Shadyside does not have a registered community organization, so when a developer proposed knocking down a two-unit house and replacing it with a six-unit apartment building, the emails started to fly without any chance for discussion.The owners of 6111 Walnut St., one of Shadyside’s classic Victorian homes, applied for a variance in order to demolish the house and build a six-unit apartment building. But unlike the process in other neighborhoods, they did not have to meet with neighbors because there was no organization to host the meeting.In the past, that role was filled by the Shadyside Action Coalition, which had become, essentially, four concerned citizens who got tired of both the responsibility and taking the blame for any failure to stop development in the neighborhood. It dissolved in March 2023.In addition to keeping neighbors up to date on projects and community events, registered community organizations, or RCOs, are charged with organizing community meetings at which developers can present their plans.Neighborhoods all over the city have them. They include the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, the Homewood Community Development Collaborative, The Point Breeze Organization, Point Breeze North Community Development Corporation and East Liberty’s Village Collaborative. In those neighborhoods, developers have to meet with neighbors before their zoning hearing is held.In Shadyside, neighbors have to watch for hearing notices posted on properties; then the first time they can view the proposal is during the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing.That was what happened with 6111 Walnut St.Virginia Flaherty said she had talked to the property owner, Richard Brourman, whom she has known for 20 years, and he asked her not to oppose the plan. She declined.She then spotted the application on the Zoning Board of Adjustment website and saw the posting for the hearing while walking her dog. In addition to letting the principal of Sacred Heart School across the street know about the plan, Flaherty sent emails opposing the plan to residents in the neighborhood.Rendering by Vergil Architecture via Zoning Board of Adjustment. This six-unit apartment building is planned for the corner of Walnut and Emerson streets.Janine McVay, who was also part of the attempt to start a new RCO for the neighborhood, said the effort to create the organization has fizzled. She said the group just could not gather enough volunteers to take on the large amount of work needed.McVay said that City Council is considering major zoning changes that could alter the neighborhood. She said without an RCO, residents need to be diligent about watching out for proposed developments.The house at 6111 Walnut St. is a century-old home, which architect Lucas Bartosiewicz estimated dates back to the 1800s. It has a mansard roof with dormers, a large front porch and a turret. The building was, at some point, divided into two units, a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor and a three-bedroom apartment on the two upper floors. Its backyard borders a four-unit apartment building, and Sacred Heart Elementary School is across Emerson Street from the property.Bartosiewicz said the new building would have six apartments with parking under the building and a driveway onto Emerson Street.It sits on a 7,228-square-foot lot, according to county records, in an R1A-H zoning district, which stands for residential single unit attached high density, meaning one unit per lot.John J. Richardson served as the temporary chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment when Alice Mitinger, a neighbor of the building, recused herself. Richardson asked Sam Brourman, who said he was representing his family as the owner, whether there was an occupancy permit for the two units; Brourman said there was.“Is the building structurally sound?” Richardson asked.“It’s a little dilapidated, in my opinion,” Brourman said.Richardson pressed further: “As I am sure you know, the standard for obtaining a variance is that you have to show there is a hardship that prevents you from using the property in conformity with code. Currently you’re actually exceeding R1, but you’ve got permission to do that because you’ve got a certificate of occupancy. What is the hardship that prevents you from continuing to use the building?”“I would just say it’s old,” Brourman replied.Bartosiewicz added that the “current hardship is we are surrounded by a different market.”Photo by Ann Belser.He said the building is surrounded by rentals and apartment units, so the better use of the lot would be a multiunit building.June Yonas, who lives in the single-family home next door, disagreed, noting the house on the other side of her is also a single-family home, as is the house across the street. The proposed construction of an apartment building next door to her would block the light to her garden, she said.Opposition to the plan also came from parents and administrators of the Sacred Heart Elementary School.The proposed development would have the apartment building’s driveway open onto Emerson Street, which runs one way toward Alder Street. It is also closed for a few hours every day so the children of the elementary school can have recess. If the driveway opened onto Emerson, the people in the apartment building would not be able to leave during those times except if they drove down the street through recess, or went the wrong way on the street.“The street is closed,” Erin Mascaro, the school’s principal said. “It wouldn’t be safe.”She added that she wished she had met with the owners to talk about the proposal, but no one approached her.Alyssa Imler, the school’s assistant principal, noted that when the Penguins were planning to put an ice rink in the Hunt Armory, they met with the neighbors and the school administrators. As a result, all of the skating rink’s workers and the rink’s construction workers have Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearances, so they have been checked out as safe to work around children. She said she worries that the developers here have not considered the clearances a necessity.Victoria Verstraeten, who lives two doors away, said she and her husband purchased their home because they love old homes and they love the look of the neighborhood, where even the apartments are Victorians.“They are all original buildings in our neighborhood,” she said.Then, talking about the building that would be torn down and replaced, she added, “It’s a beautiful home. My husband said last night, ‘I can’t even believe they are thinking of tearing that home down. I would buy it in a second if that’s what they’re thinking and restore it.’”The Zoning Board of Adjustment has 10 more days to issue their decision on the plan. MORE HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT Picket Fence ‘wellness’ home for sale in Garfield The three-story home includes a 2,007-square-foot townhome and a 660-square-foot ground-level studio accessory dwelling unit. 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