In what was likely the final meeting before their proposal goes before a city board for approval, Pine Street Inn and The Community Builders, the two nonprofits seeking to revamp the Comfort Inn at 900 Morrissey Blvd. into permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless people, pledged this week to use a senior preference approach when enlisting tenants.

Lyndia Downie, president and executive director of Pine Street Inn, said the preferred age factor – 62 and older – will be added to the official screening process for applicants to live at 900 Morrissey, which is currently a 131-room hotel.

Before anyone else can be tenant-eligible, Pine Street and Community Builders will first have to fully exhaust the list of senior applicants, Downie added, saying,

“There are enough people who are 62 and older that I don’t see us getting much below that, if ever.”

Downie made the announcement at a virtual meeting hosted by the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), which is weighing approval of the project, which could go before the BPDA’s board at its May 11 meeting.

She said that the nonprofits have brought the number of units inside the former hotel down to 99, from the initially proposed 105 to 110 units, while noting that the average annual income of each resident would be $10,776, that there will be background checks to screen out violent and dangerous applicants, and that the facility would have round-the-clock security.

About 130 people attended Monday’s virtual meeting, one of the half dozen held to date on the proposal. They have been a mix of virtual and in-person, with neighborhood civic associations hosting meetings that attracted large groups of opponents of the project.

At this latest session, opponents appeared unmoved by the changes made by the proponents.

John Lyons, president of the Port Norfolk Civic Association, said the size of the project remains unprecedented for the area. He noted its proximity to the Murphy K-8 School, Pope John Paul II Academy, Garvey Park, and Tenean Beach. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate to approve something of this scale,” he said. “It’s not fair to stick this in this neighborhood.”

Supporters pointed out that most Pine Street properties are within 1,500 feet of educational facilities for children and preschoolers and Downie said there have been no issues with any of these institutions with residents of Pine Street facilities.

“I do appreciate they’ve come back with a different plan, but I’m not so sure it’s going to work,” said John Schneiderman, president of the Pope’s Hill Neighborhood Association.

He also directed comments toward supporters of the project who were at the virtual meeting, including people who live in other parts of Dorchester. He said they had a right to back the project, “but you don’t live here. You might feel different if you did live here. I’m not sure, but that’s how I feel.”

Carl Nagy-Koechlin, an Ashmont-Adams resident who raised money for Pine Street Inn as part of a cross-country bicycle trip he took with his son Josh, was among the supporters at the meeting.

“We have a homeless crisis that is really a national disgrace,” he said. “I feel we’re part of that disgrace and deserve some responsibility for it if we stop projects like this from moving forward.”

Sheila Dillon, Mayor Wu’s chief of housing, stressed at the meeting that the city needs more permanent supportive housing for its homeless population, and that larger projects are underway in Boston’s Back Bay and Jamaica Plain. “Your comments are still very important to us and they are shaping this proposal,” she said.