Pittsburgh Zoning Districts - RIV-NS 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-NS (Riverfront North Shore) subdistrict. Other posts will cover the RIV-NS’s use regulations, the other subdistricts of the RIV district: RIV-RM, RIV-MU, RIV-GI, 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-NS zoning subdistrict covers 0.61 square miles or 1.25% of Pittsburgh. Like the rest of the RIV, the RIV-NS subdistrict is located along Pittsburgh’s rivers, specifically the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. Areas zoned RIV-NS are located in riverside areas of the neighborhoods of Chateau and North Shore.
Unlike the other RIV subdistricts, the RIV-NS is contiguous and relatively small, and is loosely bounded by the Allegheny River, the Ohio River, Kroll Drive, Beaver Avenue, Route 65, Martindale Street, stretches of Norfolk Southern railroad, Chestnut Street, and the 16th Street Bridge.
Challenges
The RIV-NS, with its smaller and contiguous area, also has a highly specific purpose statement (905.04.A.c.) that calls out the existing culture and entertainment uses present in the subdistrict. Although the purpose statement is specific, the list of uses permitted by-right (detailed in our RIV-NS Uses post) is relatively expansive, and includes a wide range of commercial and public uses as well as some limited residential uses.
Like all RIV subdistricts, the RIV-NS includes areas of Riparian Zone and Potential Steep Slope overlays at the edges of the rivers, as well as significant areas of Floodplain Overlay. These overlays may add requirements and time to the application and review process. Additionally, much of the RIV-NS is impacted by the North Shore Parking Reduction area, which reduces non-residential parking requirements by twenty-five percent.
Small areas of the RIV-NS are also within the North Side Commercial Parking Prohibited area (NSCPO), detailed in zoning code section 907.03, which prohibits the addition of commercial parking uses to vacant lots.
Conclusion
Projects in the RIV-NS are subject to all requirements that apply to the RIV as a whole, including standards setting level of review by project scope. As in any zoning district, environmental reviews may be required.
