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Resiliency
This topic focuses on improving the community’s ability to sustain itself over the long-term, including decision-making that values sound economic development principles and care for the future of the natural environment as well as for Mt. Lebanon residents and community at large.
Vision
Mt. Lebanon positions itself for the future through decision-making that values sound financial and economic development principles and care for the future of the natural environment. It preserves historic character, prioritizes ecological resilience, and enables robust commercial, residential and nonprofit sectors.
Strategies
To achieve its vision for improved resilience, Mt. Lebanon will pursue strategies in four areas of concentration – local ecology, sustainable practices, land use and development, and business districts. Completing the listed implementation steps will place the municipality on the path toward desired improvements.
Expand the tree canopy management plan
This plan recognizes the community’s tree canopy as a facet of its infrastructure network. This includes trees on public property, including parks, as well as street trees and trees on private property.
Action Steps
a. Determine the full annual cost of proactive maintenance of municipal street trees as a future budget consideration.
Status: NOT STARTED
b. Implement a forest management and stewardship plan for municipally- owned parks and open spaces as noted in the Parks and Recreation chapter.
Status: ONGOING
c. Link sidewalk maintenance and tree canopy management as appropriate. Status: ONGOING
d. Reduce impact of diseased and dying trees through replacement strategies. Status: ONGOING
e. Plant tree types best suited to thrive in a changing climate, with guidance provided in the municipal code of ordinances. Status: ONGOING
f. Install a tiny forest (Miyawaki forest) as a pilot project on a visible site. This involves the dense, multi-layered planting of native species, as a way to quickly generate diverse forest ecosystems in urban environments. Status: nOT STARTED
Partner with the school district and community groups to create and implement planting plans and native tree acquisition for elementary schools, to increase shade and capture stormwater.
Partners could include the parent-teacher associations and the Mt. Lebanon Nature Conservancy.
Action Steps
a. Consider installation of community gardens on school properties. Status: NOT STARTED
b. Continue annual tree planting celebration of Earth Day at elementary schools. Status: ONGOING
c. Consider the creation of educational spaces within parks areas to create learning opportunities for students. Status: NOT STARTED
Revise ordinances to address issues related to site ecology and climate action.
Action Steps
a. Revise ordinances to better enable property owners to intentionally transition their lawns to native plant landscapes while maintaining harmony with property maintenance requirements. Status: NOT STARTED
b. Develop a noxious weed ordinance to address highly aggressive invasive plants such as knotweed, bamboo and Tree of Heaven on public and private property. Provide public education on this issue. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Implement a planting ban of state-listed noxious and invasive plants such as Callery pear, privet, burning bush, English ivy, vinca and honeysuckle. Provide education to encourage property owners to remove invasive plants. Status: NOT STARTED
Begin a long-term effort to bury overhead wires in strategic locations.
Action Steps
a. Plan and coordinate with electric and communications utility companies. Evaluate whether planned infrastructure projects, municipal or otherwise, present an opportunity to incorporate this work. Status: NOT STARTED
b. Identify priority locations. This might include areas with the worst-performing electrical distribution lines, in terms of outage frequency and duration, areas where outages have the most significant economic or social impacts, areas with special scenic and/or tree canopy value or walkable commercial or mixed-use areas. Avoid any areas prone to subsurface flooding. Where undergrounding is targeted to address resiliency needs, prioritize undergrounding the mainline and lateral portions. Leaving secondary and communications lines overhead is an option. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Budget for implementation. Grants may be available to support the work, such as FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which generally covers 75% of project costs. Status: NOT STARTED
Undertake a local Climate Action Plan by 2030.
This process should identify the most significant climate-related risks the municipality faces and identify solutions that fall within the municipality’s control. Partner with Allegheny County and other public and private entities to implement the plan.
Action Steps
a. Discuss Climate Action Plan process and goals with stakeholders and potential partners by 2027. Status: NOT STARTED
b. Initiate the planning effort and issue an RFP by 2028. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Complete and adopt the plan by 2030. Status: NOT STARTED
Encourage a transition to carbon neutrality.
The planning process revealed enthusiasm on many fronts to transition to renewable energy sources, including interest from many property owners in installing on-lot energy systems.
Public input indicated a lack of information about options, the price of installation, regulatory requirements and other considerations.
Action Steps
a. Identify and address barriers to installing off-grid energy creation, both for residents and for the municipality.
Status: NOT STARTED
b. Provide education to property owners to encourage reduced reliance on fossil fuels. This includes working with the library, providing information on green energy alternatives; encouraging and tracking green energy conversion among commercial properties; implementing pilot projects at municipally owned sites; work toward reduction of gas-powered landscaping equipment. Status: STARTED
c. Continue to identify opportunities for feasible, cost-effective solar panel installation on municipal property.
