As the rain grew harder outside, the voices of the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition grew harder inside—their message was simply, “Vote No.”
“No” to LG Realty’s Final Land Development Plan (FLDP) for the former Penn Plaza buildings site, which is to construct a new nine-story retail and luxury office development complex.
The Feb. 12 press conference Downtown called by the Support and Action Coalition was followed by the members’ entry into the Pittsburgh Planning Commission’s regular bi-weekly 1 p.m. meeting, where the Commission was expected to render a vote to approve or deny LG Realty’s plan for the now-vacant Penn Plaza site. As of New Pittsburgh Courier deadline Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 12, the Commission’s vote was unknown.
But what was certain was how the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition feels.
“We believe LG Realty’s plan still has not adequately met several of the zoning code’s criteria…these criteria require the project to have net positive social and environmental impact. LG Realty’s analyses do not satisfy these criteria,” said organizer Crystal Jennings in a prepared statement.
“Prior to the FLDP, LG Realty destroyed Penn Plaza and displaced hundreds of tenants,” Jennings added. “These evictions endangered the public health, safety, morals, comfort, or general welfare…In some instances, the collateral from displacement has caused premature morbidity and mortality. Displacement also negatively impacts job security, financial stability, and mental health. These negative impacts are missing in LG Realty’s environmental and social impact analysis.”
Alethea Sims, a longtime East Liberty resident, said there used to be hundreds of families in the neighborhood in affordable housing. Now her neighbors worry about whether they should, among other things, pay the rent or pay for prescriptions.
“LG Realty has a beautiful design for office space, but the city itself said it doesn’t need more office space,” Sims said. “What it needs is affordable housing. We want the planning commission to deny any office development that doesn’t first have a plan to house people.”
Randall Taylor, also a member of the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition, said they will be relentless in their pursuit to have the project shut down and housing built.
“It’s time for the city to stand with the people and not greedy developers,” he said. “And (since East Liberty Development Inc. and the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. signed off on this court-ordered development deal) it’s time to seriously reform our community development corporations.”
Timothy McNulty, communications director for Mayor Bill Peduto, stressed to the Courier that Peduto was not involved in the planning nor advocating for a retail and luxury office complex on the Penn Plaza site. Peduto “was instead focused on finding new homes for displaced residents with the help of Neighborhood Allies,” McNulty said.
If the Pittsburgh Planning Commission approves the LG Realty FLDP, it would next go to Pittsburgh City Council for a vote.
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