Category Archive: Legislative / Advocacy
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State Historic Tax Credit Legislation
On May 4th, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation staff along with other community representatives traveled to Harrisburg to lobby for the passage of the State Historic Tax Credit Bill. The historic tax credits bill passed the House unanimously last fall and now as Senate Bill 820 is being considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The tax credit bill is also a line item on Governor Rendell’s proposed budget.
In addition to Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, representatives from communities including South Side, Friendship, Homestead, and Hazelwood joined the effort as well as staff from the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Downtown Living Initiative. Private developers as well as the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) assisted in the lobbying
effort.The lobbying coalition met with a dozen Senators and their staff to discuss the bill and the potential it offered for increased development activity in Southwestern Pennsylvania. For the most part there was a clear understanding of its significant economic impact. The Senators encouraged
the lobbying group to urge their respective constituents in Southwestern Pennsylvania to write to legislators, so that the widespread support is recognized.The proposed Historic Rehabilitation and Economic Revitalization Tax Credit Act is designed to capture investment capitalizing on historic rehabilitation. The highlights include:
• A 20 % tax credit on eligible redevelopment costs. The tax credits can be used to offset corporate net income tax, personal income tax, utility tax, insurance tax, bank and financial institute tax, and capital stock and franchise tax.
• It is modeled closely after the Federal Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit program.
• Developers can utilize separate investors for the state and federaltax credits and sell the credits to a third party who is not an investor in the project or partnership.
• Tax credits awarded on a competitive basis focusing on projects that create strong economic impact, have the greatest historical, cultural and architectural importance and are geographically diverse.
The statewide annual cap presently in Senate Bill 820 for tax credits is $20 million and individual projects may not receive more than $4 million. The budget line item is positioned at $11.5 million.
For additional information on this tax credit as well as that will be offered to private residence, please email info@pataxcredit.com
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Nomination of Five Carnegie Library Branch Buildings To Be City Designated Landmarks
February 5th, 2004
On Wednesday, March 3, 2004, the Historic Review Commission will make its reccomendation to City Council regarding the nomination of the five Carnegie Library Branch Buildings to be City Designated Historic Structures, accoring to a letter sent to Landmarks today by the Department of City Planning.
This recomendation, together with the recommendation of the City Planning Comission, will be transmitted to City Council for its review and for Council’s final decision.
The Public Hearing before the Planning Commission is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, March 23, 2004, after 2:00 p.m; in the first floor conference room at 200 Ross Street.
If you have any questions regarding the historic designation process, please contact Angelique Bamberg, Historic Preservation Planner at 412-255-2243, or Maria Burgwin at 412-393-0162.
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City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission Accepting Nominations for the 2004 Historic Preservation Awards
January, 28, 2004
Each year, in celebration of National Historic Preservation Week, the Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh hosts the Historic Preservation Awards Ceremony in which we honor building owners (individuals or organizations), architects and general contractors involved in outstanding interior or exterior building renovation/restoration projects or new construction that compliments the historic character of a neighborhood.
The 21 st Annual Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 7, 2004 at 12:00 Noon in City Council Chambers. Mayor Murphy and City Council Members will be invited to take part in the ceremony.
Preservation Week is the time to show how our community is working to preserve the unique historic places that we know and love.
The Criteria for nominating a project is below, including a link to dowload a Nomination Form (in .pdf format). Feel free to nominate more than one project for consideration by the Historic Review Commission. Please submit all nominations and before and after slides no later than Friday, March 26, 2004.
If you have any questions, please contact the Historic Preservation Office of the Department of City Planning at the contact information listed below.
Angelique Bamberg
Historic Preservation Planner412-255-2243
fax: 412-255-2838angelique.bambert@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Maria Thomas Burgwin
Historic Preservation Staff412-393-0162
fax: 412-255-2838maria.burgwin@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
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5 Library Branches Nominated to Be Historic Landmarks
Pittsburgh, Jan. 5 – Five original Andrew Carnegie-built library branches, of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, have been nominated to be City Designated Historic Structures, by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. A Preliminary Determination Hearing on the nomination will occur on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 at 3:30 p.m. in the first floor Hearing Room of the John P. Robin Civic Building (200 Ross Street, at Second Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh), before the Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh.
The library branches nominated include the branches in the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Hazelwood (opened 1900 August 15), Homewood (opened 1911 March 10), Lawrenceville (opened 1898 May 10),
Mount Washington (opened 1900 May 31), and West End (opened 1899 January 31).
The historic designation process could take several months. The historic nomination must be reviewed by the Historic Review Commission and the Planning Commission, both City agencies. At the end of the process, Pittsburgh City Council must approve designation, after reviewing the recommendations of the two commissions. If either commission gives a negative recommendation to the nomination, approval by City Council must be by a “supermajority” of votes.
