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I'M GONNA CALL TODAY'S JOINT NEIGHBORHOOD AND LONG-TERM PLANNING, PUBLIC FACILITIES ARTS AND CELEBRATION COMMITTEE, UH, AND HOUSING COMMITTEE.
THE CALL OF TODAY'S MEETING IS TO DISCUSS PRESENT TO DISCUSS, UH, FINDINGS ON THE STATE OF HOUSING PRODUCTION SINCE THE PASSAGE OF THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING ORDINANCE IN FEBRUARY, 2025.
THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS A ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS PRESENT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD AND LONG TERM PLANNING.
COUNCILOR ZUBI, ABSENT VICE MAYOR.
THAT'S FOUR MEMBERS PRESENT, ONE RECORDED AS ABSENT FOR HOUSING COUNSELOR ZUBI.
PURSUANT TO CHAPTER TWO OF THE ACTS OF 2025, ADOPTED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT AND APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR, THE CITY IS AUTHORIZED TO USE REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS OF THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL AND ITS COMMITTEES.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDS THIS MEETING AND MAKES IT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC FOR FUTURE VIEWING.
IN ADDITION, THIRD PARTIES MAY ALSO BE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING THIS MEETING.
IN ADDITION TO HAVING MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL PARTICIPATE REMOTELY, WE HAVE ALSO SET UP ZOOM TELECONFERENCE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
EACH SPEAKER WILL HAVE TWO MINUTES.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE CITY COUNCIL SECTION OF THE CITY'S WEBPAGE.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW TO SIGN UP TO SPEAK ARE POSTED THERE.
ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SIGNUP PROCEDURE, YOU'LL RECEIVE A LINK TO THE ZOOM MEETING.
TO WATCH THE MEETING, PLEASE TUNE INTO CHANNEL 22 OR VISIT THE OPEN MEETING PORTAL ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE.
WITH THAT, ALL OF TODAY'S VOTES WILL BE BY ROLL CALL.
UM, AND SO FOR THE ORDER OF THE MEETING TODAY, WE'LL HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM CITY STAFF, FOLLOWED BY PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, AND THEN WE WILL GO TO QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION FROM THE CITY COUNCIL.
AS A NOTE, THIS IS THE, UH, FIRST OF A COUPLE MEETINGS ON THIS TOPIC.
SO AT THE END OF THIS MEETING, UH, WE WILL VOTE TO RECESS AND THEN CONTINUE IT AT THE NEXT, UH, JOINT MEETING OF THE HOUSING COMMITTEE AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD LONG-TERM PLANNING COMMITTEE.
UH, ALSO WE WILL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT CO-CHAIRS HERE.
WE HAVE GUY COUNCILOR
UH, I BELIEVE THAT'S IT FOR COUNSELORS HERE.
I THINK WE HAVE A COUPLE OTHER COUNSELORS JOINING.
MAYOR SIDIKI IS ONLINE AS WELL.
UM, WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO CITY STAFF FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I, JEN KYRA, DEPUTY CHIEF OF PLANNING FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
AND WE'RE HAPPY TO BE HERE TODAY TO PRESENT THE FIRST ANNUAL HOUSING REPORT.
SO, AS YOU KNOW, THE, WHEN THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING WAS ADOPTED IN FEBRUARY, 2025, IT INCLUDED A PROVISION TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE THAT WE PROVIDE AN ANNUAL REPORTING ON HOUSING ACTIVITY, AS WELL AS A MORE COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION AT FIVE YEARS.
SO, AS YOU'LL HEAR TODAY, ONE YEAR IS NOT ENOUGH TO DRAW DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF THE ZONING CHANGE.
HOWEVER, WE HOPE THIS BA THIS REPORT WILL SERVE AS A BASELINE FOR EVALUATING HOUSING TRENDS MOVING FORWARD.
AND GIVEN THE DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS CHANGED AS A RESULT OF THE ZONING, WE DID ATTEMPT TO PULL TOGETHER VARIOUS SOURCES OF DATA, LOOKING AT WHAT'S POTENTIALLY COMING IN THE PIPELINE.
