Light of Life Mission seeks permission to move

It is several hundred feet from the nearest residents. Among those, Chris Cammarata said she is concerned the emergency beds “would draw people there who are still abusing [drugs] and that they will be released out into the neighborhood.”

Light of Life does not admit people who are still “actively using,” said Jerrel Gilliam, director of programs, adding that the mission transports people it rejects to other shelters or to rehab.

Less than a mile to the east, the satellite would be built in a barely populated area, on a vacant lot now owned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority beneath the Veterans Bridge on the North Shore — at Madison and Progress streets, both of which are dead ends south of the convergence of Interstate 279 and Route 28.

In a hearing that lasted more than three hours, several people opposed the move, saying one Light of Life site is enough for the greater neighborhood. Several said the new building would be too near children who participate in programs at the Sarah Heinz House and Pittsburgh Schiller 6-8 school and inappropriate so close to the trail along the Allegheny River.

Schiller is half a mile away, across the 16th Street bridge and Route 28. The Sarah Heinz House is roughly six blocks away.

City Councilwoman Darlene Harris said many of her constituents told her they knew nothing about this development until six months ago.

Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference, said his group has been working with Light of Life for 10 years to find better locales than the current one. He said he has received support from community groups the conference represents.

The satellite needs a special exception to be in a Downtown Riverfront zoning district and a variance to be a personal care residence with more than 19 clients. On Ridge Avenue, zoning calls for a special exception and variances for scale, setback and emergency beds in the basement.

Attorneys representing N.G. Riverfront LLC and the Riverside Center for Innovation — both of which are close to the site — were concerned about congregations of homeless clients there and about security for the people who work in their properties.

Attorney Kevin O’Hare represented the Washington’s Landing Homeowners Association, arguing for standing even though Washington’s Landing is almost a mile from the proposed satellite site.

“We have had recent incidences of encampments under the 30th Street bridge,” which leads onto the island, he said. Many Washington’s Landing residents also use the trail and have expressed concerns about homeless people confronting them there, he said.