Shadyside residents pledge to fight proposed CMU dorm

Residents of four townhouses on Clyde Street in Shadyside say they will fight to the end a proposal to build a Carnegie Mellon University dormitory on their street.

The city zoning board held a hearing Thursday on whether the proposed building meets requirements for a zoning “special exception,” which requires it to have no detrimental impacts in a number of areas, including visuals, traffic, health and safety, and property values.

Residents argued that Clyde, a short one-way street between Ellsworth and Fifth avenues, is a residential street that would be detrimentally affected by the 268bed dorm.

Carnegie Mellon representatives said they had considered potential impacts in designing the building. For example, they pointed to plans to have no entrances facing Clyde; the main entrance will face Fifth, instead.

The area is zoned for educational, medical and institutional buildings, as part of a 2015 city-approved amendment to Carnegie Mellon’s institutional master plan, but the site’s use for a residential building, rather than for

academic or research purposes, requires special approval.

Following the hearing, the university and the residents were given four weeks, until June 13, to submit additional evidence. The board will make a decision within 45 days of June 13. The building will also have to win approval from the city planning commission.

“We’ll be involved in every step of the process,” said Mike Simko, a resident of one of Clyde’s four townhouses.

The residents said there was no way they would accept a dormitory on their street. The property is currently a parking lot, and Mr. Simko said offices and classrooms would also be acceptable.

“Clyde Street was always a quiet residential street,” said Don Sharapan, another resident. “They want to turn it into animal house, have 200 kids running around with cars, who knows what kinds of activities, and noise.”

Robert Reppe, director of planning and design for Carnegie Mellon, told the board that the school already has a number of residential buildings near the proposed dorm, including several student apartment buildings owned by the university.

Thomas Cooley, director of housing services for the school, said the university has rules for residents and students, including quiet hours from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from midnight to 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

“Are there many complaints regarding students in this neighborhood?” said Kevin McKeegan, an attorney who represents the university.

“Not that I know of,” Mr. Cooley said.

“The reality is, our neighbor will not be Carnegie Mellon, it will be 260 undergraduate students,” said Clyde Street resident Mike Goldstein.

“That’s 260 young people exiting and entering this building every single day and congregating at entrances and exits ... at all hours of the day and night.”

Regarding residents’ concerns about student vehicles, Mr. Cooley said the university does not allow students to get neighborhood parking permits, so any students with cars living in the residence would have to either receive one of a limited number of permits for university lots or pay for parking elsewhere.

According to Mr. Reppe, work is underway on addressing pedestrian safety and traffic concerns.

“This is a big concern, that there’s not a safe pedestrian crossing between Morewood [Avenue] and Neville [Street]. So we’re working with the city to install a traffic light.”

Ralph Ruggiero, an attorney representing the Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic Church on the west corner of Fifth and Clyde, worried that the university residence would overshadow the “iconic building” and the icons in its facade.

Residents also complained that they did not receive sufficient notice of the university’s plans.

“The great university kept this a complete secret. We, the residents of Clyde Street, were never notified, ever, not once,” Mr. Sharapan said.

“[Carnegie Mellon University] notified nearly 280 neighbors and several neighborhood associations of the May 16 hearing, allowing them to review the plans in advance of it. CMU believes in being a good neighbor by engaging in transparent discussions with those who live near our university,” university spokesman Jason Maderer responded in a statement following the hearing.

“We strongly believe that providing university-managed living environments are in the best interests of both the student experience and our near-campus neighborhoods,” Mr. Maderer said.

“We think it’s important to have greater control of our students and their lived experiences,” Mr. Cooley said at the hearing.