A few residents also said they were pleased by the developer's plan to devote 110 acres of the remaining land to a school campus.
Divelbiss said the campus could include an elementary school, a middle school and a high school.
The same rezoning request was recommended by the Hagerstown Planning Commission last year, but was withdrawn because the City Council did not support it.
The Planning Commission again favors the rezoning "due to a mistake in the original zoning classification," according to a memo by Stuart W. Bass, a comprehensive planner for the city
The land is zoned for light industrial use, but there hasn't been an industrial use there in more than 20 years, the Planning Commission said in its recommendation.
The 28 acres are part of 180 acres of undeveloped land west of Dual Highway near Antietam Creek.
Bass' memo says the zone change could have resulted in about 243 dwelling units. Divelbiss said there are no specific building plans yet.
The memo says the city's 1997 comprehensive plan recommends that the tract have either "(1) a single industrial or institutional occupant or (2) a residential development."
Quoting the city's comprehensive plan, the memo says the land is "a strategic vacant tract."
"It provides not only a development opportunity but also the future route of Paul Smith Boulevard and the Funkstown Bypass, which will carry traffic around Funkstown from the west to the east or southeast," the memo says.
