Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting Summary - September 17, 2026
On September 17, 2026, the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment held hearings on a Fineview parking-pad variance and a Downtown residential self-storage use variance. A third agenda item was withdrawn. No final votes were announced at the meeting; written decisions are expected within the Zoning Code’s 45-day window. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHyRVr1WZks
Hearing and Action
Zoning Case 112 of 2026 — 425 Catoma Street (Fineview)
Summary of Case
Variance from Section 912.04.L (front-yard parking prohibited) for a two-car parking pad (BDA-2026-05040). The R1D-H property sits in Fineview. A prior Zoning Case 61 of 2017 approval for a one-car pad with a 0′ front setback in the side yard expired after the curb cut and related work were not completed. The owner, Tara Ferber, said she and her household bought an adjacent vacant side lot through the city’s side-lot program, consolidated it with 425 Catoma, and have been using an existing flat pad area—prompting a PLI citation (CF-PLI-2026-021273) for parking without approval. She argued street parking is scarce, cars often sit on sidewalks, the pad can keep vehicles fully off the sidewalk, and neighbors support the request.
Discussion
Chair Alice Mitinger and members LaShawn Burton-Faulk and John J. Richardson questioned whether cars clear the right-of-way, the property-line versus sidewalk depth, and the incomplete curb-cut condition from the earlier approval. Ferber said a city inspector related the property line to about eight feet from the curb and that there is room to pull cars farther back before the rear grade drop. No one in the room or online offered public comment. The Board directed staff to download linked surveys and photos so they become part of the hard record.
Decision
Hearing closed; decision deferred. The Board said it would issue a written decision within the time permitted under the Zoning Code. No roll-call vote was taken at the meeting.
Zoning Case 117 of 2026 — 322 4th Avenue (Central Business District)
Summary of Case
Use variance from Section 911.02 to allow a residential self-storage warehouse in the GT-A (Golden Triangle) district, where residential warehouse is prohibited (BDA-2026-05707). The midblock 15-story Keystone Bank building (occupied about 1903) is owned by the E.V. Bishoff Company; four floors hold data centers, and most of the rest has long been vacant. Counsel Bill Sittig, owner David Bishoff, and architect Sean Beasley (Strata Architecture) described a hardship based on a roughly 4,000-square-foot floor plate, windows largely limited to the Fourth Avenue elevation, abutting buildings on two sides, elevators and stairs pushed to the rear, and a light well that further cuts usable office/residential area. They propose state-of-the-art personal storage on roughly 10 upper floors, an activated ground-floor retail/access storefront (not a U-Haul-style box look), façade and lighting improvements, and loading via an adjacent Bishoff-owned parking lot that connects Fourth and Third Avenues so vehicles need not back onto Fourth. Signage was not part of this use-variance request. Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership emailed support; Point Park University’s Ted Black testified in favor, citing student and Playhouse storage needs and appreciation for on-lot loading that avoids truck backup on Fourth.
Discussion
John J. Richardson recused and left the hearing. Mitinger pressed on hardship versus other GT-permitted uses, hours of access and loading, and formally tying the parking-lot parcel to the storage use so through-access from Fourth to Third is retained. The applicant team offered to submit proposed conditions (including through-lot access as a condition of occupancy) and said access details are still being refined but would be managed to limit neighborhood nuisance. No other public opposition appeared.
Decision
Hearing closed; record held open for the applicant’s proposed conditions. With Richardson recused, Mitinger and Burton-Faulk sat on the case. No final approval or denial was announced; a written decision is expected after the supplemental conditions are filed and the record closes.
Also on the Agenda
Zoning Case 123 of 2026 — 600 W North Avenue (Central Northside)
Review under Section 919.03.N.2 for replacement of an existing sign identifying a nonconforming use (BDA-2026-06236). Withdrawn before hearing; the applicant will reschedule, which requires a new posted hearing date. Summary prepared for Pro-Housing Pittsburgh from the public YouTube recording and the city ZBA agenda PDF. Board member name spellings checked against City of Pittsburgh ZBA roster and published decisions when possible. Not an official City of Pittsburgh record.
