PITTSBURGH (PTTP) — City Council voted to give unanimous approval to an ordinance that will bring significant changes to the Oakland neighborhood.
Supporters of rezoning hope these changes will improve residential and employment spaces in Oakland. Opponents worry that the zoning changes won’t go far enough in boosting housing accessibility.
The ordinance will create three new zoning districts in the neighborhood.
One of these zoning districts will create more multi-unit housing, including affordable housing, in Central Oakland between Louisa and Dawson Streets. For example, single-family homes could be replaced with apartment buildings.
Another district will increase the maximum building height, create new sidewalk standards and limit residential space between Forbes and Fifth Avenue. Finally, the last new zoning district will allow for mixed commercial and residential development surrounding the Boulevard of the Allies.
Andrea Boykowycz, interim director of the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, said the rezoning ordinance doesn’t automatically mean Oakland will see changes overnight.
“It isn’t to say that like, starting tomorrow, we’re gonna bulldoze everything in Central Oakland and start building stuff which is 80 or 100 feet tall,” Boykowycz said. “It’s more like, this is what you could do in here. Here are things that individual projects could look like.”