More Information: Sustainability in Mt. Lebanon
Status: ONGOING
d. Continue adding electric vehicle charging stations, both in areas accessible to the public and for municipal use. Status: STARTED
e. Begin conversion of the municipal vehicle fleet to electric vehicles. Status: STARTED
Encourage and incentivize household waste reduction.
Action Steps
a. Continue to educate residents and business owners about recycling options and the benefits of participation. Status: ONGOING
b. Educate residents about household composting. Status: STARTED
c. Create a municipal composting program or lead a regional composting initiative. Consider scenarios that recognize the community’s capacities and space constraints, such as one in which Mt. Lebanon administers a program, and a partner municipality hosts the composting site. Anaerobic digesters could be space-saving options. This includes: piloting a municipal food waste composting program; and considering expanding the municipal yard waste collection program. Status: NOT STARTED
d. Educate businesses and residents on alternatives to single-use plastics, including grocery bags, straws and cutlery. Status: NOT STARTED
Reinforce local systems for emergency management to serve during climate/weather or other emergencies.
Action Steps
a. Encourage and promote sign-ups to Mt. Lebanon’s LeboEmergency Emergency Alert system. Status: ONGOING
b. Develop a non-cellphone/landline emergency alert system, such as an outdoor warning siren. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Maintain and publicize availability of emergency shelters. Status: ONGOING
Continue to invest in stormwater management solutions, prioritizing green infrastructure for its ecological, environmental and aesthetic advantages.
Mt. Lebanon was one of the first communities in Pennsylvania to adopt a dedicated Stormwater Fee. Since 2011, the municipality has made significant investments into the storm sewer system as a result of funds raised and the grants they have leveraged. Additional ordinance updates occurred in 2018 and 2020.
Action Steps
a. Continue to work to expand the storm sewer network over the next decade to mitigate flooding conditions from increasingly heavy rainfall events. Status: ONGOING
b. Consider investments in green infrastructure (including bioswales, tree pits, green roofs, and rain gardens) where feasible to capture and retain stormwater on site, thereby keeping it from entering the storm sewer system altogether. Status: STARTED
Redevelop South Garage in a way that addresses community needs.
Mt. Lebanon can identify “South Garage” as a redevelopment location. With frontage on Washington Road, the site could potentially be expanded to include the property currently occupied by a surface lot behind the Municipal Building.
Should conditions allow, new development could be constructed atop garage parking levels. This new development could potentially provide desired improvements to the built environment and add uses that address public needs.
Action Steps
a. Conduct an architectural/feasibility/geotechnical study to determine the scope of reconstruction. Status: STARTED
b. Pursue acquisition of contiguous parcels, as possible, to provide greater potential for future use, increased frontage along Washington Road and the ability to create a design that reinforces the quality of the public realm and pedestrian experience. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Issue a request for qualifications or proposals to partner with the municipality in the redevelopment. This should include: capitalizing on the site’s location with a commitment to transit-oriented development and mixed uses sought by the community; discussing about potential tax incentives that can help achieve the site’s highest potential; discussing the relationship between the site and existing municipal facilities. Status: NOT STARTAED
d. Proactively communicate with business operators and the public regarding potential disruptions posed by construction, providing alternatives for those who use the current parking structure. Status: NOT STARTED
Undertake an update to the Zoning and Subdivision and Land Development ordinances.
Periodically evaluating and updating land use and development ordinances is an important way for a community to that its rules continue to align with its values and keep up with modern issues and approaches to addressing them.
Considering adjustments to existing regulations can help Mt. Lebanon find opportunities where the community can strive to build the tax base within its largely built-out geography; provide housing in a range of prices; and create a wider range of housing options, better enabling seniors to stay in the community as they age.
Regulatory updates can also support environmental and economic sustainability, historic preservation and the vitality of the community’s business districts. The following recommendations can guide a future separate project to comprehensively review and adjust regulations. This process will involve a highly public conversation about any specific changes and where they should apply
Action Steps
a. Organize the ordinances in an accessible, user-oriented way, supplemented with illustrations and figures.
Status: NOT STARTED
b. Consider expanding administrative approvals for field changes. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Provide for growth and development in ways that reinforce and enhance neighborhood character, with a goal of fortifying the tax base and increasing the share of Mt. Lebanon households that can reach daily necessities and services within a short walk or bike ride from home. STATUS: NOT STARTED.
d. Eliminate or reduce minimum unit sizes for residential and other uses where appropriate. STATUS: NOT STARTED
e. Add density where it is precedented and/or otherwise contextually appropriate and supported by access to amenities, potentially including adding instances of the Mixed Use overly district. STATUS: NOT STARTED
f. Address opportunities related to site ecology and climate action. STATUS: NOT STARTED
g. Add clarity related to infill/development and the Design Guidelines. STATUS: NOT STARTED
h. Adjust commercial district requirements. STATUS: NOT STARTED.
i. Enhance connectivity and implement the Complete Streets framework STATUS: NOT STARTED
Work with the Mt. Lebanon Partnership and other partners to build on the foundation of the Vibrant Uptown project and to related efforts to add life and value to the area’s public realm.
