AUBURN — A plan to rezone three Center Street lots deserves a council review, city councilors said Monday.

Neighbors, living along University, Alpha and Dartmouth streets, urged councilors not to support the change because they feel it will ruin the residential nature of the area.

“What will you do? Will you tell developers to wait and say no to this now, or will you say yes to business?” University Street resident Tizz Crowley asked.

The Planning Board voted in May to recommend changing the zoning for 10 Blackmer St., 11 Alpha St. and the back half of 400 Center St. from urban residential to general business. The board also reviewed, but didn’t recommend changing, the zoning on 18 W. Dartmouth St., just west of the former Paris Farmers Union.

All three are vacant and the three owners hope to sell them or to bring developers on the site.

The land is about a quarter-mile south of Mount Auburn Avenue and along the western side of Center Street between Dartmouth and Broadview streets.

The first parcel, 10 Blackmer St., backs up to the vacant Paris Farmers Union building at 410 Center St. Both the Blackmer and Center streets’ parcels are owned by Peter Chapman.

The second parcel, 400 Center St., is a vacant office building owned by TSI Inc. That lot had split zoning: the Center Street half was zoned for general business while the Blackmer Street was zoned for urban residential.

The third is a grassy lot at the corner of Blackmer and Alpha streets, owned by Constance Whitmore. It backs up to the commercially zoned office building at 392 Center St.

The Planning Board called for a wider buffer between the three lots and the neighborhood, according to City Planner Eric Cousens. He told councilors the zoning change extends only to within 25 feet of the residential streets. The back half of the property, which would face the neighborhood, would be heavily buffered and planted to keep the two areas distinct.

“So we get a couple of trees,” Crowley said. “That won’t be enough to hide the neighborhood from what goes on there.”

Councilors reviewed the plan in a workshop, but took no action. They did say the matter deserved a full hearing.

“If it were going to be developed as one whole project, I think the 25 feet makes sense,” Councilor Robert Hayes said. “If they are developed as three independent properties, I think that buffer could be a real hindrance to business. So I think this really needs to come before us so we can discuss it.”

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