SAN LEANDRO — The City Council has postponed for 90 days a decision on whether to allow a 45-unit apartment building in the Estudillo Estates neighborhood amid charges that it was too dense and would cause traffic and parking problems.

The council’s decision Monday on the proposal from Tom Silva of Eden Realty was unanimous and came after it heard from dozens of nearby residents who packed the council chambers. Many opposed the project as proposed, but others supported it and said it would provide badly needed housing.

Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter urged the developer to consider dropping the number of apartments to 39 to address neighbors’ concerns before it returns to the council.

“I have to say there are many, many things i like about this project, many things,” Cutter said. “But I have to listen to my community. We have gotten a lot of response from the community.”

The solar-powered building proposed for 1833 Bancroft Ave. would have a rooftop deck with landscaping, storm water bioswales, a bicycle storage space and a refrigerated locker room to accommodate grocery deliveries for tenants.

It would replace two medical offices on the site.

The city’s Planning Commission on Dec. 20 voted in favor of the project going before the council for approval.

Last year, dozens of residents slammed an earlier proposal from the same developer to put a 73-apartment building on the property, saying it was too many units and it was incompatible with nearby homes.

That project, which city staffers recommended rejecting, ended up getting shelved before the Planning Commission made a decision on it.

Among the environmentally friendly amenities of the current proposal are spots for charging electric vehicles and a link with “Lit San Leandro,” the city’s fiber optic network that provides high-speed internet connections.

Each apartment of the three-story building would have a balcony or an outdoor patio. Each apartment would be two or three bedrooms.

An equipment room for 5G wireless telecommunications would be installed on the building’s roof. There would be 55 on-site parking spots for residents.

“This is the greenest project I’ve seen to date in San Leandro,” said Councilman Benny Lee, who supported the project. “It is addressing the housing shortage.”

The 1.27-acre property, initially developed with medical offices in 1955, is near Bancroft Middle School and Bancroft Convalescent Hospital and is across from Building Futures, a nonprofit agency that provides services to help the homeless throughout Alameda County.

As part of recommending the current proposal to the council, which included rezoning the site, the Planning Commission said the future apartments cannot be used for short-term rentals, such as through Airbnb.

The commission also said the developer must work with the city on crafting a parking plan for nearby residential streets, such as issuing permits to encourage the building’s tenants to park on-site.

Two of the future apartments would be designated as affordable under the current proposal.

Because the city’s zoning code requires seven affordable units for the project’s size, however, the developer will pay an in-lieu fee of $160,357 into the city’s affordable housing funds.