Pressure appears to be building on the developer of the North Shore casino to make changes to mitigate the impact a massive parking garage will have on the city skyline.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said yesterday he believes changes should be made so the garage "blends into the community" and doesn't dominate the landscape.

"You don't want to put up a concrete wall that's ugly," he said. "It's got to fit into the landscape."

Mr. Onorato is the second public official to voice concerns about the impact of the garage. Without commenting directly on the garage design, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said Tuesday the city will do "whatever we have to do to preserve" the scenic views from Mount Washington and the Fort Pitt Bridge.

Their comments came after the gaming implementation task force raised concerns about the size of the garage, with more than 3,800 spaces, and its impact on the skyline. The city's Contextual Design Advisory Panel also has voiced objections, saying the garage's height and an "untreated" facade facing the Ohio River combined to create an "awkward appearance."

The garage at 119 feet high, will be almost twice as tall as the Majestic Star casino, which will sit on the bank of the river just west of the Carnegie Science Center. The garage became more of an issue in part because of design changes that reduced the height of the casino from 85 feet to 60 feet and a 110-foot drum atrium at the center of the building to 90 feet. As a result, the garage became "more visible than ever" from Mount Washington and the Fort Pitt Bridge, said Pat Ford, task force co-chair and the city's top development official.

Mr. Onorato said there are examples of garages being done right, including one at Carnegie Mellon University where "you can't even tell it's a garage" to a new parking structure on the North Shore between Heinz Field and PNC Park.

He said the city and the county will be working closely with casino developer Don Barden and his company PITG Gaming LLC to "make sure the garage complements the area."

"I don't see this as a big negative. I think it can be resolved," he said.

Mr. Onorato said he wanted to reserve comment on the actual design of the garage but added that from the renderings he has seen, "Let's just say it's large. But I also think, though, that it could be tweaked and it can fit in."

"We're not going to have an obnoxious building that hurts the skyline," he said.

Bob Oltmanns, a spokesman for Mr. Barden, has said the casino is willing to work with city planners, the task force and others to try to address the concerns. But he stressed the project must stay within its $450 million budget.

"There is not a blank check with which to pay for everything that may be on the wish list of the various stakeholders," he said.

Mr. Oltmanns added that the casino and garage site at the moment is a "13-acre parking lot with weeds growing up through the cracks, two abandoned industrial buildings that have had the windows broken out and [been] condemned, a rusty chain link fence, and weeds growing along the riverbank.

"I think we're improving the landscape even with the addition of the garage," he said.

The city planning commission will hold a public hearing on the design Tuesday, with a vote scheduled for Oct. 2