6th Ward Block Watch Notes
Notes for 6th Ward Block Watch Meeting – 8/22/2016
Thanks to Pints on Penn for hosting! This meeting covered public safety, 2 construction projects, and a bar update. The other project notes will also be posted separately for clarity.
Public Safety Report – Zone 2 Community Relations Officer Antoine Davis
- 2 burglaries (see attachment for full report)
- Encourages residents to use silent complaint form
- Especially good if you don’t want to be seen talking to police or don’t want to be involved
- Many examples of these leading to arrests
- Can fill these out at Lawrenceville United
- Difference between 311 and 911
- Call 911 for anything that requires immediate attention – even noise violations
- Can take 311 much longer to route it to police or to get someone to attend to it
- Looking to bring manager of 311 out to upcoming Block Watch
- CCR # is issued for everything police respond to (not just police reports)
- Hard for police or LU to follow up on anything without the CCR #, so make sure you record it.
- Murder on Donson Street in 10th Ward
- Actually in Zone 5’s area – contact Michael Gay, Community Relations Officer for Zone 5.
- Tied to other crimes – investigation is ongoing, so can’t speak about where things are at
Roasted – Pete Landis
- Feels like he is a part of Lawrenceville community now
- Part of Market Square Association, which works with Zone 2 police often
- Work together to improve community, reduce crime
- Current status of Roasted
- Back deck was an area of concern for nearby residents when building owned by Eclipse
- Used to create a lot of noise complaints
- No permit for it, not in compliance with zoning
- During previous meeting with impacted residents, Pete had promised not to retain it in response to these community concerns
- Created enclosed porch instead, where folks can do dinner/drinks
- Doubled size, but no noise complaints – seems to be working out for everyone
- Opened already
- Not open for lunch yet but hoping to get there soon
- Current hours:
- Monday-Thursday: 5-11 PM
- Friday-Saturday: 5 PM-2 AM
- Ideally going to start doing lunch and eventually do Sundays as well
- Renovations of space
- Front façade: pulled off glass block from Bill’s Tavern and restored façade
- Didn’t have to do this because not designated as historic, but preserved it to historic standards anyway
- Wanted to keep historic look, make it look like it’s been there for years
- Residents who remember Bill’s Tavern have told him that Bill would be proud!
- Front windows can open during warmer months
- Seats 8 people between inside and outside and creates communal table feel.
- Menu
- Back to basics: not modern deep-frying equipment, just good drinks and oven-roasted food
- Cocktail program: easy highball drinks (different sizes offered), historical cocktails from 1800s-1960s
- Food: everything is oven roasted, seasoned & slow-roasted, served “au jus”
- Tweaking menu as they go, but available now online at roastedpgh.com
- Collaboration with other 6th Ward businesses
- Working to get all business owners together to create dialogue, contribute back to community
- Working to resolve parking impact on the residential neighborhood: collaborative valet parking to a lease with parking lots
- Thinking they will incentivize customers to use it with discounts
- Vice President of the West Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, so have lots of good connections with state and governmental agencies to help get some of these things done.
- Hiring: growing and looking to hire
- Front façade: pulled off glass block from Bill’s Tavern and restored façade
- Back deck was an area of concern for nearby residents when building owned by Eclipse
211-219 39th Street – Senko Construction & Moss Architects
Chris Senko
- Purchased 211-219 38th Street with intent to create 5 new townhomes there
- ZBA Hearing: September 22nd
- History of owners, Senko Construction
- # of projects completed locally in Northside, Oakland, Lawrenceville
- Doughboy Square townhomes
- Shops @ Doughboy
- Begin in 1996, started development in 2004
- Used to working in high density urban neighborhoods
- Plans to mitigate impact on residents
- Connecting with developers at 216 38th Street to coordinate street openings/closures, sidewalk closures, using same contractor most likely in order to minimize headache on neighbors
- Keeping dumpsters off road if possible, keep on site is the goal
- Ideally place port-a-johns on site as well
- Timing: with ZBA approval, would break ground on 3/1/2017 with 8 months construction (to be completed end of October 2017)
- Most inconveniences to neighbors would be at the front end of the timeline (e.g. road work)
- # of projects completed locally in Northside, Oakland, Lawrenceville
Andrew Moss
- Lives next door to site
- White house on site to be torn down
- Five 20’ lots
- Plan to keep new houses on top of hill, set back from street
- Keep site wall low, terracing of site for yards
- Trying to maintain stone wall
- 2-car garages at back of each house
- Front = staircase, front year
- Keeping slope of 38th Street, homes to step up with grade as go up the hill
- 3 bedrooms, 2 bath
- Variances needed
- Relatively minor compared to other projects in the neighborhood
- Side setbacks: zoning requires 5’, asking for 0’
- Setbacks are internal to the site
- Rear setback as well
- No height variances needed
- Balconies on front: classified as separate variance but also setbacks
- Design
- Masonry ground floor, steel panel for upper floors, top floors to be cement or siding panel
- New street trees and sidewalks
Q&A
- Rege Ricketts (255 38th St): When to start?
