A 15-unit mixed income development in Norris Square on the site of the former St. Boniface Church at Diamond and Hancock Sts., demolished last year, is the center in a vortex of heated debate between local residents and Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sanchez.

Construction site

Another angle

Now that the City Planning Commission voted 5-2 last month to approve Sanchez’s recently drafted bill to change the zoning in the area immediately surrounding the development from R10 to R10A, a residential zoning distinction that allows for the construction of only single-family dwellings, City Council will vote on the issue in the near future.

Construction permits have already been acquired, but leaders of the Norris Square Civic Association think Sanchez acted too quickly and failed to collect adequate community input. Tensions surfaced during the Planning Commission hearing last…