Let’s make this the year Cambridge ends exclusionary zoning!
Happy New Year!
Let’s make this the year Cambridge ends exclusionary zoning!
We only have about a month left to pass citywide multifamily zoning into law. To make this a reality, we will need everyone (you and your friends) to email and comment in support.
The Ordinance Committee will have public comment on the final amendment package at 5 pm, this Wednesday, January 8, before the vote on the amendments on January 16. We need people to turn out and support the current compromise proposal and urge the City Council to keep it strongly pro-housing.
Please email [email protected] (cc [email protected] and bcc [email protected]) to thank the Council for working together on this important proposal and to urge them to keep the focus on creating the most housing overall and the most subsidized inclusionary housing.
When sign-ups open, please sign up to speak here for the 5 pm, Wednesday, January 8 Ordinance Committee hearing. Where it asks you the agenda item, you can put Supporting Citywide Multifamily Zoning. You can give public comment via Zoom or in person.
This is the current compromise amendment package:
- Four-story multifamily could be built citywide “as of right.”
- Six-story multifamily could be built citywide “as of right” if 1 in 5 homes (out of 10+) are affordable homes and the lot is at least 5,000 square feet (around 30% of residential lots).
- Setback minimums of 5 feet at the rear and sides of lots are required (along with 10 feet front setbacks).
While the compromise isn’t everything we wanted, A Better Cambridge still thinks the proposal is an extremely positive and important step forward that will make Cambridge one of the most pro-housing cities in the nation. We want to ensure it is not weakened from here and have some suggestions for talking points here.
After Wednesday, we’re in the home stretch of allowing multifamily housing citywide!