NEW YORK -- A dispute between city planners and residents in Harlem got a public forum Saturday in a town hall meeting on a massive rezoning plan that will dramatically change the face of the neighborhood.

Earlier this month, the city commission approved a massive rezoning plan for the heart of Harlem that would create condominiums, performing arts space, hotels and a 21-story office tower with such high-profile tenants as Major League Baseball. The plan has several more hurdles before it is finalized.

At a town hall meeting Saturday, several hundred residents came out to voice their concern over the plan.

Many longtime residents fear a rezoned 125th Street will price them out of their homes and erode even more of their community.

As new development sprouts among the soul food restaurants, funky record stores and such landmarks as the Apollo Theater, Harlem's main street — named one of the nation's 10 greatest last year — is struggling to retain the character residents have cherished for decades.

Proponents said the changes will revive a cultural identity that had been threatened by unregulated development on 125th Street, a lively thoroughfare where remnants of the neighborhood's legendary past sit side-by-side with newly arrived banks and chain stores.

The zoning proposal has been in the works for four years and would cover dozens of blocks on 124th, 125th and 126th streets.

Columbia University plans a $7 billion expansion on the west side of the corridor — approved late last year — that raised similar debates about displaced residents and changed neighborhood character.

The largest arts groups in the 125th Street corridor have supported it. Jonelle Procope, president and CEO of the Apollo Theater Foundation, said the rezoning "demonstrates a true understanding of Harlem, where culture is not simply important, but fundamentally woven into the fabric of community."

City Council Member Inez Dickens, who represents central Harlem, has also largely supported the plan, which would require the council's approval. Dickens has said fears that rezoning would create a high-rise district are unfounded. The plan, she noted, actually sets height limits for development that don't exist now.

But other city officials, including Queens Council Member Tony Avela, said he opposes the plan. He asked the crowd, "who's version of Harlem are we talking about?"

City planners will propose one exception to the height restriction: Harlem Park, the first large office tower to be built in Harlem in decades. Major League Baseball is a likely tenant and the city has offered millions in other economic incentives.

Height is a main concern for Franc Perry, chairman of a Harlem community board. The neighborhood is one of the last business districts in New York to allow pedestrians unobstructed sky views, he said.

"It has a village character. You really do see people walking down the street saying hello to each other," Perry said.

Perry and others also worry that allowing about 2,500 new apartments on the corridor would displace residents and threaten the street's commercial feel.

About 70 other small businesses with a history on the street feel similarly threatened, opponents said.