A $12 million North Shore entertainment complex got the go-ahead from the city planning commission yesterday, with six conditions, including sound monitoring and an 11 p.m. curfew for outdoor shows.

Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference, said his organization has been trying to broker an agreement that suits the developer and the neighborhoods his organization represents.

Barry Ford, president of development for Continental Real Estate Cos., said he would work with Mr. Fatla to narrow the gap. Continental is working with the Steelers on the project.

One concern is that concert-goers will park for free on neighborhood streets and contribute to litter and noise, Mr. Fatla said.

In June, Continental and the Steelers asked for an extension in completing aesthetic-related elements of the project because state funding for the project was cut from $4 million to $2.5 million, Continental Chairman Frank Kass said.

Continental and the Steelers have said they plan to have the entertainment venue itself up and running by May 1, 2010, as required under agreement with the city Stadium Authority.

In other planning commission action, staff and board members of the Imagine Environmental Charter School in Regent Square left the meeting disappointed. The commission denied their request to add two temporary mobile classrooms to the playground to accommodate 60 students in the fall. The K-3 school will expand to include fourth grade in the former K-8 school at 729 Milton St.

Robert Warden, president of the board of trustees, said it would be for just one year while the school decides how to plan a more permanent expansion, either on the current site or elsewhere. Seven residents presented testimony against it; the commission decided that the mobile classrooms are not in keeping with the neighborhood environment.

Several groups lined up to get the commission's approval for projects they want to complete before the G-20 summit in September.

One is PNC Financial Services Group's proposal to build a vertical garden on the side of its property at Fifth Avenue and Wood Street Downtown. Susan Golomb, vice president of realty services, said it will be the largest "living wall" in North America, at 2,380 square feet.

The plantings will be contained within panels amid a stainless steel grid.

The commission also approved:

• A 10-by-17-foot LED light display for on-site announcements on the side of Heinz Field facing east.

• Alcoa's request to install a 12-by-12-foot sign on a corner of its headquarters on the North Shore.

• The design of a pedestrian walkway down a steep slope between the new Penguins arena and the Pythian Church.

Oakland, Calif., artist Walter Hood designed a meandering walkway, with rain gardens and looping recesses wrapped in three-dimensional "curtains" of glass tile.

Mr. Hood asked for people in the neighborhood to submit photographs, which will be screened on the glass to reflect the community. There will be 5,000 photographs.

Point Park University also unveiled a plan to turn the southeast corner of Wood Street and the Boulevard of the Allies into a plaza, with a waterfall, a cafe, an arcade walkway and nine-story glass stair tower attached to Frontier Hall.