Important Updates and Upcoming Meetings!

This is why we do what we do. This is our community. This is our future

 
It’s been a while since there has been an update and apologies for the long silence. There have been a number of conversations happening and trying to get a handle on how to deal with the park situation. 

Public Hearing at City Council on the Rezoning of the Park and Penn Plaza Sites

·        There is a public hearing on Tuesday, February 16^th at 1:30 PM in City Council chambers (5^th Floor, 414 Grant Street aka the City-County Building, Downtown Pittsburgh). This hearing is for the rezoning of the park and the Penn Plaza site from residential districts to a mixed-use commercial district. PLEASE come to make our voices heard at City Council. 

Sign-up to speak at the hearing here: http://pittsburghpa.gov/cityclerk/form/signup.php

The hearing is for Bills Number 2015-2300 and 2016-0033 for Enright Parklet. If you do not sign-up to speak, you will have one minute of time. If you sign-up, you will have 3 minutes (same as at Planning Commission)

Unlike Planning Commission, Council are elected officials. Which means that if large groups of voters show up demanding that they either deny or table the zone change request, they will be more likely to listen. Help us buy time for a REAL community process to get under way and bring our neighbors to the table!

Park Planning Workshops and Meetings

·        There is a planning process that is beginning to get under way about what COULD happen for the park and the adjacent property. A group of neighbors have been meeting with City Planning and pushing on them to hold a community process. There will be a meeting on Tuesday, February 23^rd at 6 PM to talk about park planning. This meeting will be held at East Liberty Place South, located at the corner of Penn Avenue and South Beatty Street. PLEASE come and share this with others. More information to follow.  A second meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 15^th at 6 PM, so please save the date. Location TBD.

Isn't this all a little backwards? Yes, yes it is...

·        Under normal circumstances, the planning would happen BEFORE the properties are rezoned. These are not normal circumstances. 

      Because this planning process is happening AFTER the public hearing on the zone change, we are asking that Council TABLE the decision on the rezoning until the process is complete. If you plan to speak at Council, please consider including this in your talking points. We don’t need them to outright deny the zone change, but as a community, we need more time to work with the City on the planning process, and ensure the best possible outcome for the community that lives here! 

There will be additional updates in the next few days as well, so please watch here, on Facebook, and on Twitter.