The Boston Planning Department (BPD) has extended the public comment period for an unpopular new Downtown zoning initiative after receiving over 500 letters of opposition from residents.

The previous comment period for the project, called PLAN: Downtown, was slated to end on February 5, just three weeks after it was proposed to the public. It has now been extended to March 7.

The BPD did not make an announcement about the change, but posted the update to its website on February 5 and added a link to a survey for residents to share their concerns.

The department has also had several meetings with the mayor’s office, other city department heads, and a group of Downtown community leaders to address the overwhelming response to PLAN: Downtown and find a way to move forward.

“There’s motivation on the city’s end and on our end to try to get to a resolution quickly,” said Rishi Shukla, the head of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association, who participated in the meetings. “What that is going to look like. That’s still a TBD. This was really just, ‘Let’s agree that we need more time and process to get this right.’”

PLAN: Downtown has been in the works since 2018, and its latest draft was announced last month. Under the draft, a new zoning district would limit buildings to a height of 155 feet, unless over 60 percent of building use was residential, in which case the maximum height would be 500 feet. In January, over 230 people attended a Zoom call hosted by the BPD about the draft to voice their concerns.

Many attendees warned that the city’s supposed emphasis on creating housing would instead lead to a canyon of luxury high rises unaffordable to most residents. More were concerned that the city had only given them three weeks to respond.

Mayor Michelle Wu attended the first BPD meeting with community leaders last week, and one participant said it was her suggestion to extend the comment period.

“That was the first thing that she addressed,” said Josh Leffler, the chair of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, who attended the meeting. “That’s obviously different than prior messaging. But the mayor, from the very beginning of that meeting, fully acknowledged that that had to be part of the plan going forward. She took it off the table, in terms of things that we needed to spend our time on.”

In January, the BPD had been unwilling to extend the comment period. Shukla said that Kairos Shen, the Chief of Planning for the city, had since also become more receptive to feedback.

“He’s got to lead the way here,” Shukla said. “But I think what’s different this time around, compared to the [public] January meeting, is you’ve got other department heads who are involved, that represent housing and preservation. It’s good to have those voices at the table along with Kairos. He’s expressed an interest in trying to figure out how we get to a resolution. That’s a positive development from my perspective.”

Shukla and Leffler both said the city would continue to have a standing meeting with community stakeholders, including their neighborhood associations and local preservation groups, over the next four to five weeks. Shukla said it was possible that the city would again extend the public comment period.

“There are no guarantees,” Shukla said.

“The good news is that there’s motivation on the city’s part to try to figure out how to get this right, and I’ll take them at their word.”