The Ankeny Apartments project’s tortured path through the Portland City Council took another turn Wednesday that left developer Landon Crowell’s proposal still in limbo.

The council extended Crowell’s appeal of the Portland Design Commission’s denial of project plans to Aug. 9.

“I am speechless,” Crowell said directly after the hearing.

Crowell and Yost Grube Hall Architecture presented to the City Council revised plans that would reduce the height of the L-shaped building on Southeast 12th Avenue to 58 feet from 75 feet, increase setbacks from neighboring property lines and eliminate two residential units. Also, the building’s lobby would move to Southeast Ankeny Street from 1th Avenue.

The revised plans ran into two major hurdles. The first was that the project team had not presented the Bureau of Development Services with detailed documentation for review. Without that documentation, the new design could not be evaluated in regard to issues such as city code, zoning and design guidelines.

Another issue concerned whether an 18-inch setback on the north elevation was sufficient.

The new design was a result of mediation with the neighborhood association and neighboring homeowners.

“We thought we did what was asked and more,” Crowell stated via email Thursday morning. “However, council was using a moving target.”

The changes were enough to satisfy the Buckman Community Association and neighbors south of the project site.

“During mediation, the neighbors were offered the opportunity to redesign the building,” Crowell stated in the email. “They asked for cedar finishes, which we complied. We made attempts to conciliate with the neighbors to the north, but they were unresponsive.”

However, neighbors with properties in the elbow of the L-shaped development were still unhappy with its design.

“The building still doesn’t meet the guidelines,” Priscilla Sturges said during the meeting. She has owned the house at 112 S.E. 12th Ave. for 40 years and has consistently criticized the project. “We have no privacy, no guarantees about who will pay for possible damage to our property. Destabilizing neighborhoods like this is a blight on Portland.”

While commissioners expressed generally that the changes were a step in the right direction, Commissioner Amanda Fritz said the setback of the north elevation should be greater.

“For me it doesn’t go far enough,” she said. “There has been some good movement. It is in everyone’s interest to get to yes.”

That is one area that the City Council and Crowell agree. If his project is rejected, he said, a bigger project would likely surface next year when height limits in the area increase.

“My development partners and I will either be forced to resubmit next year or another developer will submit by next year should we sell,” Crowell said. “Either way, the neighbors will end up with a bigger development next to them and net zero (energy use) is a fantasy.”

Commissioner Chloe Eudaly summed up many of the commissioners’ opinions.

“The appellant has made a good faith effort with the neighbors,” she said. “I think some of the neighbors wish this whole thing would go away, and that isn’t going to happen.”

Another concern was raised by Commissioner Nick Fish.

“Are we setting a precedent where a developer could refuse to work with Design Commission, come to us, opt out in effect and create a second process through a community negotiation and have the council make the findings?” he said.

The City Council looked at several options, including approving the design with conditions, denying the appeal or continuing the hearing to allow city staff to evaluate revisions.

In the end, the council decided to continue the hearing to Aug. 9 and await the staff’s evaluation as to whether the new design meets the guidelines. That leaves the project’s ultimate fate largely in the hands of the Bureau of Development Services.

“I almost feel like I am at a Design Commission hearing,” senior planner Tim Heron said.

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