A proposed Harvard modern art museum to be built on the current site of the Mahoney's Garden Center came under fire at a neighborhood zoning meeting last night.

The University has been drawing up plans for the site, which is bordered by Memorial Drive, Acron Street, Banks Street and Western Avenue, for several months.

But at last night's meeting, a number of members of the abutting neighborhood said they would not let the museum go up without a fight.

"Why are they trying to put a museum in this residential area," asked one community member, who led a campaign against a Harvard development plan on the Mahoney's site 30 years ago.

"That museum does not belong here," she said.

Residents' concerns centered on what they described as the "already abysmal" traffic congestion in the area. They also complained that the structure would cut off residential views of the river and block breezes coming off the Charles.

A museum on the only open site in the neighborhood would ensure that affordable housing is not built on the site, exacerbating what residents call the community's most pressing issue.

The Cambridge Community Development Department originally called the meeting to discuss lax zoning regulations in the area, which currently allows buildings up to 120 feet in height. The surrounding neighborhood falls under much stricter zoning regulations.