Pittsburgh City Council votes to end side yard sales program

The Pittsburgh City Council voted Tuesday to suspend a program that allowed property owners to buy adjacent vacant lots at a deep discount.

The Side Yard Sale program previously allowed people to purchase adjacent lots from the city for about $200. The idea was to take the vacant lots off the city’s board and back onto the tax roll, while giving residents green space and could acquire inheritances.

In August, Councilwoman Deb Gross sponsored legislation that would only offer the bargain price to people who actually live next to the lot. She sought the change to prevent out-of-state landlords and absentee owners from getting the rebate.

That bill was held up for weeks and after debate and discussion, Gross decided to halt the program while it was reconsidered.

The Council voted 6-3 on Tuesday to give final approval to the brakes. Councilors Anthony Coghill, Theresa Kail Smith and Bob Charland voted no.

When Gross first introduced the original bill, she said that as Pittsburgh’s real estate market has heated up, speculators have become more aggressive in acquiring city properties. She reiterated those concerns Tuesday.

“If external corporate real estate investment funds or private equity from other cities have this back door into cheap city property where they don’t actually build a community garden on it or anything, that was a bigger problem, that (we) needed to make sure we shut down the program when we discovered that,” she said.

Today’s real estate market is different than it was decades ago when the side yard program was started, she said. There are now more ways the city can deal with vacant lots, including through the Land Bank, treasurer sales and an “Adopt-a-Lot” program, where people can rent lots from the city.

“I think this is a really good time to look and see what types of opportunities are out there and who benefits from the different types of programs and how they fit together,” Gross said.

Gross wants a reexamination of the condition of the vacant lots, including a look at how many homeowners actually live next to a city-owned vacant lot. Because the program was specifically for side yards, she said she wants to reevaluate how much green space has been created by the program and where it is located.

“Are the city’s plots near places where more greenery is needed? Or does the city own land in places where we need more housing?” she said. “These are all open questions to which we do not yet know the answers.”

Not all council members were in favor of ending the program. Coghill said he would prefer to see it continue, especially because it reduces the workload for the Department of Public Works, which has to maintain the lots. He also noted that he opposed the original bill because he felt it would have discriminated against landlords.

“It makes me wonder: Why are we even messing with this?” he said. “This has proven to be a successful program, at least in my district. Many people have abused it. …I think it’s best to just keep it the way it is.”

He suggested increasing fees for the program to generate more revenue for the city.

Councilman Bobby Wilson, who voted yes on the proposal, expressed doubts about how many third-party developers were using the program. But he agreed a review was needed, especially as Council considers proposed zoning changes in the coming months.

A lot sold through the side yard program comes with deed restrictions that prevent the buyer from placing a new building on that lot: buyers are limited to making non-structural improvements, such as creating a garden, green space, a swimming pool or terrace.

But one of the upcoming zoning plans the Council will soon consider will allow the construction of new homes on smaller lots than previously allowed. Some vacant lots could now be considered for development, where previously they were not, Wilson noted.

“We don’t really have a good idea whether these side lots are buildable or not. So basically we have to work with probably an outside company to do the analysis,” Wilson said. As chairman of the land bank, he hopes the land bank can tackle many of the properties in the future.

Currently, there are about 10 side yard sale applications in the system, and they will continue to be processed, Gross said. The bill prevents further applications from being honored.