AMHERST — A half-mile section of University Drive could become ripe for both mixed-use developments and apartment-style housing as the Town Council nears adopting a long-awaited zoning change.

At the first reading of the proposed “University Drive Overlay District” on March 24, councilors appeared largely supportive of the idea of allowing denser residential projects on the road that connects Amity Street to Route 9, and is within walking distance of the University of Massachusetts campus.

“We have a housing crisis, we have a revenue crisis, and this proposal addresses both,” said District 3 Councilor George Ryan.

“We need to do something, and this is a very good location,” said At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke.

Hanneke said all councilors have emphasized the need for more housing in town, but often don’t take the needed steps to accomplish that. “We don’t do anything, and we continue to talk,” she said.

Planning Board Chairman Doug Marshall explained that University Drive has been a focus for the board’s efforts to have in-fill development for more than a year.

“We thought that this area was an area that would be least controversial for the town in terms of allowing greater density and that it was an ideal place for more housing,” Marshall said. The street has bus service, a post office and a grocery store.

District 4 Councilor Pam Rooney, who chairs the Community Resources Committee, said University Drive is a good area to have more housing, even if will be targeted toward college students.

Protections are in place to make sure that existing businesses can be protected, such as the Big Y Supermarket, CVS Pharmacy and satellite office for Cooley Dickinson Hospital. The overlay district in that part of the street requires the entire ground floor, should redevelopment take place, be non-residential.

Senior Planner Nate Malloy explained that the underlying office park and limited business zoning remains intact, even as provisions are in place to allow residential buildings to rise to six stories.

Already, at the corner of Amity Street and University Drive, a redevelopment of the former rafters Sports Bar and Restaurant is expected to be a mixed-use building called Campus View.

District 5 Councilor Bob Hegner wondered if encouraging more 55-and-over housing or workforce housing was possible. He said the only benefit the town gets from University Drive development might be reducing the number of companies buying up and turning single-family homes into student rentals.

Marshall said each developer likely would do their own analysis on what is possible, and it wouldn’t be fair to say the overlay district is only for student housing.

District Councilor Pat De Aneglis said she worries that councilors are “fear mongering” about development and points to the North Square Apartments in the Mill District in North Amherst, which has a wide mix of tenants.

Finding rentals for families is already extremely challenging, said At Large Councilor Ellisha Walker, citing her own experiences of being turned away at one apartment complex when she was an undergraduate student and a parent, and was discouraged from renting at another because the neighbors were college students.

For Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek, the district is a way of encouraging growth in areas officials want it, and while not a village center, University Drive is appropriate.

“The more we can offer opportunities for creative developers to come to Amherst and work with our planning staff and with boards and committees, the more opportunity we will have for all different kinds of housing,” Ziomek said.

A vote on the overlay district is scheduled for April 7.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.