A Pittsburgh councilman has offered a compromise that could pave the way for consultants to finish a costly, controversial master plan for the city.
Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, previously pushed for clawing back about $2 million that had not yet been spent on the $6 million effort.
On Wednesday, he said he would support using some of that money to finish the plan — if the administration sought outside funding first.
The master plan is meant to guide zoning and development in the city for the next 25 years. Acting Director of the Department of City Planning Ivette Mongalo-Winston said she believes the plan — which was launched under former Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration — is worth completing.
“The comprehensive plan represents what we expect the city to look like in 25 years,” Mongalo-Winston said, explaining it should guide decisions on where to build housing or launch businesses.
It also is meant to guide zoning code updates.
Council members last year voted in favor of terminating contracts with Pittsburgh-based Common Cause Consultants — which is handling community engagement — and HR&A Advisors, which was tasked with preparing the plan’s technical elements.
Gainey refused to scrap the contracts.
Coghill then reintroduced legislation to end the contracts when Mayor Corey O’Connor took office. Coghill says he intends to pause his push to halt the work.
The city, he pointed out, already spent about $4 million.
“We don’t want that to go by the wayside and just be a waste of $4 million,” he said.
Instead, Coghill intends to ask his council colleagues to pause the bill that would terminate those contracts while the O’Connor administration seeks funding from foundations or other entities.
Coghill’s hope is that the city will be able to finish the plan with a donation from an outside entity and save the $2 million in taxpayer dollars allocated to the project.
Even if the administration can’t find that cash elsewhere, Coghill said he would support spending additional money to get the plan across the finish line — though he hopes it won’t take the full $2 million that remains available.
“But if we need to use that money, I will commit to using it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the planning department’s Mongalo-Winston pledged to provide a timeline and a budget. She promised to share detailed information with council “so there’s full transparency about the process and what to expect and how the dollars are being spent.”
Mongalo-Winston said she is working to identify “what constituencies were not at the table” to provide input on the plan so far.
Council members last year criticized the plan, in part because they felt efforts to garner widespread community feedback were not as robust and inclusive as they’d hoped.
Mongalo-Winston also vowed to craft a comprehensive plan that is attainable.
“I don’t believe in planning that can’t get built,” she said. “This is not some abstract plan. If you can’t build it or actually accomplish that, don’t put it in the plan. It needs to be economically feasible. It needs to align with goals of council, the mayor’s office, everybody. People need to be bought in. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time.”
The discussion came during a public interview of Mongalo-Winston by council ahead of a vote on her nomination as department director. Council could vote as soon as next week.