AMHERST — A proposed expansion of a farmhouse at 180 North Whitney St. creating a non-owner-occupied duplex will not move forward after the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals nixed the project, citing potential dangers to pedestrians from adding more traffic to the residential neighborhood.

With limited support for issuing a special permit for the redevelopment of the property, the ZBA voted 4-1 on July 25 to support property owner Mathena Morrissey’s withdrawing the application.

The withdrawal came after board members appeared ready to vote down the plans after receiving a petition signed by 58 residents on North Whitney, Red Gate Lane and Hills Road and getting several public comments that having up to eight unrelated people living in a home, with a 10-space parking lot, is inappropriate.

“It is not a safe location to put additional students, and I will not vote for this,” said member Craig Meadows.

ZBA member David Sloviter said eight college students living at the site could generate noise and trash and adversely affect the tranquility of the neighborhood.

“In spite of assertions that it is possible a family could rent the addition, I find that unlikely to the point of being nearly impossible,” Sloviter said.

Similarly, board member Philip White said, while the project could be exceptional  elsewhere in town, it could harm this neighborhood. “I think this project simply does not fit with the current standing of the neighborhood,” White said.

Setting conditions could ameliorate problems, Chairman Steve Judge said, but even so it was unclear if the project was suitable for the neighborhood.

“I’m troubled by the application,” Judge said.

Only member Everald Henry had worries about voting down the project. Henry said public comments were hostile toward students, and the purpose of the ZBA is protecting the welfare of townspeople.

Henry said not all college students are rowdy, many don’t have cars and the redevelopment of the farmhouse could be a positive.

“What is very difficult for me, time after time, is hearing the animosity toward college students,” Henry said. “We live in a college town, they are part of the community, that is it.”

Withdrawing allows Morrissey to return with another plan, while if had been voted down she couldn’t come back for two years with a similar plan. One possibility is to return with a provision of renting the duplex only to families.

Morrissey, who lives in Amherst, could also use the existing farmhouse as a single-family home, without putting on an addition, and rent to four unrelated students. In that case, the ZBA would have no jurisdiction and couldn’t set any conditions.

Morrissey said she doesn’t know who the tenants would be, but growing up on Grantwood Drive and Blackberry Lane, she experienced a place with a mix of homeowners, families and student tenants. A community block party, put on through a good neighbor grant from the University of Massachusetts housing department, could help foster neighborhood identity.

“We actually did that in this neighborhood and it basically allowed all of the different parties living in the neighborhood to integrate and get to know each other,” Morrissey said.

In addition, she would appeal to have speed bumps on the streets to improve safety and would establish a guest policy for those living there.

Her father, Jim Morrissey, would manage the property. He lives five minutes away and pledged to respond quickly if problems emerged. “If you have a well-designed, well-built, nice property, you will get good tenants,” Morrissey said.

He said background checks and vetting who is rented to would keep issues to a minimum.

The petition from neighbors, though, noted the conversion of 174 North Whitney into a three-unit rental and 164 Red Gate Lane into a rental last fall has created quality-of-life issues for residents, including loud parties and numerous vehicles parked at those homes and traveling the normally quiet streets.

Benjamin Bailey, who lives on North Whitney near the proposed project, was among several who told the ZBA to reject the application.

“We are unanimous in finding that an eight-bedroom, non-owner-occupied duplex at 180 North Whitney is not in character with the neighborhood and would degrade the neighborhood,” Bailey said.