Pittsburgh councilmembers renew push to address homelessness with village of tiny houses
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Two Pittsburgh City Council members are renewing efforts to address the challenge of finding housing for people who are experiencing homelessness by using tiny homes and converting public space into temporary housing.
Pittsburgh City Councilmembers Anthony Coghill and Deb Gross are reintroducing legislation once in the Fair Housing Act. They want it to stand alone.
"We felt it critical at this time to pull this out of the original package of amendments and to push it forward because it's critical as far as timing goes. We want to have options for our unhoused population going into next winter," explained Coghill.
The idea is to convert empty lots into a village of tiny homes or turn public facilities into transitional and affordable housing. It would be run by the Department of Human Services, and people would be placed by social services.
"If we had this kind of housing that we are proposing in this language then people wouldn't be stuck in congregate shelter and those wouldn't be full and then people wouldn't be stuck outside," said Councilwoman Deb Gross.
There are so many competing ideas on how to address homelessness. Coghill and Gross hope by separating the bill from the Fair Housing Act, first introduced by Mayor Ed Gainey, it will face less roadblocks.
"We were fine with that but after seeing it's problematic in some ways and again it's not hit our desk," said Coghill.
Last month, people crowded the fifth floor of the City-County Building demanding community input. A spokesperson for the mayor's office said any change of use declarations must be approved by the zoning board.