City Council candidate LAURIE TAYMORBERRY attends last night’s meeting where the rezoning vote was put on hold.

A contentious battle between Harvard and Cambridge residents that has dragged on for more than three years may come to an end this week, as city councillors make a final push towards a compromise over the University’s development of the Riverside neighborhood.

Councillors and Harvard representatives have agreed “conceptually” on a rezoning plan for the area, according to Councillor David P. Maher, and the City Council will hold a special meeting on Friday to discuss the new plan.

The proposal will affect Harvard’s ability to develop its property along the Charles River, including a site on Memorial Drive that is currently home to Mahoney’s Garden Center and two sites near Mather House.

Last night’s city council meeting came and went without a vote on the plan, but several city residents went to the council’s public comment period to voice their tentative support for the compromise.

Alec Wysoker ’84 said he was waiting to hear the details of the agreement, but said he thought it was a workable deal.

“We’re holding our breath and hoping that we’ll be happy with what we see,” Wysoker said.

The council has until next Tuesday to vote on the two rezoning plans on the table—the neighborhood-developed Carlson petition, which would significantly cut the allowed heights on Harvard’s property, and a more moderate proposal submitted by the city’s Planning Board.

Harvard has formally opposed both plans, saying it could not carry out its plans to build graduate student and faculty housing under the proposed height restrictions.

This fall, councillors have been meeting with University officials to try to strike a last-minute deal in which Harvard could build taller buildings than the Carlson petition allows, in exchange for concessions such as providing public open space and affordable housing units for city residents.

Such a compromise would involve broader issues than just zoning and would likely include a written contract between Harvard and the city detailing the specific community benefits that the University would provide.

Maher and Councillors Marjorie C. Decker, Anthony D. Galluccio, and Brian P. Murphy ’86-87 met with a group of neighborhood activists before yesterday’s council meeting to provide an update on the progress of the talks.

Resident Phyllis Baumann said the neighborhood residents did not see a specific plan, but one option she said is on the table would include several 35-foot buildings on the Mahoney’s plot and a public park on the area of the site nearest to the Charles River.

“I’m very positive about it,” she said of the prospective agreement. “I hope they’re able to pull it off.”

She said the neighborhood has indicated they would be willing to allow 35-foot buildings, even though the Carlson petition caps heights at 24 feet.

Councillors declined to discuss the details of the plan. They said they were still working on hammering out the specific agreement and drafting the legal language for the zoning petition.