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After hearing two hours of testimony for or against a proposed Pearl District development, the Portland City Council on Wednesday postponed until later this month its decision whether to approve a design appeal.

Commissioners agreed to grant a request by Preserve the Pearl LLC, a group opposing Security Properties‘ Block 136 development, at 1241 N.W. Johnson St., to postpone their decision until April 23. Burton Francis, a Portland attorney representing Preserve the Pearl, told the council that this would give group members additional time to respond to a 51-page document Seattle-based Security Properties filed on Tuesday as evidence to support the Portland Design Commission‘s approval issued in January.

鈥淚n order to have a full and fair hearing, you have to have time to review the documents that have been submitted by your opponent,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is no way for us to meaningfully prepare to address those arguments.鈥�

Plans for the full-block development call for a five-story office and retail building facing 13th Avenue and a 15-story residential tower on 12th Avenue separated by a public courtyard connecting Johnson and Kearney streets.

Preserve the Pearl in February filed an appeal, questioning the design commission’s unanimous approval of the Block 136 design by Seattle-based Mithun. Group members claimed that the city’s public process to gather feedback on the design was flawed, including insufficient communication with the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. They also questioned whether additional height should have been granted for the residential building.

Design commissioners responded overwhelmingly favorably to the proposed Block 136 design, despite concerns raised by neighboring residents at commission hearings. The proposed 150-foot residential tower would cast large shadows and be inconsistent with shorter surrounding structures, neighbors testified.

鈥淲e felt the overall quality of the design from concept to materials was one of the best projects we’ve seen in years,鈥� Design Commission Chairman David Wark told the City Council on Wednesday.

Shadow studies by the design team and city planners showed that the tower wouldn’t cast any more darkness on nearby Jamison Square than existing buildings, he said. Commissioners also appreciated that the shorter office building was designed in context with a neighboring historic district.

The commission approved the taller residential tower because the developer proposed as a trade-off extensive active uses on the ground floors, including retail on 13th Avenue and a publicly accessible courtyard, Commission Vice Chairman Ben Kaiser said.

鈥淚t is eight sides (that are) all extremely active, in my opinion, and giving straight back to the city of Portland,鈥� he said.

鈥淎s the city grows,鈥� he added, 鈥渢hese are the kind of growing pains we’re going to experience.鈥�

Francis said Preserve the Pearl members do not oppose the proposed office building, but have grave concerns about the city offering height bonuses for the residential tower. He suggested reorienting the tower from facing north-to-south to east-to-west. This would make it feel less imposing on shorter neighboring structures and reduce the shadows it would cast, Francis said.

鈥淭his 150-foot wall that they want to erect in our neighborhood is obviously an outlier,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you orient the building east-west, you reduce the profile. It would reduce the afternoon shadows cast on the existing buildings in the district.鈥�

Mithun associate principal Heidi Oien said rotating the building to an east-west orientation would make the development’s proposed courtyard less appealing.

鈥淗aving the courtyard oriented north-south allows good sun access into the space,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f it were east-west, it would be in shade all day.鈥�

Francis’ claims were backed by neighbors of the site who testified Wednesday in favor of appeal. The residential tower would block views from their homes, decrease the values of nearby condos and cast too much shade on the popular, kid-friendly fountain in Jamison Square, neighbors claimed.

Other neighboring residents disagreed and testified in favor of the project. The proposed development would be a welcome addition to that portion of the Pearl District, they said.

Pearl District Neighborhood Association members who worked closely with the project design team said they were pleased with the outcome. Bruce Morrison, PDNA board vice president, said the development would be a vast improvement to the existing single-story building, which formerly housed the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The structure is set to be demolished to make way for the Block 136 project.

鈥淚 think it’s an excellent design that will increase the vibrancy and vitality of the neighborhood,鈥� Morrison said.

Following public testimony, the City Council agreed to hold the record open for seven additional days to give Preserve the Pearl members more time to respond to the lengthy Security Properties report. Public comments regarding the appeal must be submitted before April 15 at 5 p.m. by email to [email protected].

The City Council will reconvene to deliberate over the appeal on April 23 at 2 p.m. in City Hall.