SO WE'LL BE PRESENTING THAT AS WELL.
AND WE HOPE THAT THIS PRESENTATION WILL SERVE AS THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE UPCOMING DISCUSSIONS REGARDING THE INITIAL OUTCOMES OF THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING, AS WELL AS WHERE THERE MAY BE OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENTS.
SO I'M GONNA HAND IT OVER TO JEFF ROBERTS, DIRECTOR OF ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT TO PRESENT.
UH, JEFF ROBERTS, DIRECTOR OF ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT.
UM, I'LL BE KIND OF TAKING THE, THE BULK OF THIS PRESENTATION, BUT, UM, IT'D BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T POINT OUT THIS WAS REALLY BIG, UH, INTERDEPARTMENT EFFORT AND THERE'S MANY PEOPLE HERE WITH US TODAY.
SO, ALONG WITH JEN, WE HAVE MELISSA PETERS, UM, FROM CDD AND OVER TO MY LEFT, EMILY HUTCHINGS ON MY TEAM IN ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT.
DID, DID A LOT OF THE WORK HEADING UP, PULLING TOGETHER THE DATA FOR THIS.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE CONVENIENTLY BEHIND ME, SO I HAVE TO DO THIS KIND OF LEAN TO THE SIDE.
PETER MCLAUGHLIN AND JACOB BAZAARA FROM THE INSPECTION SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
WE HAVE SCOTT WALKER FROM CDD, WHO'S OUR DATA MANAGER, WHO IS ALSO REALLY INSTRUMENTAL IN PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
CHRIS COTTER, THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSING, AND, UH, FROM THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION, UH, OVER BEHIND ME TO MY RIGHT, WE HAVE, UH, CHARLIE SULLIVAN AND SARAH BS.
DID I MISS ANYONE? ANDREW? OH, AND ANDREW PUTNAM FROM DPW.
SO THAT, THAT'S GREAT TO HAVE HIM HERE.
UM, GIVE ME ONE SECOND 'CAUSE I DO NEED TO PUSH A BUTTON.
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CAN, COULD I GET THE SHARING TURNED ON? OH, SORRY.PRESENT SHOULD BE ALL SET NOW.
LET'S MAKE SURE EVERYBODY'S SEEING THIS AND I NEED TO MOVE SOME THINGS.
SO THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT TO DO HERE, SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME.
I'M GONNA TRY TO BE THOROUGH ON THIS, BUT I'M NOT GONNA GO OVER EVERY SINGLE DETAIL.
WE DID TRY TO INCLUDE A LOT OF INFORMATION DIRECTLY IN THE SLIDES SO THAT, UM, PEOPLE COULD GO OVER IT IN ADVANCE.
THEY CAN GO OVER IT AFTERWARDS TO REALLY DIGEST SOME OF THE INFORMATION HERE.
SO I'LL, I'LL TRY TO HIT, UM, SOME OF THE KEY HIGHLIGHTS AND, AND MOVE FAIRLY QUICKLY.
UM, AS MENTIONED, UH, THIS WAS A, A PIECE OF, UH, THE ZONING ORDINANCE THAT WAS ADDED AS PART OF THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING REFORM, UH, PASSED A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO.
UM, THIS IS, UH, UNLIKE OTHER PIECES OF THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING, WHICH WERE ABOUT REGULATIONS TRYING TO, UM, AFFECT HOW HOW HOUSING IS, IS PERMITTED AND REGULATED IN THE CITY.
THIS WAS REALLY, UM, MORE OF SORT OF AN INDIRECT MEASURE.
UH, WE THINK THIS IS GONNA BE A VALUABLE PART OF OUR ONGOING HOUSING PROGRAM IN ZONING IN ORDER TO BUILD A REALLY A, A RICH RESOURCE OF DATA THAT CAN BE USED TO INFORM POLICY CONSIDERATIONS GOING ON INTO THE FUTURE.
SO WE'RE EXCITED TO BE DOING THIS.
UM, JUST AS A, A QUICK REMINDER, THERE ARE TWO COMPONENTS TO THE, THE, WHAT'S CALLED THE HOUSING REVIEW IN ZONING.
