AMHERST — More infill housing development that would bring families to town and create diverse housing options, possibly in areas close to downtown and the University of Massachusetts campus, remains a tension point for members of the Town Council.

As the council’s Community Resources Committee begins exploring its priorities for zoning adjustments, At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke suggested at its meeting Thursday examining whether general residence zones should be more dense than they are currently, where the minimum lot size for two housing units is a bit more than a third of an acre. The general residence zone includes prime living areas near the town center.

The suggestion comes as Hanneke said the town needs to produce more single-family, owner-occupied homes in a battle against conversion of properties into student rentals.

“We can’t expect all areas not to change,” Hanneke said. “How do we, as a town, come together and say how are we going to grow and how are we going to address these issues?”

At the same time, she said, there may need to be a student housing solution — including whether such housing should be separated out into own district, much like the fraternity and sorority zoning on Olympia Drive, or continue to be integrated into mixed-use buildings throughout downtown.

“Our business in town is higher education,” Hanneke said. “I don’t think we can ignore that, and so I think we have to address head-on what we’re going to do with student housing.”

District 3 Councilor Jennifer Taub, though, disagreed with making general residence zones more dense, noting the properties there are already densely zoned.

“We are already very dense — we are already living the values we should live,” Taub said.

Taub pointed to the possibility of nine structures on an acre of land in the general residence neighborhoods, noting that an investor is currently proposing three new homes on the 98 Fearing St. site, which was built as a single-family home and has been converted into a triplex. The Local Historic District Commission is examining the three additional structures, each with three units with four bedrooms in each.

“It’s not OK to just destroy neighborhoods,” Taub said, adding that whenever infill is pursued, it’s consistently student housing.

Senior Planner Nate Malloy said 98 Fearing St is a good test case of infill. While it could be a nice example of a project, its massing of residences and look is not guided by design standards.

Malloy said a housing market study in 2015 recommended Amherst balance student housing and use other measures to protect neighborhoods.

Establishing design guidelines for developments is a high priority District 4 Councilor Pamela Rooney said, as is what happens to the Gateway district, the section of North Pleasant Street between Kendrick Park and the UMass campus. Rooney said she would like to see mixed-use, human-scale development, rather than intense development of four- to five-story buildings there.

“It is an ideal location for dense development, townhouse style, for faculty to rent when they first arrive in town,” Rooney said.

District 2 Councilor Pat DeAngelis, too, said she would like to see options for the Gateway properties, along with “more density where it’s appropriate in village centers.” This could be done by expanding the boundaries of the village centers.

“How can we create infill housing that brings young families and brings families with income disparities back into town?” DeAngelis asked. “I really feel like we need to look at smaller size housing.”

One possibility, she said, could be tiny homes communities. The Amherst College land on South East Street that was offered to the town for a new Department of Public Works headquarters might be suitable for this.

District 5 Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne said there is a need for more workforce housing. But changing general residence zoning wouldn’t be fair and could impact neighborhoods where people exchange the walkability of downtown and village centers for trees and land in outlying areas.

Hanneke said one of the keys to supplying more housing is to lower the cost to developers. “One of the things I would like to prioritize is finding ways to building housing cheaper,” Hanneke said.

During public comment, Sam MacLeod of South East Street said it’s clear that there are differing opinions on zoning priorities and that councilors shouldn’t rush to make decisions, and instead to recognize the magnitude and implications of particular decisions. Once changes are made they are permanent, he said.

“More information, more time, more reaching across to the people who might think differently may wind up coming up with a more amenable solution for all while still achieving the goals,” MacLeod said.