Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto wants to transform the city Bureau of Building Inspection into a new Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections.
The intention of this effort is to streamline the department and make issuing permits and code enforcement more effective. Under the plan, the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, planning, zoning, building inspection bureau, and the housing authority would work together more cohesively, according to a spokesman for the mayor. The proposal would also impose a new rental registration program and fee targeted at keeping better track of problem landlords.
In a related development, Pittsburgh is attempting to overhaul a dated approach to land use and management. The city, working with a land bank approved by the city council earlier this year, wants to create a new and more efficient entity to hold and return vacant, derelict, and tax-delinquent property to productive to use.
“It’s ultimately about rebuilding neighborhoods,” the mayor’s chief of staff told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Related Stories
Building Technology | Jan 7, 2020
Tariff whiplash for bifacial solar modules
Bifacial solar systems offer many advantages over traditional systems.
Codes and Standards | Jan 7, 2020
New certification program for rigid core luxury vinyl tile
ASSURE CERTIFIED to establish industry-wide quality standards.
Codes and Standards | Jan 7, 2020
Boston’s beefed up wetlands ordinance will limit development
Conservation commission must consider future climate impacts when assessing new projects.
Codes and Standards | Jan 6, 2020
States pick up the slack in efficiency policy as federal government lags
With climate change deniers setting policy in Trump Administration, progress continues in statehouses.
Codes and Standards | Jan 6, 2020
OSHA plans multiple revisions to rules impacting construction industry in 2020
Cranes and derricks, welding in confined spaces, beryllium exposure, and more on docket.
Codes and Standards | Jan 3, 2020
Labor supply and capability of workers worry contractors
Three out of four firms plan to add workers in 2020.
Codes and Standards | Jan 3, 2020
Car-free streets could become common in major cities
New York and San Francisco establish thoroughfares dedicated to transit, pedestrians.
Codes and Standards | Jan 2, 2020
CRE professionals have increased interest in embodied carbon accounting, smart buildings
Survey also shows that interest in resiliency lags behind.
Codes and Standards | Jan 2, 2020
White paper focuses on Metal Composite Material labeling
Document part of effort to uphold industry standards for the product.
Codes and Standards | Dec 18, 2019
Hard Rock Hotel collapse in New Orleans puts spotlight on undocumented workers
Having helped rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina, many under threat of deportation.