ONE IS THE ANNUAL REPORT, WHICH FOCUSES ON, UM, A SUMMARY OF, OF WHAT AFFECTS THE OVERALL HOUSING STOCK.
ZONING CALLS FOR A MORE EXTENSIVE EVALUATION OF HOUSING POLICIES ON A FIVE YEAR CYCLE BEGINNING IN 2030.
SO FOR THIS FIRST REPORT, WE SET A FEW, UH, PARTICULAR GOALS.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE CERTAINLY WANT TO DO JUST WHAT THE ZONING SAYS AND, AND PROVIDE A PICTURE OF HOW THE HOUSING SOC HAS CHANGED IN A YEAR.
UM, BUT WE ALSO WANT TO LOOK AT DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION.
WE REALIZED VERY QUICKLY IF WE WANT TO ANSWER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS, YOU CAN'T DO THAT ALL WITH JUST ONE SET OF NUMBERS.
UM, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT WAYS TO, TO PRESENT THINGS, TO, TO SEE WHAT WILL, WHAT WILL REVEAL DIFFERENT, UM, KINDS OF, OF INFORMATION.
UM, WE'RE ALSO WANNA BE MINDFUL THAT WE'RE COLLECTING AND PRESENTING INFORMATION IN A WAY THAT CAN BE REPLICATED IN FUTURE YEARS.
AS JEN SAID, WE REALLY WANT TO BUILD A ROBUST TIMELINE OF DATA THAT WILL BECOME MORE VALUABLE OVER TIME, THE MORE YEARS WE DO IT.
UM, THERE ARE SOME NOTES, UM, SOME OF THIS IS JUST KIND OF TECHNICAL NOTES ABOUT THE DATA AND THE SOURCES OF DATA, UM, WHICH I WON'T REVIEW ALL OF.
UH, ONE IMPORTANT POINT IS THAT, UH, ACCORDING TO OUR CHARGE FOR THIS, WE'RE LOOKING AT HOUSING PROPOSALS AND PERMITS THAT AFFECT THE HOUSING STOCK.
SO WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT SORT OF RENOVATION WORK, OTHER THINGS WHICH, WHICH MAKE UP A, A BULK OF, UM, OF BUILDING PERMIT ACTIVITY.
WE REALLY ARE LOOKING AT WHAT'S CREATING OR REMOVING UNITS OF HOUSING.
UM, AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAKE NOTE.
WE, WE USE A FEW TERMS THROUGHOUT THIS, WHERE WE REFER TO NEW UNITS.
UM, WE'RE REFERRING TO ALL HOUSING UNITS THAT ARE COMING INTO EXISTENCE.
SO ANYTHING, ANY UNIT THAT DIDN'T EXIST BEFORE AND IS CREATED, WE CONSIDER A NEW UNIT, WHICH IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT FROM NET NEW UNITS.
SO NET NEW UNITS IS THE TERM WE USE WHEN WE'RE TAKING THE NEW UNITS CREATED AND THEN SUBTRACTING OUT UNITS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN REMOVED OR DEMOLISHED ON A LOT.
SO, WE'LL, WE'LL FOCUS ON THAT WHEN WE WE GET TO THOSE, UH, THOSE POINTS IN THE, IN THE REPORT.
UM, ANOTHER IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT CAVEAT HERE IS THAT THE DATA IS INHERENTLY A LITTLE MESSY.
UM, WHEN YOU GET INTO THE DETAILS OF A PARTICULAR DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL OR A PARTICULAR PERMIT, THERE ARE A LOT OF UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MIGHT APPLY TO THAT.
AND SO IT CAN SOMETIMES BE HARD TO FIT EVERYTHING INTO A SPECIFIC CATEGORY.
UM, SO WE DID THE BEST WE COULD TO PROVIDE AN, AN ACCURATE ACCOUNTING, BUT WE REALIZED THAT IT'S NOT GONNA BE PERFECT IN, IN EVERY SINGLE CASE.
SO WE BROKE THIS REPORT INTO THREE MAIN PARTS.
