Pittsburgh Zoning Districts - RIV-GI Overview

By Kathleen Oldrey

Introduction

Zoning districts are a fundamental building block of zoning regulations and set the base use, height, and density standards for the area they cover. In some cases, the district also sets the required level of zoning review. Pittsburgh has over 50 distinct mapped zoning districts. This series of guides is unpacking each of these districts.

In this post, we provide an overview of the challenges when working on a site in the RIV-GI (Riverfront General Industrial) subdistrict. Other posts will cover the RIV-GI’s use regulations, the other subdistricts of the RIV district: RIV-RM, RIV-MU, RIV-NS, and RIV-IMU, and the complexities of the RIV regulations, including the RIV’s density, height, and parking regulations, design standards, environmental standards, as well as the application of the performance points system in the RIV district.

Refer to our Introduction to Pittsburgh’s Zoning Districts for the complete list of base zoning districts in the city. Pittsburgh’s interactive zoning map can be used to verify the project site’s zoning district.

Overview

The RIV-GI zoning subdistrict covers 1.62 square miles or 3.33% of Pittsburgh. Like the rest of the RIV, the RIV-GI subdistrict is located along Pittsburgh’s rivers. Areas zoned RIV-GI are located in riverside areas of the neighborhoods of Bluff, Glen Hazel, Glenwood, Hays, Marshall-Shadeland, Morningside, South Oakland, and Upper Lawrenceville.

Challenges

While other RIV subdistricts are written to grow and expand from previous industrial uses, the RIV-GI subdistrict’s purpose statement (905.04.A.2.d.) clearly identifies this area as a home for continued industrial use.

Because of the RIV district’s general location, it should come as no surprise that all RIV subdistricts, including the RIV-GI, include significant areas that are within the Floodplain Overlay. The RIV-GI also contains areas of Landslide-Prone, Steep Slope, and Riparian Zone overlays. The Interactive Zoning Map can be used to verify which environmental overlays, if any, a given site falls within.

Because the RIV-GI is scattered across the city, some parts of the RIV-GI are within a Registered Community Organization (RCO) area, and others are not. Projects that require Planning Commission or other public hearing process, such as Zoning Board of Adjustment, will have additional public process when in an RCO area. Zoning code section 905.04.C.3 lists project scopes that require review by Planning Commission.

Conclusion

Projects in the RIV-GI are subject to all requirements that apply to the RIV as a whole, including standards setting level of review by project scope. Environmental reviews such as floodplain reviews may also be required.