EDITORIAL – Compromise key in ‘Burgh development dichotomy

As Pittsburgh continues its metamorphosis from dusty steel town to innovative business and… As Pittsburgh continues its metamorphosis from dusty steel town to innovative business and cultural center, members of the community have been forced to promote two interests that can both conflict and collide: aesthetics and economy.

While development ventures like the South Side Works and the Waterfront district have proven successful in transforming both the economy and aesthetic appeal of once steel-mill-covered riverfront areas, other ventures have had less unanimity in their approvals.

Recent projects, including the Majestic Star Casino (and the 10-story parking garage that will stand beside it), the new Penguins’ arena and a 1,200-square-foot electronic billboard on the corner of Liberty Avenue and 11th Street, have received support from community developers and politicians but opposition from members of the design community.

To get a good idea of the billboard plan and the striking contrast between the response from members of Pittsburgh’s design community and the response from city developers, we can simply look at the opposing viewpoints of Anne-Marie Lubenau, president of the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh and Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Pat Ford, as reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Grant Street “represents our values, and our vision for the entire community,” Lubenau said. “Is that the first impression that we want to give people of our community – commercial advertising?”

“I like signs,” said Ford. “It tells us that we’re vibrant, that we’re lively, that we like business.”

And there you have it.

The billboard is either going to make Pittsburgh the ugliest city south of Buffalo, N.Y., or the next Las Vegas. Take your pick.

But personal preferences aside – some people are mystified by the lights and glow of Las Vegas – the city zoning code doesn’t allow the construction of new billboards except on sites where they existed before the code was passed. In order to get by this restriction, the project must qualify under one of the code’s exceptions, which Ford and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl claim it does, citing that state law gives businesses the right to modernize. They also claim that the construction of this billboard would be traded for the removal of others and that the zoning administrator “is entitled to [approve] minor amendments to site plans,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said. Apparently, the $7 million add-on would be a “minor” amendment.

We’re disappointed that Ravenstahl is standing behind the billboard proposal, particularly because the mayor recently praised another plan for urban development – one that seems to directly oppose the spirit of constructing the electronic billboard: the Paris to Pittsburgh program, which was recently announced by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.

We’ve said all along that Pittsburgh needs to remain Pittsburgh (not Paris, not Las Vegas), and something we really value in our city is its skyline. A similar plan to construct a billboard Downtown was proposed but rejected by city planners in 2004 because they found that the sign would not contribute positively to the urban landscape. What’s different now? Nothing.

Developing our city means modernizing it but also keeping aesthetics in mind. Our design and business communities need to work together to further Pittsburgh’s renaissance, and the best way to do that is by listening to each other.

We urge politicians like Ravenstahl and developers like Ford to listen to the design community and activist groups like the Riverfront Task Force, which has provided a plan to revitalize the city’s riverfronts. Collaboration has proven most successful in developing Pittsburgh, and it will continue to promote the best interest for our community.