UM, AT THE BEGINNING WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO COVER SOME HIGH LEVEL TOPICS, AND THAT INCLUDES A REMINDER OF SOME OF THE MAJOR POLICY CHANGES THAT AFFECT HOUSING THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN THE LAST YEAR.
AND, AND WE'LL INTEND TO DO THAT WHEN WE, UM, DO THIS REVIEW IN THE FUTURE.
WE, IN THE NEXT PART, FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS THAT HAVE MOVED FORWARD IN THE LAST YEAR, WILL SOMETIMES REFER TO THIS AS THE PIPELINE OF DEVELOPMENT.
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PROPOSALS THAT ARE STILL IN AN EARLY STAGE OF REVIEW.THEY'RE NOT NECESSARILY PROPOSALS THAT ARE DIRECTLY IN CONSTRUCTION.
SO THAT, UM, THAT DEVELOPMENT REVIEW SECTION GIVES US A PICTURE OF WHAT WE ANTICIPATE GOING FORWARD IN THE COMING YEARS, BUT WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE A SPECIFIC KIND OF TIMELINE PINNED TO TO, TO THAT TYPE OF, UM, DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL.
AND THEN IN THE LAST PART, WE LOOK AT ACTUAL BUILDING PERMITS.
SO WHAT'S ACTUALLY GONE INTO CONSTRUCTION IN THE PAST YEAR, UM, OTHER SORT OF RELATED ACTIVITY THAT GIVES A MORE IMMEDIATE SENSE OF, OF WHAT'S BEING BUILT AT THIS SPECIFIC POINT IN TIME.
UH, SO WE'LL START WITH SOME OF THIS, UH, SOME OF THESE BIG PICTURE TOPICS AS MUCH OF WHICH IS, IS GONNA BE, UM, UH, NOT NEW TO, TO MANY ON COUNCIL.
SO, UH, JUST AS AN OVERVIEW FOR THIS REPORT, AND WE'LL GET INTO THIS IN THE COMING SECTIONS, UM, WE'VE HAD, YOU KNOW, ABOUT 40 DIFFERENT, UH, HOUSING PROPOSALS THAT, THAT HAVE BEEN LOOKED AT, UH, SINCE 2025.
AND WE'VE INCLUDED SOME, YOU KNOW, GOING A LITTLE BIT INTO THE BEGINNING OF 2026, JUST TO TRY TO BE THOROUGH.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THAT PIPELINE OF, OF, UH, FUTURE HOUSING.
AND IN TERMS OF BUILDING PERMITS, WE'VE HAD ROUGHLY 50, UM, BUILDING PERMITS, UH, ISSUED FOR, FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT.
IT'S NOT A HUGE INCREASE FROM, UH, 2024.
IT'S A, A SOMEWHAT, UH, MODEST INCREASE FROM 2024.
UM, AND OVERALL WE'VE SEEN A, UH, WE'VE SEEN IN 2025, NOT AS MANY LARGE SCALE.
IN FACT, WE HAVEN'T SEEN ANY LARGE SCALE PROJECTS PERMITTED.
AND SO THE TOTAL NUMBER OF HOUSING UNITS RECEIVING PERMITS HAS BEEN DOWN, UM, LAST YEAR COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
UM, BUT WE ARE SEEING AMONG SMALLER SCALE PROJECTS A SHIFT, UM, AWAY FROM PROJECTS THAT IN THE PAST HAD BEEN SORT OF DECREASING THE NUMBER OF UNITS AND THEN, YOU KNOW, TOWARDS PROJECTS THAT ARE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF UNITS.
SO WE, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT MORE AS WE GET INTO IT.
BUT THOSE ARE SOME OF THE, THE BIG, UM, THE, THAT'S SORT OF THE UNIVERSE OF THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IT.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S, YOU KNOW, ECONOMIC CONTEXT BEHIND THIS DATA.
THE PAST FEW YEARS HAVE BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSING LOCALLY, REGIONALLY, AND NATIONALLY.
UM, ON A LOCAL LEVEL, IT'S ALSO BEEN A DIFFICULT TIME FOR ALL TYPES OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT, BOTH, BOTH RESIDENTIAL AND NON-RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, UH, DUE TO HIGH CONSTRUCTION COSTS AND INTEREST RATES, UH, AND A GREAT DEAL OF UNPREDICTABILITY IN TERMS OF HOW THOSE ECONOMIC FACTORS ARE CHANGING.