Mt. Lebanon’s Uptown area is a Nationally Accredited Main Street and an important part of its National Historic District. In 2023, the $4 million Vibrant Uptown project was completed, providing a significant functional and aesthetic upgrade to the Washington Road streetscape at its core. Attention will turn next to placemaking and how spaces come to life.
Action Steps
a. Encourage strengthened vitality of the Uptown business district. Status: ONGOING
b. Build upon the Vibrant Uptown project to expand and enhance the placemaking nodes within the Uptown business district. Status: STARTED
c. Expand and improve the seating and plaza spaces in Uptown. Status: COMPLETE
d. Implement a façade improvement program providing grants or revolving loans to incentivize private investment to improve the appeal, appearance and function of Uptown storefronts or building premises according to official design guidelines. Status: ONGOING
e. Support the installation of temporary and permanent public art as curated by the Partnership to reinforce and enhance Uptown’s unique historic environment and expression of place. Status: sTARTED
f. Create outdoor rooms in the Uptown area by adding or enhancing existing potential gathering spaces. Status: STARTED
g. Support recommendations of Uptown Design Guidelines, Uptown Strategic Plan, Partnership Placemaking Plan. Status: ONGOING
h. Update the Uptown Strategic Plan after completing recommendations set forth in the 2017 plan. Status: NOT STARTED
Support redevelopment at underused Washington Road parcels.
Action Steps
a. Encourage renovation of the Denis Theater structure, possibly including additional parcels. Coordinate with Parse Way improvements. Status: ONGOING
b. Support redevelopment of the vacant parcel at Bower Hill Road and Route 19. Status: STARTED
c. Support redevelopment as possibilities emerge at the South Garage site and adjacent parcels. Status: NOT STARTED
Implement improvements related to Parse Way.
The “Destination Uptown” plan recognizes Parse Way’s potential as a pedestrian corridor and dynamic portal for the business district.
Action Steps
a. Coordinate improvements with Pittsburgh Regional Transit. Status: STARTED
b. Incentivize and strive to create “second storefronts” on rear lower levels of structures facing Parse Way to build connectivity between T station and Uptown District. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Improve signage and wayfinding between T station and Uptown District. Status: STARTED
d. Enhance stairway connecting T station and Washington Road. Coordinate improvements with redevelopment of vacant adjacent property. Status: NOT STARTED
e. Consider partnership opportunities to provide rentable e-bikes or other options to provide alternatives to vehicles for “first mile/last mile” commute. Status: NOT STARTED
f. Add covered and secure bike lockers at the T station or in the lowest level of the municipal North Garage. Status: NOT STARTED
g. Work with Mt. Lebanon Partnership, businesses, and property owners to create a trash management program for Uptown business district, addressing the problems of eyesore dumpsters on Parse Way and the lack of an alley west of the 600 block of Washington Road. Status: NOT STARTED
Strengthen the Beverly Road commercial district.
The stretch between Overlook Drive and Ralston Place is widely recognized as one of the region’s most charming small business districts. Future investments should continue to provide a platform for small businesses to thrive and further enhance a lively pedestrian realm.
Action Steps
a. Support continued livability, social-space and façade improvements. Status: ONGOING
b. Add a library book locker for improved service and walkability for people living in northern areas of the community. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Add secure, covered bike racks or bike lockers at the parking lot. Status:NOT STARTED
Strengthen the Castle Shannon commercial district.
The Castle Shannon Boulevard commercial corridor offers a grocery store and other retail and service businesses near the Castle Shannon border and a light rail station. The portion of the corridor that runs from Sunset Drive to Mt. Lebanon Boulevard is automobile oriented. Sidewalks connect the area between Shady Drive East and Sunset Drive. The portion that runs from the underpass of the T tracks to Scott Road/Sunset Drive contains both neighborhood commercial and medium-density residential zoning. This segment has the capacity to become Mt. Lebanon’s “third business district” as a walkable neighborhood asset.
Action Steps
a. Support social-space, placemaking and façade improvements, including possible property acquisitions to add greenspace and enhance stormwater management on parcels near the T track. Status: STATUS
b. Add secure, covered bike racks or bike lockers at the parking lot. Status: NOT STARTED
c. Improve marketing of Castle Shannon Boulevard as Mt. Lebanon’s third business district. Status: STARTED
Work with the Partnership, St. Clair Health and other community partners to create exciting and inclusive programming Uptown, at Beverly Road and potentially at the Galleria.
Action Steps
a. Consider staging the following events throughout Uptown or in other locations around the community:
- Pop-up rooftop events at the North Garage
- Art classes, open air drawings
- Sidewalk chalk art
- Walking or biking groups
Status: ONGOING
