5) An existing structure enlarged by a size equal to or greater than two thousand four hundred (2,400) square feet.
(b) Zone B: For all parcels which do not meet the criteria in 907.02.J.4.(a) above, projects shall, in addition to conforming to all regulations of the Zoning Code, be in accord with an Overlay District Project Development Plan adopted pursuant to Section 922.10.E.2 and approved by the Planning Commission, where such project involve the following:
(1) A new or enlarged parking area that contains at least thirty (30) parking stalls;
(2) Construction of a new structure or group of structures of a size equal to or greater than ten thousand (10,000) square feet; or
(3) Enlargement of an existing structure or group of existing structures of a size equal to or greater than five thousand (5,000) square feet.
(c) All development where the zoning district is a Specially Planned (SP) District with a Preliminary Land Development Plan approved prior to the enactment of the IPOD-5 shall be exempted from the IPOD-5 regulations.
907.02.J.5 Standards
(a) All Project Development Plans within the IPOD-5 shall be subject to Design Review.
(b) Building length parallel to the riverfront shall be no longer than five hundred (500) feet except where the structure is intended for use as a sports stadium.
(c) No building wall visible from a street, publicly accessible pedestrian easement or the riverfront shall contain a non-articulated condition greater than seventy (70) linear feet in length. Building wall articulation shall be achieved through stepbacks no smaller than six (6) inches in depth, building entrances, lobbies, doors, windows or similar features.
(d) All development is subject to the following riverfront setbacks:
(1) In accordance with Section 906.03.E, the Riverfront Overlay Setback of fifty (50) feet measured landward from the normal full pool elevation (FPE) of the river shall be applicable;
(2) No more than thirty (30) percent of the lot area that is located between fifty (50) feet and ninety-five (95) feet measured landward from the normal full pool elevation (FPE) of the river shall be occupied by building footprint(s); and
(3) Riverfront setback exceptions may be granted in accordance with the Riverfront Overlay Zoning District, Section 906.03.E.
(e) All development of more than ten thousand (10,000) square feet or with fifteen (15) or more new parking stalls shall be subject to the Site Plan Review Criteria of Section 922.04.E.4.
(f) Any ground-level structured parking that has primary frontage along the riverfront or along a street or publicly accessible pedestrian easement that is a perpendicular connection to the riverfront shall be screened architecturally or be screened according to the provisions of Section 918.03.B.
(g) No Parking Structures within Zone A shall be located between the riverfront and a structure or public street, whichever is closer. Within Zone A, where structured parking is integrated into a commercial or residential structure located on the riverfront, active use(s) shall be located along a minimum of fifty (50) percent of the length of the structure adjacent to the riverfront, except in cases where the structure is located within the Flood Plain Overlay (FP-O) District (906.02). For the purposes of this section, active uses shall include commercial, residential, and accessory uses and activities that typically have user-occupied areas that are expressed through building fenestration and articulation.
(h) No surface parking lots of greater than fifteen (15) parking spaces shall be constructed in Zone A between the riverfront and a structure or public street, whichever is closer.