SO DESPITE THIS, I THINK WE, WE'VE SEEN THAT THERE'S STILL STRONG DEMAND FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT.
AND SO WE STILL HAVE DEVELOPERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN BUILDING IN CAMBRIDGE AS WE DO THIS, UH, FIRST ANNUAL HOUSING REPORT.
WE, WE THOUGHT IT WAS, IT WAS INTERESTING TO LOOK AT, UH, THE FIVE YEAR, UH, PROGRESS ON THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY THAT WE KIND OF HAVE THE BENEFIT OF BEING ABLE TO COMPARE, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN, IN ONE YEAR SINCE A MAJOR ZONING CHANGE TO WHAT'S HAPPENED OVER FIVE YEARS, UH, AFTER A MAJOR ZONING CHANGE.
UM, THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY WON'T TALK ABOUT A, A TON, BUT THERE'S SOME SIMILARITIES WITH, UH, WITH THE 2025 HOUSING CHANGE.
UM, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE, WE'VE SEEN IS THAT, UM, WHILE THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY HAS, I THINK, UH, ANECDOTALLY HAS SORT OF TAKEN HOLD RELATIVELY QUICKLY, IT STILL TOOK A LONG TIME FOR THAT ZONING CHANGE TO BEGIN DELIVERING UNITS.
SO WE CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, IF, IF YOU LOOK AT 2021, YOU KNOW, A YEAR AFTER ADOPTION, WE WERE STILL LOOKING AT, UM, YOU KNOW, NO UNITS IN CONSTRUCTION, YOU KNOW, NO UNITS.
THERE WERE SOME UNITS WHO HAD THAT HAD STARTED DESIGN REVIEW, BUT NOTHING HAD REALLY COMPLETED DESIGN REVIEW AT THAT POINT.
AND THEN YOU CAN SEE HOW THE BI, THE PIPELINE HAS BUILT OUT OVER, UM, A PERIOD OF TIME.
AND IN FACT, OVER, IT WAS ONLY IN 2025 THAT THE FIRST UNITS, UM, WERE, WERE DELIVERED, UM, AND BUILT UNDER THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY.
SO IT, IT'S JUST A SENSE OF THE, OF WHAT THE TIMESCALE IS WHEN YOU LOOK AT URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND, UM, AND REALLY WHAT IT TAKES TO UNDERSTAND THE FULL, UM, EFFECT OF A ZONING CHANGE.
UM, 2025 WAS A BIG YEAR FOR ZONING.
THERE WERE SOME AMENDMENTS THAT, UH, DRAMATICALLY TRANSFORMED HOW HOUSING IS REGULATED.
WE ALSO NOTED THERE WERE, WERE SOME CHANGES TO OUR ZONING HAVING TO DO WITH FLOOD RISK.
UM, THERE WAS AN UPDATE TO THE FEMA FLOOD DATA AND THE CITY'S OWN LONG-TERM FLOOD ELEVATION DATA, AND ALSO A POLICY CHANGE, UM, WHERE IT'S NO LONGER REQUIRED TO GET A SEPARATE SPECIAL PERMIT FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE FEMA FLOODPLAIN.
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THAT WE HAVEN'T, WE, WE WON'T TALK ABOUT THOSE TOO MUCH MORE, BUT THOSE ARE, UM, CHANGES THAT DO HAVE AN EFFECT.UM, LOOKING AT THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING REFORM, JUST TO KIND OF REMIND EVERYONE, THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC GOALS SET IN PLACE BY THE CITY COUNCIL, UM, IN 2024.
ONE OF THEM HAD TO DO WITH, UM, THIS IDEA OF EXCLUSIONARY ZONING, WHICH ESSENTIALLY MEANS, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO BE EQUITABLE IN HOW, UM, ZONING TREATS, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, NOT HAVING SOME, SOME NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE, YOU KNOW, MORE, UH, MORE LIMITING OR MORE RESTRICTIVE THAN OTHERS.
