Pittsburgh Councilwoman Tonya Payne would not say yesterday whether she ignored repeated warnings that a petition to nominate playwright August Wilson's boyhood home for historic designation faced denial if council did not act on it.

From Dec. 3 through Jan. 16, the City Planning Department sent six e-mails to council, asking about the status of the designation for 1727 Bedford Ave., where the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright grew up. It had been approved by the Historic Review and Planning commissions, and sent to council for the final action on Oct. 10. Some of the e-mails noted that council had until tomorrow to act, or the designation would be denied under city code.

One of the e-mails went to Ms. Payne's aide, and four went to City Clerk Linda Johnson-Wasler, who said Friday that she forwarded them to the councilwoman. Two of those e-mails, dated Dec. 3 and Dec. 11, fell during Ms. Payne's tenure as chair of council's Planning, Zoning and Land Use committee, when she had the power to introduce or shelve the designation.

Asked whether she got the e-mails, Ms. Payne said, "If you said I got them, I got them."

Ms. Payne represents the Hill District, where the house is located. The house is owned by Paul Ellis Jr., the playwright's nephew, who has funding to turn it into a writer's retreat. He is the brother to one of the councilwoman's critics, Kimberly Ellis.

In an interview early last week, Ms. Payne said, "I don't know what happened to [the designation legislation] until recently." She said that when she found out it hadn't been acted on by council, she "started chasing it down" by calling Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Pat Ford. The URA has no role in historic designations.

Yesterday she called stories on the matter "a gotcha kind of thing" and would not discuss the details.

Council President Doug Shields asked for a Law Department opinion on the designation's status, and the mayor's office resubmitted the designation legislation on Jan. 25. It will be scheduled for a public hearing and a vote, which will occur after the deadlines in the city code have expired. Mr. Shields said council can proceed anyway, because the delay was not Mr. Ellis' fault.

Councilman Ricky Burgess has authored legislation that would give council 120 days to consider historic designations, and deem them approved if the Historic Review and Planning voted for them but council failed to act. Mr. Burgess said both commissions must give their opinions on that possible change and council must hold a public hearing before any vote.