Save Bloomfield
Pittsburghers have begun to question the wisdom of unchecked development. And city officials have taken note. The city zoning board recently rejected Echo Realty’s request for variances to develop the old ShurSave property on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. Echo is appealing the zoning board’s decision.
I live in Bloomfield. While the neighborhood has changed, it remains classically Pittsburgh. And it should stay that way.
Classically Pittsburgh
Walk down Edmond Street between Friendship Park and Penn Ave. On the stoop of 218 Edmond you’ll find a city landmark that captures the essence of our city more fittingly than any bridge, building, or ball team — the Bloomfield Christmas tree.
Bloomfield’s Christmas tree festoons the neighborhood for every season. Right now, it’s bedecked in shamrocks for Saint Patrick’s Day. I’m sure Easter eggs will adorn it soon enough. She may not know it, but the nice lady who lives there is a public servant.
Developers like Echo don’t care about Christmas trees or neighborhood character. But that’s precisely why we have zoning.
The Court of Common Pleas should uphold the zoning board’s decision. Echo’s plans involve a massive development that includes a sprawling Giant Eagle (probably overpriced), a ton of retail space (probably chains), 248 apartments (probably still too expensive notwithstanding a commitment to “affordable” units), and a 318-space underground parking garage (probably still not enough parking).
I’d prefer to resurrect the old ShurSave and not have a major supermarket compete with Gina, the proprietor of the Green Market on Liberty Ave. Gina never fails to nod approvingly and remark, “Beauty and brains!” whenever I pay cash for my produce. Nobody at Giant Eagle notices my looks or smarts.
Its effects on local businesses like Gina’s aside, it’s unclear how Echo’s proposed development would affect the already convoluted intersection ferrying traffic along the Bloomfield Bridge, Liberty, Main, and Howley. Has anyone given thought to how we’ll get to Liberty Beer, the most sojourned destination at this intersection?
And then there’s the size. Echo seeks variances to build 75 feet and six stories in an area where the permitted height cannot exceed 45 feet and three stories.
This is no minor request, and the zoning board upheld its commitment to city residents in doing so.
As the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has noted, zoning ordinances exist for a reason: “An application for a variance seeks permission to do something which is prohibited by the zoning ordinance. In essence, a variance constitutes an exception, or an overriding of legislative judgment concerning the will of the citizens.”
Echo’s laughable insistence
Echo’s insistence that they need variances to make their project profitable is laughable. Echo purchased the property with full knowledge of the prevailing ordinances. In doing so, they assumed the risk of this loss.
Their poor business decision doesn’t entitle them to win on appeal. Their owning the property shouldn’t give them any advantage. They can deal with it.
And while variances may be granted under certain reasonable circumstances, zoning boards should not allow a variance request to effectively render an ordinance — and thus the will of Pittsburghers — meaningless, as granting one in this case would do.
Instead, zoning boards should enforce ordinances when doing otherwise would fundamentally alter the character of a neighborhood. Again, that’s why we have zoning in the first place.
With quintessential Pittsburgh character, the Liberty Avenue corridor running through Bloomfield remains a city treasure. While it has unfortunately lost many of its old Italian businesses ( the most recent being Donatelli’s, whose meatball hoagie was second to none), its charm endures. And we still have Little Italy Days, which seemed to have more Italian food this time around.
You can still get an old school Italian-American meal at the Pleasure Bar, the best burger in the city at Tessaro’s, and a damn good gyro while watching Jeopardy with the locals at Nico’s.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to grab a coffee at Yinz, a book at White Whale or the anarchist collective The Big Idea, and a salvaged crucifix from the ever-quirky Sacred Heart of Jesus Store.
My point is that we don’t need another massive and modern development project that will usher in the kind of gentrification found at places like the Terminal Building in the Strip District.
We need to protect the community and neighborhood Bloomfield is. It’s a distinctively Pittsburgh part of Pittsburgh.
The proposed development is a generic construction that could be just as easily found in Tucson or Dallas, where you can’t get pizza like you can at Angelo’s, Pizza Italia or Fazio’s.
A distinct spirit
Of course, city neighborhoods change. That’s part of the beauty of the city. Its people, businesses, and culture are in a constant state of flux. But underneath the change, a distinct spirit perdures — as long as we’re careful to protect it.
We don’t want to lose that spirit, incarnated in our small businesses and restaurants, our miniature Christmas trees, and shopkeepers kind enough to call us good looking.