Park Place Blog

Saturday, March 20, 2010, 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Mifflin Avenue United Methodist Church
905 Mifflin Ave, at Whitney Ave. [map]

Eastern area neighborhoods are once again partnering with various organizations, including the the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh to put on another free workshop for homeowners interested in improving the values of their homes. This year’s workshop will look at making homes more energy efficient.

1:30 – 2:30 Presentations on:

• Your home’s energy performance
• DIY energy improvements
• Getting professional help
• Alternative energy sources
• Tax credits, rebates and incentives
• Project planning and keeping it in style

2:30 -3:00 Breakout Sessions with Experts

• Pennsylvania Home Energy Program
• Window and Door companies
• Insulation and HVAC installers
• Energy audit providers
• and more!

Special Activities

• Volunteer architects from the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh will offer fess individual  “mini-consultations” on selecting the proper windows and doors for your home. So, bring pictures of the outside of your home to show them.
• Tours of the Mifflin Avenue Church and its historic windows

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:30 PM
Wilkins School Community Center [map]

Community meeting to become informed, share your ideas, and help plan our action for the next Environmental Charter School meeting.

You are a vital part of this area and your voice matters.

For more information, contact: ednsuek2005@hotmail.com

Additional information is available at: www.regentsquare-rsca.org/ECSForum.htm

(Note: this is not a GPPNA hosted meeting, we are merely passing information along to residents.)

Come hear about the proposed changes for the eastern area public schools, including proposed changes to the feeder patterns that may result in some or all of Park Place feeding to Westinghouse for grades 6-12 instead of Allderdice. This meeting is the rescheduled February 9th Meeting

The meeting will be from 7-9 PM at Pittsburgh Peabody High School, 515 N. Highland Ave. (East Liberty)

Read more about the Advisory Committee’s work here.

I attended the Wilkinsburg borough zoning board meeting tonight where they announced their unanimous decision to reject the requests from Abraxas Cornell to change the use of the building located at 306 Penn Avenue.

Currently the facility has a variance and non-conforming use granted, allowing them to house female juvenal offenders, while providing them programs for schooling, life skills, and substance abuse programs. The facility has operated, largely unknown and unnoticed by local residents, for the last 10 years.

The company had recently requested permission to change the non-conforming use in such a way as to allow the housing of adult, co-ed felons in the last months of their sentences. Additionally, they requested an accompanying variance to increase the permitted number of housed offenders.

The borough solicitor had argued against the granting of the requests, and submitted legal briefs to support the rejection. Many in the local community had attended previous hearings and also urged the board to reject the request.

I attended the Wilkinsburg Zoning hearing yesterday and have some additional information to share. The hearing was very well attended, and the crowd spilled out into the hall, as not everyone could fit into the hearing room.

First off the request is to change the offender population from juvenile females, to co-ed adults. It is not to mix the juveniles with adults. So the total proposed population is for 108 offenders.  The program is to take convicted offenders during the last 3 to 6 months of their sentence, and house them in the facility while providing life skill, job skill, and other counseling- with the goal of improving their reintegration with society.

Some specific questions/answers from the hearing, as answered by the facility’s representatives (Disclaimer: this is based on my notes and best recollection. There were almost 4 hours of questions/comments/testimony!):

1. Do the offenders leave the facility or otherwise interact with the community?
   Answer: The offenders will be able to leave the facility (unsupervised) for specific durations and activities such as job interviews, jobs, week-end passes to visit family, etc. They must return by predetermined times or an arrest warrant will be issued for them.
2. What are the nature of the crimes committed by the offenders?
   Answer: The (planned, not current) offenders  may be convicted of any felony (or lessor crime if they are coming from non-federal systems).  While the majority are expected to be non-violent offenders, a small percentage may have been convicted of violent crimes, and/or be sex offenders.
3. What security precautions are taken?
   Answer: The offenders are monitored within the facility by camera. There are some small number of security guards, in addition to employees. Schedules are set for the offenders and compliance is monitored, specifically for leave from the facility.
4. Doe the company operate other facilities? In residential communities?
   Answer: Yes. Two examples of residential communities provided are in Brownsville Texas, and Oakland California.
5. Are there any statistics available for crimes committed by resident offenders while in similar facilities operated by the corporation?
   Answer: No, not at the time of the hearing.
6. What is the basis of the plaintiff’s argument for the zoning variance (to allow 108 instead of the already permitted 19 resident offenders)?
   Answer: First, the institution would struggle to continue to function as a juvenile facility, and the already granted request to switch to adults, requires re-requesting of a variance to have more that the permitted 19 residents. More than 19 are needed to be viable as a business location.
   Second, other uses are very limited or impractical with the current building.
7. Was the impact or relation to the current neighborhood comprehensive plan considered or presented?
   Answer: No.
8. How long has the facility be operating in the community?
   Answer: Since 2000, they have housed female juvenile offenders. Currently they have about 72 residents.

The hearing lasted from 7:00Pm to after 11:00PM, with unlimited time for public questions and comments permitted. The Borough of Wilkinsburg’s representative before the board requested that the board deny the request for the variance.  The Board asked them and the plaintiffs to provide legal briefs prior to the next meeting, when they will announce their decision.

The next meeting is at
7:00pm, Thursday November 19
3rd Floor, 605 Ross Ave Wilkinsburg, PA 15221

The decision will be announced at that time.