The rallying cry around Swisshelm Park these days is “No Frick’n Way.”
It’s a slogan that seems to aptly sum up how some residents feel about a proposed eight-story, 160-unit residential complex that is to be built at the former Irish Centre less than a mile away in neighboring Squirrel Hill.
They have launched a petition drive in a bid to block the project and have created flyers and a Frick Park Friends website with the slogan to explain their opposition, much of which centers on traffic, safety and concerns about the impact to Frick Park, which borders the site.
“Frick Park Friends ... is not anti-development. But we believe in development that makes sense and this development on that parcel of land does not make sense,” said Vicki Yann, a Swisshelm Park resident who lives minutes from the Irish Centre.
The developer behind the project is a U.S. subsidiary of Toronto-based Craft Development Corporation. It is proposing to demolish the vacant Irish Centre building and ancillary structures at 6886 Forward Avenue to clear the way for the residential construction.
Of the eight stories planned by Craft, six will be above ground. The two others will be used for an underground parking garage with about 182 spaces in all.
Rather than being a detriment, the proposed redevelopment would replace a blighted property prone to vandalism, said Ray Baum, Craft attorney. The developer also is proposing a crosswalk and traffic-calming measures on Forward Avenue/Commercial Street to improve safety, he said.
“I think this will be a great project. What is there now is a blight and a danger and it’s not going away,” he said.
Craft was scheduled to go before the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment July 6 for the three variances it is seeking for the project, including one to allow for a building height of 87 feet, 10 inches. The maximum permitted is 40 feet, 3 inches. It also is seeking a variance to build a multiunit residential building in a parks district, where it is not permitted by right.
But the hearing has now been pushed back to Aug. 3 in the wake of the opposition to the project. Mr. Baum said Craft asked for the delay to further engage the community and to make its case for the proposal.
“It’s a complicated project. You really want to have a full community process,” he said.
The request came after the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, the registered community group, voted last week against the variance to allow for the nearly 88-foot building height and a bigger floor area. It supported allowing the multiunit residential building in the parks district and another variance related to the height of a retaining wall.
Maria Cohen, the coalition’s executive director, said board members are not opposed per se to a taller building at the site but felt that the one being proposed “was larger than may be necessary.”
Mr. Baum, who is the coalition’s board secretary but recused himself in discussions about the project, acknowledged that the vote against the variance for the height was a setback.
The delay in the zoning board hearing gives residents fighting the development some breathing room to fine-tune their opposition, Ms. Yann said. While many of those opposed are from Swisshelm Park, others are Frick Park users or those who live in neighboring communities, she noted.
“I guess we got the developer on the run,” she said. “Funny how they want community engagement now when they didn’t for the last year.”
For residents opposed to the project, one of the biggest fears is an increase in traffic on Forward Avenue/Commercial Street running by the site. Forward becomes Commercial near the Irish Centre.
Traffic already is a problem, Ms. Yann said, particularly when the Parkway East backs up and motorists use Forward/Commercial as a bypass. With no public transit stops nearby, they fear most of the building’s residents will be driving, creating more congestion.
Adding to the concerns is the property entrance sits on a hairpin curve with a small parking lot to Frick Park located across the street.
“I think they’re just creating a recipe for disaster in terms of safety,” Ms. Yann said.
They also are opposed to Craft using the variance process to try to build a multiunit building in a parks district where it isn’t permitted. Ms. Yann described it as spot zoning.
“We believe the property was zoned correctly as a park and it should remain zoned as a park,” she said. “The developer should meet the zoning requirements. If it can’t meet the zoning requirements, it should find another parcel of land.”
And residents have concerns about the amount of water runoff the development will generate in a Nine Mile Run area already prone to flooding and landslides.
“There’s nothing good about this project in any way, shape or form,” Ms. Yann said.
But Mr. Baum countered that the developer already has taken steps to address concerns.
Regarding safety issues, Craft has offered to contribute $100,000 to put a crosswalk in at the entrance to Frick Park across from the Irish Centre, to install speed humps on Forward/Commercial, and to build a sidewalk from the site to another nearby park entrance.
“They’re standing offers that would benefit everyone,” Mr. Baum said.
While the development may increase traffic, the effect will be minimal, he maintained, citing the developer’s traffic engineer.
To address runoff issues, Craft plans to install underground storage tanks to control the amount of water that leaves the site to help prevent flooding.
As for the size of the development, Mr. Baum said about 160 units — down from 162 — is what makes sense from an economic standpoint, given some of the site work involved. The developer, he stated, has already cut two stories from the size of the complex.
“It really isn’t feasible to build smaller,” he said.
Mr. Baum also disputed the notion that the variance request for a multiunit residential building in a parks district amounts to spot zoning,
The idea for the variance, he said, was suggested by the city’s planning staff. “On this particular piece of property, the variance is the only thing that makes sense,” he said.
While some residents see the project as a threat to the area, Mr. Baum views it as an improvement, particularly given what’s there now.
“That property is a major blight,” he said. “There are a bunch of empty buildings there. When they sit there long enough, they become a real danger to the community.”
Ms. Yann, of course, sees things differently. She said Frick Park Friends already have collected 1,500 signatures on a petition opposed to the development and the potential impact it could have on the park environment around them.
“We’re going to push and push and push to stop the development because it is not in the best interest of the community,” she said.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: June 27, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: June 28, 2023, 6:32 p.m.
