On September 3, 2026, the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment heard four cases. A new Shadyside café asked to replace the old corner-bakery signs, an Observatory Hill family asked to rebuild and widen a failing garage, and the owner of a former South Oakland restaurant asked to legalize the catering kitchen that has operated there for about 20 years. The Board has since approved all three in written decisions. The longest hearing was on an unpermitted auto repair shop in Beltzhoover, where neighbors described lots and streets packed with cars; that decision is still pending. A firearms-sales application on the Central Northside was withdrawn before the hearing. Here’s what happened, by case.
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2q6ss1ULac
Hearing and Action
Zoning Case 115 of 2026 — 5743 Walnut Street (Shadyside)
City materials: Case packet · Meeting agenda
Summary of Case
Review under Section 919.01.F of signs for a legally nonconforming café in an R2-M district (BDA-2026-05389). A 2022 certificate of occupancy allows a 1,205 sf first-floor café at the corner of Walnut Street and Maryland Avenue. Commonplace Coffee bought the business from the previous corner bakery and wants to replace its signs. Applicant Mark Tritt, the sign contractor, proposed three signs: non-illuminated storefront letters on Walnut Street about the same size as the old ones, a small non-illuminated logo at the corner, and a new 9 sf illuminated blade sign at the bakery entrance on Maryland Avenue. Only temporary window vinyl and a banner are up now.
Discussion
Chair Alice Mitinger asked how the new signs compare in size to the old ones. Tritt said the letters are about the same size but didn't have measurements of the old signs. Most of her questions were about the lit blade sign in a residential district: why it needs light, when it would be on, and whether it would shine on the house across Maryland Avenue. Tritt said it only lights the sign face, won't reach across the street, and can be put on a timer so it's lit only while the bakery is open. Board members LaShawn Burton-Faulk and John Richardson had no questions. One online attendee raised a hand but had no comment.
Decision
Approved with conditions. The Board issued a written decision on October 8, 2026, approving the three signs. The 9 sf projecting sign may be lit only when the café is open, and no other business signs are allowed on the building. You can view the full decision here.
Zoning Case 116 of 2026 — 36 Bascom Avenue (Perry North)
City materials: Case packet · Meeting agenda
Summary of Case
Variance from Section 903.03.B.2 (30' front setback required) to replace a garage and enclose a front porch at a roughly 100-year-old house in an R1D-L district on Observatory Hill (BDA-2026-04288). The request was 23' for the porch enclosure and 12' for the garage and the deck above it. Architect Terry Oden said the garage in front of the house is falling apart and its 8'-wide door is too narrow, so the owners' car sits partly on the sidewalk. The plan keeps the garage's depth but widens it by 4' to match the 12'-wide garage at the near-identical house next door, and partly encloses the porch with glass on the sides. The project's footprint otherwise stays the same. Co-owner Julia Knecht said the walls are being pushed in by the hillside, and she wants to park inside without worrying about the garage roof.
Discussion
Mitinger confirmed that enclosing the porch makes it part of the house, which is why the porch needs a setback variance, and that the goal is to park in the garage, not use it for storage. She asked about the awning over the garage, which the owners said is decorative rain cover, not a walkable deck. The applicants showed elevations and support letters from both next-door neighbors. Burton-Faulk and Richardson had no questions, and no one else commented.
Decision
Approved. The Board issued a written decision on October 12, 2026, approving front-setback variances from Sections 903.03.B.2 and 912.04.A for the new integral garage and the porch enclosure. You can view the full decision here.
Zoning Case 111 of 2026 — 45 Bates Street (South Oakland)
City materials: Case packet · Meeting agenda
Summary of Case
Special exception under Section 921.02.A.4 to change a nonconforming use to a commercial kitchen in an H (Hillside) district (BDA-2026-04272). The building at the Parkway East exit on lower Bates Street was built as a restaurant and banquet hall. A 1998 certificate of occupancy covers a first-floor restaurant and parking, and in Case 154 of 2024 the Board approved part of the building for retail use. Architect Nate Hart said the roughly 2,000 sf kitchen has been there for decades and nothing about it would change. The property owner said a catering tenant has used it for close to 20 years, heating and delivering meals to nursing homes and day care centers, usually from about 6 or 7 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Discussion
Mitinger noted that the request is essentially to make the certificate of occupancy match a use that's already there. She asked about hours, employees, parking and the surrounding uses. The owner said the tenant might lose its contract, so he asked for broad hours (6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week) in case the kitchen goes back to banquet use. He said the site has 20 to 30 parking spaces and the caterer uses six to eight at most. Nearby are a closed church, long-vacant buildings, two apartments and a vending company's storage. Burton-Faulk and Richardson had no questions. One online attendee couldn't be heard and was invited to email comments to the Board.
Decision
Approved. The Board issued a written decision dated October 14, 2026, approving the special exception for the commercial kitchen use, with operations as described at the hearing. You can view the full decision here.
Zoning Case 114 of 2026 — 88 Climax Street (Beltzhoover)
City materials: Case packet · Meeting agenda
Summary of Case
Special exception under Section 921.02.A.4 to change a nonconforming use to vehicle/equipment repair (limited), plus a special exception from Section 916.04.C for less than the 15' residential compatibility parking setback, in an R2-H district (BDA-2025-11095). A 2004 certificate of occupancy allows the two-story building to be used for a contractor's storage of materials and equipment. The City cited the property in December 2025 for running an auto repair shop without a valid certificate of occupancy. The owners' engineer and one of the owners said they bought the building two to three years ago, that all repair work happens inside, and that the shop is open about 9 to 5 or 6, Monday through Saturday, with two employees. The owner admitted the outdoor parking had "gotten out of hand."
Discussion
Mitinger said passive storage in a residential district is very different from an active repair shop with cars coming and going, and asked whether the shop could run without parking any cars outside. The owner said it could by scheduling only the vehicles that fit inside. Two Lafferty Avenue neighbors testified in opposition, with photos of cars packed into lots and along the alley behind the shop and on Montooth Street, cars parked on one neighbor's property, and work on weekends. They also raised rodents and blocked streets. A lifelong resident said the building had been used for small-scale auto repair before but never for storing cars outside. Both said they don't object to repair work inside the building if the lots are cleaned up. The owners said many of the cars came with the property, which they bought from a towing and mechanic business, and promised to clear them. Mitinger told them the Board still has to decide whether the use can continue at all, and urged them to start fixing the problem now.
Decision
Hearing closed; decision pending. The Board accepted the exhibits and neighbors' photos and will issue a written decision within the 45 days the Code allows. No decision has been received yet.
Also on the Agenda
Zoning Case 106 of 2026 — 900 West North Avenue (Central Northside)
City materials: Case packet
Special exception under Section 911.02 and a variance from Section 911.04.A.92 to allow a firearms business within 500' of a rehabilitation center and a church in an NDI district (BDA-2026-03840). The Chair announced that the applicant withdrew the application and the hearing was canceled. Any new application would have to be reposted and heard again.
Summary prepared with the assistance of AI from the public YouTube recording. This is not an official City of Pittsburgh record.
