Rental Registry in Jeopardy? Judge Stays Ordinance Amid Legal Challenge

In April, we posted about the City Council’s revised rental registration ordinance, which was set to go into effect May 29.

Now, the enforcement of the ordinance by the Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections (PLI) has been stayed by a judge as a lawsuit filed by the Apartment Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (AAMP) proceeds.

This “commonsense regulation,” as Mayor Ed Gainey’s office put it in a statement, would protect renters by requiring permits from PLI for occupied rental units. Permitting entails:

• An initial inspection of the rental property and payment of a fee. Initial inspections are good for three years; following that, properties earning consistent, acceptable ratings are eligible for five-year terms.

• Collecting contact information for the owners, responsible local agents, and property managers of each rental property. Rental registration and inspection data will be public information, viewable on Civic Central. PLI will also give its data monthly to the Western PA Regional Data Center.

• A lead dust wipe inspection for structures built before 1978. This is required by the city’s new Lead Safety Ordinance.

In addition, the ordinance aims to encourage best practices through Good Landlord Academy, a training program on inspections, government resources, and enforcement. Those who pass the course will be eligible for reduced rental registration fees for the upcoming year.

The lawsuit brought by AAMP aims to challenge the associated fees, which, in our view, are nominal: a $16 application fee, a $5.50 per parcel fee, and a $14 per unit fee to cover travel and inspection costs. AAMP is also demanding exemption from lead inspection.

Speaking to the objections, Mayor Gainey stated, “Our fee is fair and does nothing more than recoup the costs to carry out the program and it is a shame that once again the work to protect renters in our city is being delayed.”

We couldn’t agree more. With widespread problems of safety, cleanliness, and over-occupancy, a rental registry is needed to assure code enforcement and ease of communication with landlords. Unfortunately, AAMP’s lawsuit throws all of that into question.

Oakland Planning and Development Corporation will continue to fight for rental registration and provide information to the community on this developing situation.

Inclusionary Zoning Threatened in Court: Community Organizers Rally in Response

Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) is a tool to ensure neighborhoods have available housing units at a variety of price points. It does this by tying the construction of affordable housing to that of market-rate housing. IZ has been in effect in Lawrenceville since 2019, when Council approved a pilot of the initiative. Since then, it has expanded to Bloomfield and Polish Hill, with Oakland hoping to be the next neighborhood to reap its benefits.

Last Friday, only 10 days after Mayor Gainey signed IZ into law for Bloomfield and Polish Hill, the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (BAMP) filed federal and state lawsuits against the city, claiming that IZ is unconstitutional.

In response, community organizers across the city have joined in a coordinated effort to defend IZ. Neighborhood partners including Lawrenceville United, Lawrenceville Corporation, Bloomfield Development Corporation, Polish Hill Civic Association, Pittsburgh United, and OPDC drafted a press release in response to the lawsuit filed. You can read it here.

The Mayor and your City Council people need to hear from you—IZ is an essential tool for protecting communities and providing opportunities, helping working families to put down roots in our neighborhood, and ensuring Oakland’s continued vibrancy and sustainability. You can call the Mayor’s Office at 412-255-5626. To find your City Council representative, click here. We’ll continue to provide updates as they become available.

On Wednesday, May 25, at 1:30 p.m. City Council will hold a hearing on Council Bill 2021-1906, formerly known as “Oakland Crossings.” Council needs to hear from you about how important it is to preserve affordable homeownership. We encourage you to attend and provide feedback to Council members.

City to Request Continuance for the Oakland Plan to the Planning Commission

On Tuesday, May 17, Deputy Director Andrew Dash from the Department of City Planning announced the requested continuance for the Oakland Plan to the Planning Commission. See the content of the announcement below:

Dear Oakland Plan Stakeholder,  

Thank you for all your hard work in getting the word out about the draft plan and providing feedback as well!  Over the 55-day public comment period we received over 750 comments on the plan and 200 on the related zoning proposals.  The comments are publicly available online at https://engage.pittsburghpa.gov/Oakland.   Early on in the comment period staff created criteria by which to review the comments:  

1. Non-substantive changes:

   1. Punctuation, grammar corrections

   2. Language consistency

   3. Updates to the “What We Heard” and the “When,” “How long,” “How much,” and “Whom” sections of projects and programs to provide clarifying details.

   4. Changes that are clarifying or further support the existing written goal/policy/strategy

   5. Additions of supporting data and best practices.

2. Substantive Changes

   1. Does this improve or build upon the components of the equity strategy?

   2. Does this further sustainability?

   3. Is this a broader concern shared by multiple constituencies?

Staff, including those from Action Teams, have reviewed all the comments and have been able to resolve 95% of them.  There are around 40 comments that required additional time to have conversations with organizations.  Most of these comments are around responsibilities and funding.   

At the Planning Commission meeting today, Tuesday, May 17th, we will be asking for a continuance until June 14, 2022 so we can have those conversations and bring a full set of recommendations to the Planning Commission.  That full list of recommendations will be available 1-week in advance of the Planning Commission meeting.  In the meantime, over the next week the Engage page will be updated with staff responses and zoning proposal updates. We look forward to having those conversations and for your support at the June 14th Planning Commission meeting.  

Thanks again for all your hard work throughout the process! 

Resources:

• All the comments from the first draft of The Oakland Plan.

• OPDC’s comments on the draft.

• Oakland Plan page on our website.

