“We should not lose the opportunity to really thoughtfully explore some of these things because the process has been flawed,” she said.

Maher and Murphy initially proposed

holding public meetings later this month, but Decker urged them to schedule the forums sooner.

“I’m very frustrated with the way the process is moving forward at this point. I would be ready to vote on the Carlson petition right now,” she said, to applause from the Riverside residents in attendance.

In addition to Decker, Councillors Kenneth E. Reeves ’72, E. Denise Simmons, and Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. have pledged their support of the Carlson petition, according to study committee members.

With council elections coming up in November, neighborhood residents have said that they will throw their election day support behind councillors who push for the study committee’s plan.

Maher and Murphy emphasized after the meeting that they want to develop a compromise plan that will receive the votes of the necessary seven council members—rather than moving the process along faster only to have the petition voted down.

“My hope is that patience will pay off here,” Maher said.

The ordinance committee chairs’ key goals are to ensure publicly-accessible open space near the river and provide affordable housing for neighborhood residents, Maher said.

He added that there is no “hard and fast proposal” from Harvard on the table, but rather a framework that councillors will continue to discuss.

“We have heard a lot from councillors about the importance of open space, community housing, and appropriate scale,” said Harvard’s Senior Director of Community Relations Mary H. Power. “We are discussing concepts at this point.”

She said that the University hoped to work with the neighborhood under the process set by the Ordinance Committee.

“I’m optimistic that we will find a way to address these interests and also meet the University’s development objectives,” Power said.

The councillors voted to hold a working meeting next Monday at 7:30, after the regular council session, to discuss the Riverside zoning petitions. A public comment meeting will be held on Sept. 18 at 6 p.m.

In a late order sponsored by Decker, the councillors also voted to direct the city manager to provide funding for an independent counsel to provide advice on zoning.

“It’s really important that we have an objective, independent voice,” Decker said.

Members of the study committee said they would wait for more concrete details on the plans next week before they would decide how to move forward.

“We have to wait and see what the proposals are, and then the neighborhood needs to form a consensus about what we think of them,” Wysoker said.

—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.