UM, THERE'S ALSO AN EXPLICIT GOAL TO PROMOTE MORE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, UM, AND TO, UH, INCLUDE, UH, INCOME RESTRICTED HOUSING THROUGH THE INCLUSIONARY.
UM, AND ALSO JUST GENERALLY TO REMOVE SOME OF THE BARRIERS THAT MAKE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING, YOU KNOW, MORE DIFFICULT TO BUILD.
UH, THE, THE MAIN CHANGES, AND THESE CAN PROBABLY BE, BE FAIRLY, UH, DESCRIBED AS AS SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHANGES TO HOUSING REGULATIONS.
SINCE ZONING WAS FIRST ADOPTED IN 1924, UM, THE, ALL OF THE, THE NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE CITY WERE ZONED TO THE SAME DESIGNATION RESIDENCY, ONE, ALLOWING MULTIFAMILY AS OF RIGHT IN ALL, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS OF THE CITY.
UM, THE DIMENSIONAL CONTROLS FOR HOUSING REMOVED SOME OF THE DENSITY LIMITATIONS THAT HAD EXISTED BEFORE, STICKING WITH HEIGHT SETBACKS AND OPEN SPACE AS THE KEY DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR, FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT.
AND IT, UH, REFORMED SOME OF THE DISCRETIONARY REVIEW THRESHOLDS SO THAT, UH, HOUSING WOULD ONLY NEED A SPECIAL PERMIT IF IT EXCEEDS 75,000 SQUARE FEET.
AND THERE WERE NEW ADVISORY REVIEW PROCEDURES PUT IN PLACE FOR, FOR SMALLER SCALES OF DEVELOPMENT.
THE HEIGHT LIMITS WERE, UH, INCREASED IN, IN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS, ALLOWING UP TO FOUR STORIES WITH AN INCREASE TO SIX STORIES FOR PROJECTS THAT MEET INCLUSIONARY HOUSING REQUIREMENTS.
OTHER ZONING DISTRICTS, UM, THE HEIGHT LIMITS WERE INCREASED TO SIX STORIES, AND THEN SOME DISTRICTS ALLOW MORE, UM, BASED ON WHAT THE PREVIOUS ZONING HAD ALLOWED.
THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY CONTINUES TO ALLOW HEIGHT INCREASES ABOVE THE BASE ZONING IN IN ALL DISTRICTS.
UM, LATER IN 2025, WE HAD, UM, SOME LARGER AREA REZONINGS THAT WERE ADOPTED, UM, BOTH ON MASS AVE AND CAMBRIDGE STREET.
UM, THESE ZONING CHANGES WERE BASED ON COMPREHENSIVE STUDIES THAT SET GOALS TO BOTH INCREASED CAPACITY FOR HOUSING, BUT ALSO SUPPORT THE MIXED USE CHARACTER OF THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, WITH ACTIVE GROUND FLOORS AND URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS MEANT TO, UH, TO PROMOTE, UH, THE FAVORABLE URBAN DESIGN OUTCOMES IN THOSE AREAS.
AND THE FINAL RESULT, UH, IN TERMS OF HOUSING, UH, OF THOSE ZONING AMENDMENTS WERE INCREASED HEIGHT ALONG MASS AVE, UP TO 12 STORIES, POTENTIALLY UP TO 18 IN PORTER SQUARE, UH, ON CAMBRIDGE STREET, THERE WASN'T AN INCREASE IN, IN THE HEIGHT FOR HOUSING IN MOST OF CAMBRIDGE STREET.
THE HEIGHT LIMIT REMAINS SIX STORIES, UM, WITH INCREASED HEIGHT IN SOME KEY NODES, INCLUDING LECHMERE AND THE CORONER, UH, WITH WEBSTER AND COLUMBIA STREETS.
AND FINALLY, WE JUST WANTED TO, TO QUICKLY HIGHLIGHT THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING ON THE STAFF SIDE TO IMPLEMENT, UH, ZONING CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE.
UM, WE NOW MEET MONTHLY ACROSS DEPARTMENTS TO TALK ABOUT HOUSING WITH, WITH A FOCUS ON THE REVIEW AND PERMITTING PROCESS.
