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Southwest Portland residents and JPMorgan Chase have spent several months debating the design for a proposed bank branch at 6361 S.W. Capitol Highway, in the Hillsdale neighborhood.

Now it looks like the bank may be able to circumvent much of the controversy by enlarging the branch’s building-to-parking-lot ratio with a canopy that would cover part of the lot. The 鈥渂uilding鈥� would not be enclosed, but it would still count toward the minimum building square footage required by city zoning code for the lot.

Though Chase may be able to go forward with its plan, the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association says it will continue to oppose it. Its concern for the site relates to a greater desire to increase density and multiuse buildings on the neighborhood’s main drag.

The design of Chase’s proposed Hillsdale branch initially called for a footprint occupying just 21 percent of the lot. But Hillsdale’s Main Street area has commercial storefront zoning, which requires that a building take up at least 50 percent of a lot.

Chase stuck with its proposal until it was informed by senior planner Douglas Hardy that the city was unlikely to approve its request for a zoning variance.

After returning to the drawing board, Chase proposed constructing a similar branch building with an additional community room for neighborhood use and a large canopy. The number of parking spaces wouldn’t change.

The strategy is OK, technically, Hardy said.

鈥淭he way the zoning code defines building coverage 鈥� it doesn’t have to literally be a building with four walls and a roof. It can be one of these canopies,鈥� Hardy said.

鈥淭here’s some quirky things in the zoning code,鈥� he added.

Hardy advised the bank that its proposal would eliminate the need for a variance, and that its plan wouldn’t need to be reviewed until the building permit stage. The bank hasn’t submitted a final plan to the city, according to Hardy, but alterations are not required.

Nevertheless, residents have resisted the canopy proposal. At a neighborhood association meeting on Wednesday, Hillsdale Main Street Design Committee co-chairman and neighborhood resident Richard Garfinkle said that the bank was doing the least amount possible to meet the site’s zoning requirements.

鈥淭he canopy is embarrassing,鈥� Garfinkle said.

For residents present at the meeting, the proposed Chase bank branch 鈥� a single-tenant building on Main Street’s only vacant lot 鈥� symbolizes a missed opportunity.

鈥淲hat we need most of all is apartments,鈥� Hillsdale resident John Gould said at the meeting. 鈥淲e don’t need another bank that minimizes the use (of the land).鈥�

Residents are hoping for an eventual light-rail stop in Hillsdale, but they fear that light density could ruin those chances, Gould said.

The property is owned by Ardys Braidwood, whose family has owned the land since 1908. Braidwood is a managing partner at Wardin Investments. The company has studied the site’s potential for a two-story building with ground-floor retail and either office space or housing upstairs, she said, but 鈥渋t just didn’t pencil out.鈥�

The site isn’t deep enough to accommodate parking that would be necessary for so many tenants, she said.

Prior to the economic collapse in 2008, Braidwood helped design a four-tenant, one-story retail development for the site. After the downturn, however, interest in that project dried up, she said.

鈥淪o I sat on it, and Chase Bank came to me and asked about a long-term land lease,鈥� Braidwood said.

If Chase can move forward with its proposed footprint despite residents’ concerns about density, the bank will still need to go through a city design review process. At the Wednesday meeting, architects from Seattle-based presented a Northwest-inspired Chase branch design that features brick, metal materials and lots of pedestrian-oriented windows 鈥� better than the 鈥渙ff-the-shelf鈥� design Chase had initially proposed, according to residents.

While residents such as Garfinkle hope that Chase will change its mind about the project, the bank does not need their approval.

鈥淔rankly, what Chase has to do is meet the code requirements,鈥� Chase’s attorney, Gregory Hathaway of Portland-based , said at Wednesday night’s meeting. 鈥淭his technically meets those requirements.鈥