Downtown Billboard Targeted in Court

A local nonprofit has petitioned the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas to order the removal of a large electronic billboard in downtown Pittsburgh.

Scenic Pittsburgh Executive Director Mike Dawida says he was driven to file a complaint in court after months of being ignored by the city’s Bureau of Building Inspection.

Hanging over 11th Street at the Greyhound station, the 1100-square-foot sign remains incomplete three years after construction began.

Lamar started to build the sign in February 2008 with city approval, but City Council said it violated a no-billboard zoning area and later put a moratorium on all electronic billboards.

Dawida says a court order should force the city to remove it right away.

“They have two options: they can tear it down themselves and bill the Lamar company, or they can ask Lamar to tear it down themselves,” says Dawida. “Either way would be fine by me, but it should be torn down.”

Dawida says the billboard is an eyesore and the city should stand by the public zoning process.

The Acklin Plan

Independent Mayoral Candidate Kevin Acklin has unveiled a plan to reinvest in Pittsburgh neighborhoods if elected. Called The Acklin Plan, it has many bullet points that include restructuring the Bureau of Building Inspection and creating a one-stop program for potential small business owners who want to build in the city. He also has initiatives to bring at least one community development project to every neighborhood in Pittsburgh within a four-year span. Acklin says investing in BBI would improve many aspects of the city.

“We have vacant properties. We have absentee landlords, and BBI is the agency that’s supposed to be the enforcing these code violations. The mayor has proposed a 10 percent cut in his budget to BBI,” he says.

He says that by reinvesting in city neighborhoods, it would grow the city over time.

Bureau of Building Inspection makes changes

Pittsburgh's Bureau of Building Inspection (BBI) has a new chief and will be undergoing many changes starting in January. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said he wants the BBI to be more effective in what they do in order to better serve the community. Ravenstahl named Sergei Matveiev as the new chief of the bureau. There will be changes in code inspection. It will be an integrated process. Also, inspectors will be provided with much-needed tools, including handheld computers and bureau-provided vehicles. New inspectors will take proper training classes, and older inspectors can also take classes to be better trained in what they do. The costs to provide all of this is expected to exceed $1 million, but Ravenstahl believes "it's a worthwhile investment."

Bureau of Building Inspection Under Review

Pittsburgh's Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (ICA) announced that a review of the Bureau of Building Inspection (BBI) by TriData is currently underway. Two reports on the Fire and EMS bureaus, have already been completed. TriData's BBI report is set to be finished by the end of this month or the beginning of August. ICA Executive Director Henry Sciortino says the reports will be useful for determining the most efficient means of providing public safety services. The BBI review was commissioned on June 6, and TriData has been reviewing the group since July 1.