Pittsburgh City Council will hold a public hearing on North Shore development, at the request of a consortium of groups seeking a community benefits agreement for nearby neighborhoods.

Members of the consortium of labor, environmental and community groups, called Pittsburgh United, asked council for the hearing today, a day after the Planning Commission approved the plans for Hyatt Place, a $25 million hotel to sit a block from PNC Park. The hotel is to sit on land owned by the Stadium Authority, which has not yet approved the sale of the property for what is expected to be $1.3 million.

Pittsburgh United is questioning whether that approval should have been granted without a Stadium Authority board vote to transfer the land. It also is questioning the validity of the agreement among the Steelers, Pirates and Columbus, Ohio-based Continental Real Estate Cos. that gives the firm the exclusive option to build on much of the land between the stadiums as long as it meets certain time frames.

Some parties have said that Continental is one or two years behind the development schedule.

Manchester resident Tanisha Jones, a Pittsburgh United member, said the "gun was jumped a little bit" with the commission's vote. "It does seem as though this process has been -- I don't have the exact word for it -- but it really needs some help and it needs some guidance at this point."

Councilman William Peduto, who was on the Stadium Authority board before being removed last month, accepted petitions signed by 109 people -- four times the number needed to compel a public hearing.

"The issues that they're bringing up are very real," he said. "That option agreement expired in May of 2007, and it's clear as crystal."

The hearing is not yet scheduled.