Council holds public hearing on conditional-use application for Pittsburgh Water campus upgrades

Pittsburgh City Council held a public hearing Thursday on Council Bill 21-51, which transmits a conditional-use application from Pittsburgh Water to allow demolition, new construction and site work at the utility’s treatment campus at 900 Freeport Road in the Twelfth Ward.

City Planning senior planner Joe Fraker told council the application (DCP ZDR 202400328) was transmitted following a favorable Planning Commission action on July 29, 2025. Fraker said the project would replace the existing fluoride building with a new chemical storage building, construct an 84-inch clear-well bypass pipe to the south of the existing clear well, and carry out related site work while maintaining service to the treatment system during construction.

The application identifies work within the riparian buffer along the Allegheny River. Fraker said the campus is classified as a "water-dependent facility," which allows certain deviations from riparian-buffer standards under the zoning code. That classification, he said, permits the proposed building to sit within what would otherwise be the 125-foot buffer and allows tree removal tied to the clear-well bypass construction.

"In this case, the applicant has opted for funds in lieu, which comes out to a total of $636,000 for the removal of 2,122 combined inches of trees. This has been paid to the city's Street Tree Commission Trust Fund," Fraker said.

City planning staff also requested that the applicant commission a study outlining potential improvements to the concrete revetment along the Allegheny River adjacent to the work area. Fraker said a 2021 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study identified the revetment as being in poor condition; the applicant indicated an intent to commission the requested study as part of a future raw-water-intake permitting effort.

Fraker told council the project would include perimeter security fencing in locations required by state or federal regulations and that a development-activities meeting was held with the Lincoln-Lemington Collaborative on May 29; a DIM report is included in the council packet. He said review by the Contextual Design Advisory Panel was not recommended.

The Planning Code requires a council public hearing on conditional-use applications within 45 days of Planning Commission action unless the applicant agrees to an extension; Fraker said Pittsburgh Water provided a letter authorizing that extension. He also said the resolution transmitting the conditional-use application may be enacted with five affirmative council votes, but no council vote occurred at the public hearing.

No registered speaker appeared for the hearing; a member of the public in chambers offered unrelated public testimony after the hearing concluded. With no vote taken, the bill remains pending council action.