Rental Registration

When many Pittsburghers think Oakland, they think about student rental – and often the worst aspects of student rental, which include overcrowding, poor trash containment, inadequate maintenance, and questionable safety. There is plenty of rental housing in Oakland that does not fit that description, of course, but these problems are notorious. For decades, Oakland residents have been advocating for better tools for code enforcement and communication with landlords – and finally, one of those tools has arrived.

City Council passed the revised rental registration ordinance in November of 2021, and the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections (PLI) will begin enforcing it starting May 29, 2022. At the Oakwatch meeting on March 16, Sarah Kinter, Director of PLI, explained what the new rental registration rules mean for renters, rental owners, and community members alike. (Check out the full meeting minutes here.)

Some key aspects of the ordinance:

• By December 31, 2022, no one may legally allow a rental unit in the City of Pittsburgh to be occupied without obtaining a permit from PLI. Permitting involves an inspection of the rental property and payment of a fee. There are exceptions only for owner-occupied dwellings – which in Oakland would include only legal two-unit properties, one unit of which is occupied by the property owner. Right now, accessory dwelling units are not legal in Oakland.

• Permits will require contact information for the owners, responsible local agents, and property managers of each rental property.

• Every multi-unit property must also provide a valid occupancy permit. Single-family houses are exempt, but by definition, a single-family house could not legally contain more than one dwelling unit.

• Structures built before 1978 also will be subject to a lead dust wipe inspection.

• Every permitted unit will have to pass a PLI inspection. Initial inspections are good for three years; after that, inspections may be required only once every five years provided the property has earned acceptable ratings on every inspection item.

If a landlord fails to register their property by the December 31 deadline, PLI is authorized to issue a warning and then register a complaint with the local magistrate. PLI is relying on public complaints from community members to identify rentals that aren’t registered.

Rental registration and inspection data will be public information, viewable on Civic Central, which is currently where building licenses and permits are found. PLI will also give its data monthly to the Western PA Regional Data Center.

The law includes a terrific innovation: PLI will offer permit applicants the opportunity to attend the Good Landlord Academy, a training program that explains the rental registration inspections program, relevant governmental resources, and enforcement. Registrants who have successfully completed the training and passed the evaluation will be eligible to cut their rental registration unit fee in half for the upcoming registration year. 

What does this mean for the future of Oakland’s rental market? For starters, communicating with Oakland’s landlords – and their tenants! – will be much, much easier; and that will make code enforcement and landlord-tenant disputes easier to navigate. If the law works as it’s intended to, inspections and occupancy permit requirements should ensure Oakland rental properties are safe, and will reduce over-occupancy. But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves! For now, rental registration is a promising first step in improving the lives of Oakland’s tenants, and improving the quality of life for all Oakland’s residents.

Clutter for a Cause is back and ready for reuse

By Madalyn Jenkins - OPDC News Runner Intern, University of Pittsburgh Class of 2024 

Blue skies, final exams, Thursday night parties – all indications are that spring has arrived in Oakland, and it’s time to brace for move-out season. Every year, students leaving their Oakland apartments leave piles of unwanted stuff – some useable, some recyclable, a lot just trash – and the cumulative effect can be a little overwhelming. Clutter for a Cause is a collaborative program organized by OPDC and the University of Pittsburgh as a way to reduce student waste when moving in and out of their residences, whether they be on or off-campus. 

Clutter events allow students (and community members!) to dispose of unwanted useable items; OPDC and Pitt then work together to get those items into the hands of people who will give them a second life. Students can buy items donated on campus at the August Thriftsburgh sale. Any leftover items will go to donation centers throughout the Pittsburgh region.

Clutter for a Cause donation events occur during peak lease turnover times throughout the summer, with drop-off locations and curbside pick-up services available. The first of this year’s events will be Friday, April 29, at the Sennott Square parking lot, from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. More events will take place throughout the summer into early August.

Maura McCampbell, OPDC’s community programs specialist, helped organize last year’s events (and she blogged about it here). McCampbell recommends students and residents take advantage of the easy and convenient curbside pick-up service. “You register via a google form, OPDC will contact you to confirm pick-up, and volunteers will come and collect your items.”

It’s also important not to wait until the last minute to figure out move-out logistics. OPDC’s neighborhood quality consultant, Lizabeth Gray, has learned from experience: “We have all been there, where we had the intention to donate something, but then your parents are there to pick you up, and you are still packing up your boxes.” Gray advises that students start getting things together to donate at least a month before moving out.

Acceptable items to donate include:

·       Hardwood furniture

·       Metal furniture

·       Bed frames

·       Dressers

·       Kitchen items, including dishes and silverware

·       Art and décor

·       Clothing

There are some items we cannot accept; these include:

·       Mattresses

·       Bedding

·       Upholstered furniture

·       Rugs

·       Open containers of food and cosmetics

McCampbell has a great way of picturing the impact of your waste, stating, “From a personal perspective, I think it’s useful to think and envision the scale of what we are talking about. Think about packing up your room. You have two to three boxes of things you will not take home with you. Think of those three boxes multiplied by 10,000. That is a substantial volume of material sent to the landfill every year.”

Please donate to help mitigate the damaging effects of the abundance of waste. Think thoughtfully about your environment and the lasting impacts of your decisions on this community.

If you have any questions about Clutter for a Cause, please contact OPDC’s Sam Gallagher at sgallagher@opdc.org or 412.621.7863 ext. 118. Please register via this form to sign up for the curbside pick-up service.