Several public hearings will be held, on this nomination, throughout the designation process. The first public hearing, on Wednesday, is simply to provide evidence to the Historic Review Commission that these library branches may be eligible for historic designation, thus allowing the rest of the process to go forward.
Designation as City Designated Historic Structures would mean that these five libraries cannot be demolished, or their exteriors altered, without approval of the Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh. Such designation does not protect the interior of the building, or furnishings, equipment, or artifacts in the building.
Nor does designation require that the owner or lessee continue operations in the building. All five library buildings are owned by the City of Pittsburgh and leased by The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Although the Homewood Branch Library recently received a $3.5 million rehabilitation (from a bond-issue supported by the Allegheny Regional Asset District), Carnegie Library has proposed abandoning the Hazelwood Branch Library building, in opposition to the wishes of the majority of Hazelwood residents,, by moving the Hazelwood Branch to a second-floor rental unit three blocks away. Rumors persist that Carnegie Library would also like to abandon the Lawrenceville, Mount Washington, West End, and Allegheny Regional Branch (already a City Designated Historic Structure) library buildings, by moving those branch libraries to alternate sites.
Any citizen can attend and testify at any or all of the public hearings regarding this historic nomination. Prior registration to speak is not necessary, except for the final hearing before Pittsburgh City Council.
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Senate Bill 820 Moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee
December 31, 2003
Senate Bill 820 and its companion bills House Bill 951 and 952, provide financial incentives through the creation of State Historic Tax Credits for the restoration of historic residential and commercial properties. Twenty-one states have existing Historic Tax Credit legislation and States with these Historic Tax Credits report significant economic growth as a result. In order to be competitive with states in attracting development, the Pennsylvania Legislature needs to enact a State Historic Tax Credit as well.
If you wish further information about this important legislation, please access www.pataxcredit.com.
Copyright © 1997-2007 Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 100 West Station Square Drive, STE 450, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 U.S.A. All rights reserved. 1-412-471-5808, fax 412-471-1633.
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Carnegie Tables Historic District Ordinace
October 22, 2003
Council tabled action Oct. 14 on a proposed ordinance that would create and regulate historic districts in the borough.
Council member Jennifer Prion requested the ordinance be tabled until she can obtain information from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette
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New designs for Route 28 gains support – Proposals would spare church, industrial park
By Joe Grata,
Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Thursday, July 17, 2003Alternative designs initiated by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation only six months ago appear to be gaining support for the eventual reconstruction of a two-mile stretch of Route 28 between the North Side and Millvale.
Both options would save St. Nicholas Church, the first Croatian Roman Catholic Church in the United States, although the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese wants to close it, and Millvale Industrial Park, although the owner wants to get rid of it.
Historic preservation groups are rallying around the two sites along the dangerous, congested highway.
At a PennDOT-sponsored open house at the Boathouse on Washington’s Landing yesterday, many of the 300 people who turned out to look at plans and meet with engineers appeared to favor “Alternative 6,” which proposes to rebuild Route 28 essentially where it is, rather than “Alternative 5,” which would place six lanes of traffic on a 30-foot overpass only a flying hubcap away from the stained-glass “rose window” above St. Nicholas’ main entrance.
“No. 6 is a superb plan,” said Jack Schmitt, chairman of the Religious Structures Committee of Preservation Pittsburgh, who said new access and parking would enable the church’s dwindling congregation to grow. “It saves the church, preserves the green hillside and is cheaper” by $40 million.
No. 6 could be even cheaper if it were up to Andrew A. Lang Jr., owner of Millvale Industrial Park, home to a dozen small businesses.
Historic groups want to save that site because one of the buildings housed a brewery in the 19th century.
“There’s nothing historic about it,” Lang said of the building, which is now mostly a warehouse. “It’s been altered and remodeled 15 times. You’d never know a brewery ever existed there. Why does someone else have an interest in saving my place when I don’t?”
Tom Fox, PennDOT District 11 assistant executive for design, said while he may be inclined to accommodate Lang’s wish, federal laws require PennDOT to prove there’s no prudent and feasible alternative to buying and demolishing a historic structure, even though it might cost $20 million to save the one Lang owns.
Plans to rebuild the two miles of Route 28, known as the “death stretch” because of its accident history, have languished for years.
The highway, an extension of East Ohio Street past the Del Monte/Heinz plant, is a narrow four lanes with no divider or shoulders. Traffic bogs down at signals at the 31st and 40th street bridges.
PennDOT proposes spending $160 million to $200 million to reconstruct the stretch, although the timetable does not call for construction to begin before 2008.
