Pittsburgh Lot Size Amendment 2025

By Carolyn Ristau

Our guides to Pittsburgh’s zoning districts include the area or density regulations, which for most districts includes a minimum lot size requirement. In 2025, Pittsburgh amended the minimum lot size requirements in residential districts to better align with the existing lot sizes in the City. We have updated our guides to reflect these changes. Below is a summary of the amendment.

Before

Pittsburgh’s minimum lot size requirements have never reflected the city’s actual conditions. When the City first adopted zoning in 1923, most of Pittsburgh was already developed. The established lot sizes in most of the built-out residential neighborhoods was 25 feet wide or less. Yet, the Planning Commission of the 1920s declared that these lots were too small to build on, and they established minimum setbacks and lot sizes that prohibited development on lots the size of most existing residential properties in Pittsburgh.

Since then, the City’s density regulations have followed their example rather than match the existing built environment. This has created challenges for property owners to improve their homes and for replacing housing that was previously demolished. Over the years, the City has acknowledged this, but instead of addressing the core issue, they’ve added exception upon exception, creating a tangled mess of regulations that is difficult to decipher.

After

In 2025, the City took a first step at addressing the core issue of having a zoning ordinance with density regulations that do not match the pre-existing lot sizes of the city. This amendment only addressed the minimum lot size requirements of residential zoning districts, which is an important first step to untangling the self-inflicted regulatory mess of density regulations.

Across all 5 density subdistricts, minimum lot size per unit was eliminated, eliminating one de facto prohibition on multi-unit housing in districts where it is determined that multi-unit housing is appropriate. In addition, the base minimum lot size was reduced across all 5 density subdistricts to more closely align with the actual lot sizes in these districts. The reduction for each subdistrict is as follows:

• Very-Low Density: 8,000 sq ft —> 6,000 sq ft

• Low Density: 5,000 sq ft —> 3,000 sq ft

• Moderate Density: 3,200 sq ft —> 2,400 sq ft

• High Density: 1,800 sq ft —> 1,200 sq ft

• Very High Density: 1,200 sq ft —> 0 sq ft

The full amendment is available on the City’s legislation website.