A major Fenway housing development is at the center of a dispute over conflicting zoning laws and the potential for a loophole that if set loose, the community worries will end sunny days on The Emerald Necklace.

The Boston City Council met last Monday to hear community comments and discuss an amendment to the Parks Frontage Ordinance, restricting the height of buildings near parks. If passed, the amendment would allow for a one-time site-specific exemption for a proposed apartment building at 2 Charlesgate West, at the northern tip of the Emerald Necklace alongside the Interstate-90 turnpike at Bowker Overpass.

The ordinance exists to protect green spaces from being crowded by tall buildings that cast shadows that negatively impact the greenery and useability of parks.

With or without the amendment, the proposed development has been approved by the Boston Planning Department (BPDA) and will be approved by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD).

Without the amendment, the proposal will go forward with a plan to subdivide the parcel of land. That would allow for the subdivided parcel, which is distant enough from the Emerald Necklace, to subvert a height restriction which would otherwise apply to the entire parcel.

The BPRD has requested the amendment to allow this one-time site-specific height exemption for the whole parcel, rather than approve the project with the subdivision. If approved through the subdivision, a precedent would be set for future developments to skirt height restrictions by subdividing properties along park fronts to add height in the back of a building.

“Amending the ordinance to allow for a one-time, site-specific exemption to the ordinance requiring a passage by the Boston City Council and signature of the mayor, while retaining the sign-off of the Parks Department, better maintains the power of our parks ordinance,” said district 8 City Councilor Sharon Durkan, the sponsor of the amendment, in a letter to the other city councilors.

The proposed development would stand at 280 feet at its tallest, alongside I-90, and utilizes a stepping-down structure that decreases to 180 feet and then to 70 feet at the park front, where it aligns with other nearby buildings. A representative of the architectural firm that designed the project presented shadow and wind speed studies at the meeting that claimed the building’s graduated height would leave a negligible impact on The Emerald Necklace by focusing shadows onto the turnpike.

The building will contain 400 rental apartments, including 68 onsite affordable units.

The parcel was also designated as a “Gateway Parcel,” by 2002 zoning in Fenway that conflicts with the Parks Frontage Ordinance but would allow for a building taller than its neighbors based on its location at a key neighborhood entry point and potential as a neighborhood landmark, pending review of its environmental impact.

Representatives of the Fenway Civic Association (FCA) and Kenmore Association spoke at the meeting, giving their support for the passing of the amendment. Both organizations also had representatives on a community driven impact advisory group involved in the development’s design process. President of the FCA, Tim Horn, also requested that further wording be added to this amendment or future legislation that would close out the possibility of developers using subdivision to skirt height restrictions in the future.

“Our legislation and our existing zoning has been ignored,” Horn said. “We are forced to take a position with our back against the wall. We do want to see this go through and we would like to see this ordinance passed, for a one-time exemption.

This loophole should not exist, but because it has been identified it must be addressed.”

In an interview, Councilor Durkan stressed that this particular project and its development has been exceedingly unique in its drawn-out approval, and it would be unlikely this amendment process will be followed successfully by other developers.

“My willingness to stick my neck out to amend this specific ordinance is not about allowing for the project, for me. It’s about creating an environment where these decisions and these tradeoffs that are taking place are transparent to the community,” Durkan said at the City Council meeting. “The subdivision loophole is something that I’m trying to proactively say you need to amend the ordinance in order to move forward. That being said, I have promised, at least to my constituents, that I will not amend this ordinance again in my time on the Boston City Council.”

Councilor Durkan hopes that the amendment will be passed as soon as possible, but at the latest before the last meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeal on December 10.