Pittsburgh Zoning Districts - RIV Parking Standards

By Kathleen Oldrey and Carolyn Ristau

Introduction

The Riverfront (RIV) zoning district’s purpose statement (Section 905.04.A.1) lays out priorities such as sustainability, a mix of land uses, riverfront access, and, in 905.04.A.1.e., “creat[ing] an environment that supports multiple modes of transportation.” Furthering these priorities are the RIV’s unique parking regulations. Parking regulations in the RIV take multiple approaches to promoting multi-modal transportation, from required review levels to parking minimums and maximums to restrictions on parking lot placement. This post will examine these multiple parking requirements in the RIV.

Overview

Parking regulations in the RIV promote multi-modal transportation either by reducing requirements related to the amount of parking or by increasing the requirements related to the review of parking.

All RIV zoning districts are within a Parking Reduction zone that reduces parking requirements for all uses by 50%. For example, per the city-wide parking requirements (Section 914.02), a Community Center use requires 1 parking space per 500 square feet, in which case a 5,000 square foot Community Center would require 10 parking spaces. In the RIV’s Parking Reduction zone, that requirement would be reduced by 50%, and the same 5,000 square foot Community Center would require 5 parking spaces.

Section 905.04.I.1.b. sets a parking maximum in the RIV on top of the minimum requirement described above. The parking maximum for a use in the RIV is equal to its minimum required parking according to the city-wide parking standards of Section 914.02. Returning to the example of the 5,000 square foot Community Center, the maximum parking permitted for that use in the RIV would be 10 parking spaces, the amount that would be required elsewhere.

While the requirements for how much parking must be provided are significantly reduced, requirements for reviewing parking are considerably elevated. Site plan review is required for projects that propose constructing a new parking structure or that create or expand a surface parking lot. Review by Planning Commission is required when a project scope includes “commercial structured parking,” which are parking garages that are a primary land use.

The RIV’s nonresidential design standards, listed in Section 905.04.G.3., include some regulations related to the placement of parking and access. The site design standards call for avoiding placing curb cuts on streets that are perpendicular to the riverfront, and for only placing curb cuts on primary streets when it is not possible to place them on a secondary street or a way.

In addition to the greater review standards and the design standards pertaining to lot and parking access, additional documentation is required for parking and transportation for large or complex RIV projects. Section 905.04.C.4 requires a transportation study for any projects that also require site plan review or Planning Commission review.

Challenges

Whether or not the RIV’s parking regulations are construed as an additional challenge or not may depend on the project scope and intent. Small projects or projects that may prefer to provide little parking may find the reduction to the number of parking spaces required to be beneficial to their project and review process. Larger projects or projects that plan to include a large amount of parking or that are for parking as a primary use may be more impacted by the additional review requirements for parking in the RIV.

Conclusion

The RIV uses an array of strategies to shape transportation and access. By downsizing required parking and increasing the level of review and documentation for parking and transportation, the RIV parking standards promote parking designed with intentionality as one of multiple available transportation modes.