A bill that would overhaul Baltimore’s zoning to allow for multifamily housing in residential zones across the city stalled out in committee Monday amid an increasingly vocal outcry from residents.

The legislation, championed by Mayor Brandon Scott, did not receive a vote after multiple members of the Land Use and Transportation Committee said it did not have their support as drafted. The bill is the final and most controversial piece of a package of housing bills that have crossed the finish line in recent weeks.

Four other bills introduced alongside the mayor’s bill in May have passed so far. Some members who voted for those bills are now joining opponents on the final piece.

Councilman Paris Gray, a freshman member who represents West Baltimore, said he agrees “philosophically” with the bill which would allow up to four housing units by right in residential areas, depending on a lot’s size. Gray said he was unready, however, to vote on the legislation Monday.

“A lot of what we were hearing from folks in my district is the lack of process and things are rushed,” he said. “I think we just need to slow down.”

There had been hope among the bill’s backers as of last week that the committee would be ready to vote on the legislation Monday, opening the door for the full council to consider the legislation at a meeting Thursday. That plan fell apart over the long holiday weekend.

Ty’lor Schnella, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Government Relations, insisted Monday that the turn was positive.

“This is what we want,” he told the council. “We want to hear the bill deliberation so we are putting forth the best possible version of this bill.”

As they have for past hearings, angry residents flooded council chambers Monday to voice opposition to the bill. Councilman Ryan Dorsey, architect of the package and the committee’s chair, initially said he would not hear testimony from the group, but relented as it grew in size.

Attendees heckled the councilman from Northeast Baltimore and threatened his job before Monday’s meeting began. Ashburton resident Michael Scott said the bill was “disgusting” and called Dorsey “one of the four white men of the apocalypse,” referring to white members of the City Council.

During the hearing, residents lamented how the legislation would change the character of their neighborhoods and open the door for developers to abuse historically Black enclaves in the city. Others challenged the notion promoted by bill sponsors that the legislation would make housing more affordable.

“You think because you allow people to split houses up into multiple units that they will charge reasonable prices?” asked Ian Mangum, as another resident behind him laughed loudly.

“They will have you living in four floors, every one between $1,500 and $2,000, just because they can,” Mangum added.

Councilman Mark Parker, a backer of the other bills in the housing package, submitted several amendments to the legislation being considered Monday. One amendment, recommended by the city’s Planning Commission, would study the effect of the legislation for three years after its implementation. A second would allow two housing units by right. Builders would have to get approval if they wanted to create more.

The housing proposal as introduced is a tool, said Parker, a freshman whose district includes Southeast Baltimore.

“It’s the question of what you do with it, what possibilities are for the folks who deal with it, certainly different property owners and also those looking to invest in the city,” he said. “I don’t think the tool is good on its own.”

Councilwoman Sharon Green Middleton, who introduced one piece of the bill package but has opposed others, said she disagreed with Parker’s characterization of the bill as a tool.

“I see it as power being taken away from council, which I don’t like,” said Green Middleton, who represents portions of Northwest Baltimore.

Dorsey, rubbing his forehead, defended the legislation saying it was necessary to reverse city zoning that has enforced racist housing policies.

“It’s purely an act of segregation,” he said of current zoning. “We should run from that.”

Parker said Dorsey’s position was based on the belief that the free market isn’t itself ensconced in structural racism.

“I don’t believe or trust the market the way you seem to,” Parker said.

No further meetings on the housing bill have been scheduled. Dorsey said Monday that public testimony would not be taken at future meetings on the legislation.