Pittsburgh City Council hears request to convert 1835 Forbes Ave to Passport Academy charter school; neighbor raises safety concerns

Pittsburgh City Council convened a public hearing Monday, June 15, on Bill 2026-0481, a resolution seeking conditional-use approval to allow Passport Academy Charter School to operate at 1835 Forbes Avenue in the Uptown public realm district.

Christian Johnson, senior planner with the Department of City Planning, told council that the application, filed by Wildman Thomas Design on behalf of Passport Academy, followed the city’s public-notice rules and was given a positive recommendation by the Planning Commission on April 21, 2026, with two conditions: that all zoning permits be reviewed and approved before final record of zoning approval and that final construction plans, including site plans and elevations, be reviewed.

Robert Max Yunker, an attorney with Babst Calland representing the applicant, said the proposal is a change of use only — converting an existing medical office to a school — and that the applicant is under an agreement of sale and in a due-diligence period with final dates at the end of the month. Yunker emphasized the project requires no building additions and that submitted compliance materials and an operations memo address the zoning code’s conditional-use criteria.

Joe Oliphant, principal and CEO of Passport Academy Charter School, described the school as a public charter authorized by Pittsburgh Public Schools that serves students aged 16 to 21. Oliphant said the school typically enrolls 125–150 students with two staggered daily sessions; because students choose either a morning or afternoon session, he said about 60–70 students are in the building at any one time and students attend in person for roughly three hours. He added that the school does not provide traditional yellow-bus service and that the vast majority of students use Port Authority bus passes and two nearby bus stops to reach the site.

Oliphant outlined Passport Academy’s career-readiness focus and named several community partners, including the R.K. Mellon Foundation (which supported program development), Carnegie Mellon’s robotics academy and local workforce programs such as Industrial Arts Workshop and Ace Vision. He said the model centers on small class sizes and partnerships that provide workplace and pre-apprenticeship pathways.

During the public-comment period, Stephen (Steve) Walsh, a homeowner at 1904 Fifth Avenue who said he has lived in the neighborhood 18 years, objected to placing a school at that site. Walsh said the blocks surrounding the proposed location are “rife with drug use and sales, prostitution and homelessness,” that Watson Street functions as a “drug supply line,” and that parts of the area are known locally as “Crack Alley.” He said those street conditions would expose students walking to and from nearby transit stops multiple times each day and that residents are already coping with long-term construction, parking problems and what he described as other unwanted neighborhood changes.

Oliphant told the hearing he had met with Walsh and said he hoped to work collaboratively with neighbors to address concerns. No member of council took a vote at the hearing; the clerk noted the Planning Department’s positive recommendation and the meeting was adjourned after public comment. The bill remains pending before council; the applicants said they hope for a positive vote at an upcoming council meeting.