Two years of zoning reform head toward final approval, a ShotSpotter loophole fix lands at $1 million and $50,000 Vibrant Pgh membership gets revived

Top Agenda Items

• The long-running zoning rewrite moves to the finish line
• The $6.5 million ShotSpotter contract sparks a fix for a purchasing loophole
• Vibrant Pgh’s $50,000 membership gets a second chance

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The long-running zoning rewrite moves to the finish line 🔗

Two years after then-Mayor Ed Gainey submitted bills to Pittsburgh City Council to increase the amount of affordable housing in the city, that legislation is close to enactment.

During the Oct. 21 committee meeting, council voted to move forward with an amended legislative package that covers zoning changes to accessory dwelling units, inclusionary zoning, parking reform and minimum lot size.

“It is now one of the situations where it’s a compromise and no one’s really that happy, but, you know, that’s a good compromise when everybody has had to give up something,” said Council Member Deb Gross of Highland Park.

Of the items in the package, none has garnered more attention over the past two years than affordable housing.

Council voted last year to remove mandatory inclusionary zoning that would have required 10 percent of housing units to be affordable in new or renovated developments of 20 or more homes.

The new version, if approved by council, includes a voluntary program that offers incentives to developers to include affordable housing for low-income residents. Those units would be required to maintain the lower rent for at least 35 years, rather than the initially proposed 20.

Developers that provide affordable units would be able to build their buildings higher than zoning allows.

The bill also makes it easier to build accessory dwelling units, which includes small backyard houses, or basement and attic suites. They would be permitted on any lot that's primarily used for a residence, community center or religious assembly.

Additionally, it removes parking requirements for new development.

“There are hundreds of millions of dollars of new development that have been wasted on housing for cars instead of housing for people,” said Gross.

Council is expected to cast its final vote next week.

The $6.5 million ShotSpotter contract sparks a fix for a purchasing loophole 🔗

A bill before council would close a gap in the city’s contract procurement system that was revealed by a surprise five-year $6.5 million contract with ShotSpotter.

In November 2025, the administration used a cooperative agreement, which allows the city to piggyback on contracts held by other government bodies. This avoids the process in which there is a request for proposals. Contracts awarded through cooperative agreements also do not require council’s approval.

In the case of ShotSpotter, the government agency is in Minnesota.

Council Member Barb Warwick of Greenfield introduced legislation, as part of a larger set of bills, that was aimed at closing that loophole.

Warwick’s bill would require that any multi-year contracts estimated to be more than $30,000 within cooperative agreements to be approved by council. During the Oct. 21 committee meeting, it failed as introduced but received a positive recommendation after Council Member Bobby Wilson of Spring Hill amended the threshold to $1 million. 

Council members who were opposed to the $30,000 mark said that would make time-sensitive needs, such as emergency roof repair, unnecessarily cumbersome.

“There’s got to be a certain amount of trust in our department heads and in the people who make these decisions,” said Council Member Anthony Coghill of Beechview. Earlier this year, Coghill was quoted in an affidavit as saying that the prior administration took advantage of a different contract loophole.

After the vote, Warwick said, “We have completely given away the job that the people elected us to do, which is to oversee the finances of this city.”

Vibrant Pgh’s $50,000 membership gets a second chance 🔗

In a 5-4 vote, council reversed course and agreed to move forward with renewing a $50,000 annual membership to Vibrant Pgh. The committee initially gave the legislation a negative recommendation during its Sept. 23 committee meeting and tabled the matter until after meeting with the organization.

Council President R. Daniel Lavelle of the Upper Hill District, who was not present for the initial discussion last month, said the expense is a needed 0.0075% of the annual operating budget. He allowed that the city may not have been using the organization as much as it should be, but that recruiting, retaining and growing a diverse workforce talent pool is imperative to the city’s success. 

Council Member Khari Mosley of Point Breeze North, who abstained from the first committee vote, said Pittsburgh loses young college graduates to more diverse cities. He said meeting the goals of the comprehensive plan is directly tied to the city’s growth.

“There is no city in America that is growing simply because white men are doing well there. In order for this city to grow, we have to have a diverse pool of citizens,” said Lavelle. “A $50,000 investment into the growth of our city is well needed and well spent.”