City officials agree Harrisonburg needs more housing, but not always on how it should be done.

One of the next residential development proposals City Council will consider is for 60 town houses and up to 34 apartments along the southwest side of the Mount Clinton Pike, west of North Main Street, between Mount Clinton Pike and Wilson Avenue.

Northside LLC, Joseph Moore and Linda Moore applied for a rezoning, two special-use permits and a public street right of way closure.

The project includes closing portions of Wilson Avenue’s right of way in exchange for land developers would give to the city for the shared-use path they would construct along Mount Clinton Pike.

The project divided Planning Commission during its meeting Wednesday. City staff recommends denial because the project doesn’t maximize the site’s potential density, which could be met with taller and bigger buildings, according to a memo from staff.

“As most are aware, the city does need more housing, and while the project would do that, we don’t believe this project, at this location, at this time,” Adam Fletcher, director of Community Development, said at Wednesday’s meeting.

City staff do not want the project to set precedent for development in the area, which is mostly undeveloped, according to the staff memo.

Planning Commission voted 3-3 on motions supporting the plan. Laura Dent, City Council’s representative on the commission, abstained because she was attending a council meeting elsewhere in City Hall when the project was proposed.

Commission Chair Brent Finnegan said he shared staff’s concern about setting the tone and pace for that side of the city.

Commissioner Kathy Whitten said she doesn’t want to see Harrisonburg turn “denser” and “bigger.” Whitten said she liked the concept of owning a home, especially in light of increasing apartment rental prices.

“I don’t think we can pass it up. It’s providing an opportunity that we don’t see very often,” Commissioner Donna Armstrong said. “It’s been called for, lots of times we’ve talked about one-, two-bedroom family homes.”

Commissioner Valerie Washington didn’t see it that way.

“There are other opportunities for home ownership through different models of housing, [like] condos. I didn’t hear that,” Washington said. “… We need housing for everyone, not just everyone who can afford a town home, so this one is hard.”

Commissioner Andriel Byrd said he used to work in an office across the street from the site and thinks the empty space could use the town houses.

Out of 877 units proposed for development in the city, only 80 are town houses, according to data from the city’s Comprehensive Housing Assessment and Market Study.

“We see 877 units, only about 80 of those are town homes,” said attorney Quinton Callahan. “Everything else is multifamily, meaning apartments, meaning they do not allow for home ownership. This project is going to almost double [that] amount of town homes.”

The project will be presented in front of City Council at its Dec. 13 meeting.