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Wednesday, June 19, 2002

By Timothy McNulty, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The city Planning Commission approved the latest design standards yesterday for developing Downtown riverfronts, Bedford Dwellings and a vacant lot in the Squirrel Hill business district. It also heard testimony on proposed development guidelines for the city's hillsides.

The public-private Riverlife Task Force submitted its latest standards for developing a park system along the Downtown riverfronts, stretching in a V from the 16th Street Bridge around the Point to the 10th Street Bridge. The standards will advise developers and city planners on preferred designs for Three Rivers Park, emphasizing public spaces, the Point and connections to local neighborhoods.

Yesterday, commission members approved a framework for those standards, with a final "Three Rivers Park Handbook" expected to be submitted to the commission in September and October.

The commission held a public hearing on similar rules to govern development on city hillsides carved out by those rivers.

City planners have proposed new zoning rules that will allow developments on smaller lots -- 3,200 square feet instead of the former 8,000 square feet -- which could spur more hillside development, especially in neighborhoods such as the South Side Slopes and Arlington.

At the same time, they have added more stringent standards for approval, including prohibitions against soil erosion and requirements that buildings be close to existing roadways and other infrastructure and do not destroy views of the hillsides.

The city does not want "an abnormality or a scar on the side of the hill," planner Dan Sentz said.

The commission will review the zoning proposal and make a recommendation to City Council.

Commission members approved long-delayed plans to develop the vacant site at Murray and Forbes avenues in Squirrel Hill, where a Gulf station once stood. A three-story, 51,000-square-foot, brick-faced structure will be built to house a Rite Aid drugstore on the first floor, with other retail and restaurant space elsewhere. There will be 24 parking spaces behind the building and a 63-space public garage underneath, linked to an adjacent underground lot at the Jewish Community Center on Forbes Avenue.

Developer Craig Cozza said construction on the $8 million project could start in August and be completed in May. The garage is set to be finished in late 2003.

Members also approved a land development plan for the Urban Redevelopment Authority, city Housing Authority and a host of community groups and developers to build 147 residential units at Bedford Dwellings in the Hill District.

The overall project goal, according to city planners, is to replace blight with new market-priced and federally subsidized housing. The commission approved plans for the first building phase, primarily along Bedford and Webster avenues.

There was no opposition. All of the commission's votes yesterday were unanimous.