University Times

The third time was the charm. After three public hearings dating back to November, the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission on April 18 finally gave its approval to Pitt's master space plan.

Developed over the past three years by the University Senate's plant utilization and planning committee and approved by Pitt's Board of Trustees as part of the University's "Toward the 21st Century" plan last October, the master space plan outlines the physical development of the Pittsburgh campus over the next five, 10 and 20 years.

While the Planning Commission unanimously approved the master space plan, it did so only after adding several stipulations, including a requirement that comprehensive strategies addressing problems associated with transportation and student housing be completed within six months.

The lack of comprehensive strategies on transportation and student housing in the master space plan have drawn objections from Oakland residents and neighborhood groups since the first Planning Commission hearing on the plan in November and continued to do so during the April 18 meeting.

Echoing the complaints of many in the audience, Scarlett Morgan of the No. 4 Block Club, said: "We cannot in good conscience support a master space plan that is absent of a clear transportation plan to address Oakland traffic concerns. The consequences to our neighborhoods are too high when the plan includes building a 12,500-seat convocation center whose multiple impact could diminish our property values and erode the tax base of our community." Morgan pointed out that the opening of the Biomedical Science Tower and Towerview garage in the 1980s has increased traffic in west Oakland by 250 percent since 1987. "We are at a point where we cannot absorb the impact of any additional cars without diminishing the quality of life of our residents," she said.

Mary McDonough of the Oakland Neighborhood Alliance said her group opposed the master space plan because it fails to properly provide for the construction of new student housing. "The proposed 200-bed dormitory barely scratches the surface and blatantly disregards the needs of Pitt's undergraduate students," she said.

John Rahaim, supervisor of development and design in the Department of City Planning, sought to allay the concerns of Oakland residents by running down a list of stipulations the Planning Commission was adding to the master space plan.

"We are not approving the construction of one single building," Planning Commission chairperson Tom Armstrong added. "Each of those buildings [in the plan], each of those ideas have to come back individually to the commission for a conditional use application, which in turn goes to City Council and the mayor. So approving a master space plan in no way sets the beginning of construction of a building." City Planning Director Eloise Hirsh promised that "not a shovel will go into the ground" until strategies dealing with transportation and student housing are submitted to the Planning Commission.

While a great deal of opposition to the master space plan was voiced at the April 18 commission meeting, a number of people also spoke in favor of it, among them former Pitt basketball star Curtis Aikens, who is now an Oakland businessman, and Martha Munsch and John Pelusi, members of Pitt's Board of Trustees.

"All people have to come together for the University to succeed and be better than it is today," Pelusi said. "I heard someone say they don't want Pitt to build a dog house until this plan is complete. Well, if people here don't get together Pitt will become a dog house, and I don't believe that is something that people really want to see because Pitt is a significant driving force behind the community." Stipulations added to the master space plan by the Department of City Planning before it was approved by the Planning Commission include having the University: Transportation * Complete a transportation strategy within six months that details plans for handling parking and traffic associated with the construction of the planned convocation center on the preferred site near Pitt Stadium.

* Develop, in conjunction with the city, a strategy to reduce traffic along residential streets in west Oakland near the preferred site of the convocation center.

* Explore the possibility of constructing an underground parking garage in Schenley Plaza between Hillman Library and Carnegie Library. The garage would be used to replace parking spaces lost should the convocation center be built. (See story on page 6.) * Create a plan to handle event traffic at the proposed convocation center similar to that used for football games.

Student Housing * Complete a student housing strategy within six months that specifically addresses the need for 2,200 new beds for students.

* Assist efforts by the Urban Redevelopment Authority to target for rehabilitation a group of area houses. The houses involved would not be owned by Pitt, but possibly could be used for student housing.

* Assist the city in developing a series of definitions of neighborhoods and boundaries that will be used to preserve residential areas in Oakland.

Planning and Design * Develop "bulk and massing envelopes" for areas of Oakland primarily under University control. The plan would control the size and massing of buildings within an "envelope," or particular area, so that they do not destroy the character of an area.

* Provide financial assistance for streetscape improvement projects involving sidewalks, curbs, lighting and landscaping. The city would develop a plan for the University to follow similar to that used in the Downtown area.

* Contribute to a business improvement district. Such districts assess a tax on businesses and institutions within them for improvement purposes, the planting of trees, erecting of benches and so forth.

* Help create a stronger tie between the athletic campus on top of the hill and Oakland's commercial district by providing assistance in the widening of sidewalks and the improvement of street crossings on DeSoto Street, and along Forbes and Fifth avenues.

* Provide the city with a set of guidelines for the proposed convocation center. The guidelines would deal primarily with access and the visible impact of the proposed center.

* Provide financial support to a new development plan for Oakland.

* Provide the city with updates on the master space plan every two years.

–Mike Sajna