- Chris Senko: March 1, 2017. 8 months maximum so expect to be done at the latest by late Octobrer
- Jenna DiMenno (229 38th St): This will create extra traffic on Obregon Street, which is a blind turn. Any plans to create a mirror there?
- Andrew Moss: Definitely open to it.
- Matt Galluzzo: City does it in blind spots, can coordinate with them.
- Pete Landis (Roasted): Setbacks are newer – why required in the rear?
- Andrew Moss: How it’s written in the code, but doesn’t really reflect how homes have been built in Lawrenceville historically.
- Cory Ricci (LU Board member): Price range?
- Senko: Market-rate. Haven’t set the price yet but expecting around $570,000.
- Erika Gidley (233 38th Street): If don’t get the zoning approval for the rear setback, what is Plan B?
- Andrew Moss: Parking pads in the back.
- Matt Galluzzo: Not providing parking would require an additional variance.
- Jim Petruzzi (3918 Liberty Ave): Obregon is a very dangerous road.
- Senko: No plans for Obregon, but talks with city to topcoat Foster Street.
216 38th Street – Moss Architects and E Properties
- Andrew Moss
- ZBA Hearing = 9/8
- Coordinating between the developers to mitigate negative impact on neighbors
- Proposing to build property line to property line and to front property line
- Next to property currently under construction on 38th St
- Garage to be accessed off alleyway, set back 5’ because alley so narrow
- Variances
- Almost identical to project across the street
- No height variance
- Setback variances, variance for rooftop deck
- Design
- Masonry base, cement board panel and siding up center
- Small canopy covering front entrances
- Same height as property under construction nextdoor
- Emeka – E Properties
- Offcie on 47th (?) and Butler
- Currently doing McCleary School Condos project
- Very active in Lawrenceville
- Working with project across the street to address concerns about port-a-johns, construction, road openings
- Looking to use same contractors
- Size and scale of project is comparable to other projects in the area that E Properties has done
- Q & A
- Brandon Dunlevy (234 38th St): Large pothole on 38th Street resulted from other construction.
- Emeka: Sub-contractor opened it, working to solve it with contractors and the city.
- Matt: Timeline on getting this done.
- Emeka: Hopefully next few weeks.
- Rege Ricketts (255 38th St): Properties up from Cantina are huge eye sores – what’s going on with them? Someone was supposed to do something with them.
- Matt: LC tried to take through the Treasurer’s Sale, but taxes were paid off before we could get them. Property owner still sitting on them, not doing anything.
- Jenna DiMenno (229 38th Street): 1-car or 2-car garages?
- Emeka: 1 each, 2 total
- Andrew Moss: if small cars, can probably fit 2.
- Jenna: Most people have 2 cars these days. Should consider pushing parking into the site more to fit 2 spots back-to-back.
- Mike Cummins (236 38th St): Every setback including height?
- Andrew Moss: Not height – staircase doesn’t count and is permitted by right
- Mike: But looking for setbacks on all sides?
- Andrew: Not rear but sides and front.
- Mike: Seems like you’re trying to jam more in than necessary. Already significant issues with parking. Lot seems better suited for something similar to the adjacent property and house.
- Brandon Dunlevy (234 38th St): Large pothole on 38th Street resulted from other construction.