Until six months ago, PennDOT’s design options would have eliminated St. Nicholas Church and Millvale Industrial Park and dislocated about 80 households, including some on Eggers Street atop Troy Hill. The plans would have meant constructing up to 20 miles of retaining walls over the two-mile stretch to shoehorn a limited-access expressway between the steep hillside on one side and Norfolk Southern Railway tracks on the other.
Fox credited George White, a retired civil engineering professor who is with the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, for coming up with new ideas that have since been modified to conform to the terrain and geometry at the two bridge intersections.
“My take on [the open house] is that the people favor Alternatives 5 and 6,” Fox said. “We’ll study the comments and recommend a final alternative for the draft environmental impact statement and hold a public hearing on it early next year.”
Nos. 5 and 6 would provide nonstop traffic flow on Route 28, as did the earlier plans, although the speed limit with No. 6 would be 40 mph and the horizontal profile would be narrow: a 5-foot sidewalk in front of St. Nicholas, a 2 1/2-foot-wide curb, two 12-foot southbound lanes, a concrete divider, two 12-foot northbound lanes and another 2 1/2-foot-wide curb.
Fox said accidents and breakdowns would stop traffic, as opposed to Alternative 5, which provides 10-foot-wide shoulders in each direction by elevating parts of the highway toward the river, over the railroad line.
White said special legislation could permit PennDOT to acquire half of the 52-foot-wide railroad right of way and build No. 6 as a first-class transportation facility at the present elevation, increasing the frontage at St. Nicholas and keeping the hillside in its natural state.
White said train traffic is so infrequent that Norfolk Southern does not need all of the four tracks passing through the site.
One more entity is planning to weigh in on PennDOT’s plans — the Riverlife Task Force, a group promoting preservation and controlled development along the city’s river corridors.
Attorney Ted McConnell of Kirkpartrick & Lockhart, a Downtown law firm that advises the task force, was at the open house, examining a total of 11 options that were posted on easels around the room.
“We’re concerned about the hillside, the visual impacts and the community impacts of what PennDOT plans to do,” he said. “We’re looking at the alternatives and determining if there are some appropriate mitigation measures that we can recommend.”
Joe Grata can be reached at jgrata@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1985.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette
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Speaker urges avoiding sprawl follies
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW REAL ESTATE WRITER
Saturday, June 7, 2003Some years ago, the state of Maryland provided about $12 million for a new road to help facilitate development of the Country Club Mall, a regional shopping complex built on a parcel of undeveloped land outside of the community of Cumberland.
About two years later, many of the smaller stores in downtown Cumberland had been closed, and ever since, public officials have been putting in money to revitalize the city’s business district.
Such is the folly of some of the economic development policies being practiced today throughout the United States, said Parris Glendening, a former governor of Maryland, and now a leading national advocate of the concept for development commonly known as “Smart Growth.”
“If you go throughout just about every state in the union and map development, you will find exactly the same type of patterns,” said Glendening, who was a keynote speaker in Oakland Friday at a symposium whose main focus was finding ways to deal with the growing problem of having thousands of abandoned buildings in Pittsburgh and other older communities.
The topic was important enough to draw about 300 community leaders, public policy activists, development experts and others to the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall at the invitation of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which was host and one of the cosponsors of the day-long event.
One of the foundation’s primary concerns is to prevent the unnecessary demolition of vacant buildings that may still be viable assets to the community, said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., president of the preservationist organization. The issue includes determining which structures are valuable and which are not.
“This is a problem that is not just a possible loss of buildings and infrastructure, but a problem that neighbors do not want abandoned buildings to stay abandoned,” Ziegler said. Another key question, he said, is to find out how to save some buildings and also have the time necessary to restore them. “We’re often talking about architectural assets, economic assets, cultural assets and neighborhood assets.”
The problem is fairly typical in cities across the country, said Glendening, who is now president of the Smart Growth America/Smart Growth Leadership Institute. In Maryland, for example, he said there are about 40,000 empty dwelling units within the borders of the city of Baltimore alone.
“People are moving further and further from our cities, to the older suburbs, to the newer suburbs, and abandoning each area as they move further out,” he said. “It is important to understand why cities like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and others all across this country are having this problem.”
Government entities are spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year for new roads, new water and sewer lines and new schools to accommodate urban sprawl, Glendening said. But at the same time, they find themselves having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to deal with social problems in the urban communities developers and businesses have left behind.
One answer is to follow development and tax polices that will help prevent abandonment of even more buildings in the first place, Glendening said. That is why his organization is working with local and state governments across the nation to identify policies that work to redirect economic energy to existing communities and prevent sprawl.
“What we have found is that many of the current administrative and zoning structures and actually the tax structure can actually discourage investment in existing communities and encourages people to go out and pave over one more farm or plough down one more forest,” he said.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Pittsburgh Tribune-Review