Rustbelt Radio

On January 14th the Pittsburgh Planning Commission's approved the Penguins' new $290 million arena. The community coalition One Hill subsequently filed an appeal on February 12th to overturn the decision. They cited a variety of flaws in the design the planning process and most importantly the lack of a community benefits agreement.
 

Paul Ellis, attorney for the One Hill Coalition, outlined the grounds for the appeal at a downtown press conference

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Speaking with KDKA, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl questioned the necessity of One Hill’s appeal filing.

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Paul Ellis had referenced commissioner Todd Reidbord who had left the January 14th Public Hearing to attend a Pitt basketball game thus missing many of the Public comments. After the game he returned to the meeting to cast a vote in favor of the arena plan which passed 5-3. One Hill also said that many of those opposed to the arena plan were not given the opportunity to speak at the January 14th meeting.

Marimba Millones (pronounce Mih Lo Nays), Board chair of the Hill District Community Development Corporation spoke out at an earlier city commission meeting in December to articulate why a community benefits agreement is so crucial.

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She says that while there are many concerns over parking and design issues, the core issue is the Penguins' unwillingness to sign a community benefits agreement.

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With this pending appeal, One Hill hopes that work on the arena will stop until an agreement with the community is reached.