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Ordinance supplementing the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, Title I, Administrative, Article VII, Procedures, by adding a new Chapter, "Chapter 173A: Housing Data Dashboard"
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WHEREAS, in 2014 the City of Pittsburgh added Chapter 162: Open Data Sets into City code to commit to the spirit of open government, with published datasets reviewed regularly for additions; and,
WHEREAS, open data increases transparency and access to government information, and enhances coordination and efficiencies among departments and partner organizations across all sectors, and is used internally for benchmarking and goal-tracking; and,
WHERAS, recent policy proposals regarding zoning reform in Pittsburgh have brought data discrepancies in tracking new development into focus; and,
WHEREAS, while disagreements on policy may persist, the City must immediately to collect and present quality data on housing production and availability, including existing housing, pipeline projects and housing that comes offline for neglect or for other projects; and,
WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of local government to maintain and increase housing affordability for middle- and low-income households and address the growing gap of affordable and deeply-affordable housing supply; and,
WHEREAS, What is measured is improved.
The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, Title I, Administrative, Article VII, Procedures, is hereby supplemented as follows:
Chapter 173A - Housing Data
§ 173A.01 PURPOSE
A. The purpose of this legislation is to establish easily accessible and accurate monthly data of newly constructed residential housing units that are available for occupancy as well as having easily accessible and accurate monthly data of residential housing units that are no longer available for occupancy.
B. While it may be useful to collect other data in this process, such as value, affordability, subsidy, code violations, construction time, bedroom count - the ultimate goal of this legislation is to collect a raw monthly number of how many residential housing units are newly available and how many residential housing units are newly unavailable.
C. The Dashboard and the data used to assemble it shall clearly display net Residential Unit Housing gain or loss.
§ 173A.02 DEFINITIONS
A. “Residential Housing Unit” - Any portion of property set aside and intended for use as living quarters for one (1) or more individuals, such portion having a separate kitchen and a minimum of one (1) bathroom for the use of its occupant or occupants. For the purposes of this Chapter, a constructed housing unit is only a residential housing unit when it is legally available for occupancy, not while it is being planned or constructed.
§ 173A.03 HOUSING DATA DASHBOARD
A. The Housing Data Dashboard shall serve as the authoritative source of residential housing unit data provided by the City of Pittsburgh.
B. The Housing Data Dashboard shall be constructed and maintained by the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Innovation and Performance.
C. The Housing Data Dashboard shall be made accessible to the public by the City of Pittsburgh’s website.
D. The Data displayed on the Housing Data Dashboard shall be collected by the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning, in consultation with the Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections, Department of Mobility and Infrastructure as well as any other departments of the City of Pittsburgh that the Department of City Planning deems necessary.
E. The Department of City Planning may find it prudent to consult with agencies outside of the City of Pittsburgh, such as utility companies or the Allegheny County Real Estate Division, for the most accurate data and is encouraged to find creative solutions to obtain and present the most accurate data set.
F. The data used to assemble the Housing Data Dashboard, as well as the Housing Data Dashboard, shall be subject to audits performed by the City Controller, or by direction of the Mayor or Pittsburgh City Council.
§ 173A.04 DEADLINES
A. The Housing Data Dashboard of Residential Housing Unit construction shall be posted on the City’s website and available for public consumption and Pittsburgh City Council’s inspection no later than the last Calendar Day of 2026 and shall be updated monthly thereafter.
B. The Housing Data Dashboard shall expand to include Residential Housing Unit that come offline no later than the last calendar Day of 2027 and shall be updated monthly thereafter.
Section 2. Any Ordinance, Resolution or City Regulation, or portion thereof found to be inconsistent with or in conflict with this Ordinance is hereby repealed only to the extent of the conflict or inconsistency.