A battle was brewing Wednesday night at City Hall over the possibility of a bar being in a neighborhood near the Kansas University campus.

Members of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission were considering changes to the city’s zoning code that would allow bars and restaurants to be in areas zoned for mixed use.

There is only one mixed-use district in the city, the site of Jayhawk Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road.

The proposed amendment to the zoning code brought out residents of the University Heights neighborhood, upset about the possibility that a bar could someday be so close to their homes.

“We are potentially going to have things there that cause a lot of noise, a lot of litter, cause an enormously increased amount of traffic, and unfortunately it’s associated with violence as well,” said Jim Sherman, who has lived down the street from the bookstore for the past 18 years.

Residents said they felt like they were misled. When the bookstore was rezoned and became a mixed-use district in October 2008, they were assured that bars would not be allowed.

However, an architect representing The Wheel and The Hawk is now seeking the change to allow bars in areas zoned for mixed use.

Bill Muggy, owner of the Jayhawk Bookstore, said he had no plans to make any changes to his business.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “Anything you have heard is fabricated. I didn’t even know about this meeting until a week ago.”

Planning commissioners indicated they didn’t think the bookstore site is an appropriate area for a bar.

A representative of a nearby sorority also spoke out against the proposed changes to the code.

“In our wildest dreams, did we ever think there would be a bar in our backyard?” Chi Omega Corp. Board President Stacey Dillon said. “Alcohol is a huge issue on this campus. Allowing a bar this close is encouraging what we’re trying to fight.”

The planning commission did not take any action and will reconsider the issue at an April meeting.