Minutes later, the commission reversed itself after neighbors pointed out that they had been denied their legal right to comment on the design change.
"This whole project has, from the beginning, been shrouded in secrecy," said Edward S. Panek, who heads the zoning committee of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. "Let's not leave it there."
The commission ultimately decided to table the issue until its Feb. 1 meeting, but only after a series of procedural missteps.
The request for the design change was made Wednesday by the project's architects, EwingCole. Although the building's foundations are nearly done, the architects decided to increase the height of the courthouse 15 feet, giving Family Court a full floor of office and courtroom space.
Such last-minute requests are rare but not unprecedented. What's odd is that Family Court officials have previously insisted that a 14-story design was the tallest they could build on the site, which is subject to the Parkway's special height limits. Because the ceilings are so high, the courthouse is designed now to top out around 250 feet.
EwingCole told the commissioners that the additional floor was permitted under the existing zoning. But there was no city solicitor present at the meeting to corroborate the claim.
Determining the height and bulk of buildings is normally the province of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, but nothing about the Family Court project has been normal.
In an effort to reduce the cost of building the new courthouse, Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille agreed in 2008 to outsource construction to a private developer.
