Proposed zoning changes for Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood won’t be decided until next year.

Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday postponed a vote on the proposed changes for at least six weeks to take additional time to discuss the measure. Council members could make additional amendments ahead of a preliminary vote, now anticipated no earlier than January.

This comes as council members discovered Tuesday night that they had a more flexible timeline to vote on the measure than previously thought.

During a public hearing related to the controversial zoning package Monday, officials said they would need to vote on the measure by next week. They later clarified that next week marked the deadline to conclude public hearings. A new 90-day clock counting down to when a vote must be held started at the end of Monday’s public hearing.

That means City Council has until March to take a final vote.

If members don’t vote by then, it would be considered a “deemed denial,” according to City Solicitor Krysia Kubiak.

The Oakland community has been largely divided over the proposed zoning changes. Developers are calling for larger building size allowances, while many residents want smaller sizes. Universities have expressed concerns about limits on building additional educational spaces. Council has also heard concerns about reduced parking requirements and how the public process has been handled.

The legislation would create three new base zoning districts for portions of Oakland.

The proposed Urban Center-Employment district would allow for a range of commercial uses and multi-unit residential housing, but only if all housing units were affordable for lower-income residents and housing didn’t make up more than half of a property’s gross square footage.

The proposed Urban Center-Mixed Use district would allow for a range of commercial and residential uses, and the Residential-Mixed Use area would allow some smaller-scale commercial uses in addition to housing.

The zoning package includes a measure that would expand inclusionary zoning into Oakland, requiring housing developments with 20 or more units to designate at least 10% of their units as affordable housing. It already has been approved in the city’s Lawrenceville, Bloomfield and Polish Hill neighborhoods.

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Amendments approved Wednesday would allow new buildings to stretch up to 300 feet in length. Initially, buildings in Urban Center-Mixed Use areas would have been capped at 400 feet, though the number was later changed to 250 feet. An exception still exists for grocery stores, which are allowed to stretch to up to 425 feet.

Council also amended the legislation to cap the allowed building height in the Urban Center-Employment district along the Boulevard of the Allies at 185 feet.

If council makes substantive changes to the zoning legislation, it would need to go back to the Planning Commission for consideration. The city code does not define what qualifies as a substantive change, according to Corey Layman, the city’s zoning administrator. Layman said he did not feel that the amendments council has approved so far have passed that threshold.

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, who represents a portion of the Oakland community, said she hoped to use the extra time council has to try to improve the legislation.

“I still think there’s work to be done,” she said.

Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who also represents part of Oakland, said he’d like to see tweaks that would make as many people as possible “comfortable” with the zoning changes.

“At the end of the day, we probably will not make most happy, which is part of the art of compromise,” Lavelle said.

Todd Reidbord, president of Shadyside developer Walnut Capital, said the company appreciated council’s willingness to continue contemplating zoning options for the neighborhood. Walnut Capital’s proposed Oakland Crossings development would be impacted by zoning changes in Oakland.

“We understand that is a difficult and time-consuming process, but it is important that we get it right. Having additional time, and the willingness to consider modifications, is essential, and we thank council for recognizing this,” Reidbord said.

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