UM, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK STANDING UP SOME OF THESE, UH, NEW ADVISORY PROCEDURES THAT HAVE, UH, BEEN PUT IN PLACE AS A RESULT OF THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING.
UM, AND, AND ALL OF THIS IS, IS A PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL EFFORT THAT CONTINUES TO, UM, TO BE SOMETHING THAT WE, WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON.
SO THAT WAS JUST SOME CONTEXT AND, AND NOW WE'LL START GETTING INTO WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN 2025.
AND, AND SINCE THE FIRST SECTION OF THIS, UM, TO, TO KIND OF GET YOUR, YOUR HEAD SITUATED FOR THIS, IMAGINE THAT WE'RE STANDING AT ONE POINT IN TIME AND WE'RE LOOKING AHEAD TO WHAT WE SEE COMING DOWN THE ROAD.
UM, SO FOR THIS SECTION, WE'VE INCLUDED NEW PROPOSALS THAT WE'VE SEEN FOR HOUSING, UM, AS OF 2025.
AND WE'VE ALSO LOOKED BACK A BIT AT PROPOSALS THAT ARE OLDER BUT HAVE NOT YET GONE INTO CONSTRUCTION SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE AS COMPLETE A PICTURE AS WE CAN OF, OF WHAT THE FUTURE PIPELINE OF, OF HOUSING LOOKS LIKE.
UH, WE'VE INCLUDED AS MANY PROPOSALS AS WE CAN, EVEN UP TO THE PRESENT DAY 'CAUSE WE WANT IT TO BE AS INCLUSIVE AS WE COULD.
WE DON'T WANNA LEAVE ANYTHING OUT.
UM, WE UNDERSTAND WE CAN'T COVER EVERY POTENTIAL PROPOSAL THAT MIGHT BE COMING FORWARD.
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PROPOSALS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH, UM, SOME FORMAL, YOU KNOW, CITY MANDATED REVIEW PROCESS.UM, AND BECAUSE, UH, THESE PROJECTS DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE BUILDING PERMITS YET, UH, WE REALIZE WE'RE NOT GIVING A PERFECTLY ACCURATE PREDICTION OF WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN.
WE KNOW THAT SOME OF THESE PROJECTS WILL PROBABLY NOT MOVE FORWARD.
SOME OF THEM WILL PROBABLY CHANGE, SOME MIGHT HAVE A, YOU KNOW, A DIFFERENT NUMBER OR DIFFERENT TYPE OF UNITS AS THEY CONTINUE TO EVOLVE.
IN FACT, THERE ARE SOME PROPOSALS THAT WE ALREADY KNOW ARE GONNA CHANGE.
UM, BUT WE DON'T KNOW YET EXACTLY HOW THEY'RE GONNA CHANGE.
'CAUSE IT'S GONNA TAKE TIME FOR, UM, CHANGES TO SORT OF WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH.
SO, UH, I SAID WE'VE COVERED, WE'RE COVERING, UH, PROPOSALS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH SOME CITY MANDATED REVIEW PROCESS.
UM, I WON'T REVIEW ALL OF THIS LIST 'CAUSE WE'LL GO THROUGH IT SECTION BY SECTION.
UM, AND WE'RE NOT JUST ONE THING TO NOTE IS, UH, WELL FIRST WE'RE, WE'RE INCLUDING IT'S A COM, A COMBINATION OF BOTH BINDING AND, UH, NINE BINDING REVIEW PROCEDURES, WHICH ALL HAVE DIFFERENT PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS.
AND WE'RE REALLY JUST USING THIS AS A WAY TO COMPILE INFORMATION.
WE'RE NOT TALKING SO MUCH ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF THESE REVIEWS.
OF COURSE, ALL OF THESE REVIEWS HAVE A PARTICULAR PURPOSE TO THEM.
UM, BUT FOR NOW, WE'RE REALLY JUST USING THIS AS A WAY TO, TO STRUCTURE THE INFORMATION IN THE REPORT ADVANCE.
UM, SO, UH, FIRST WE HAVE PROJECTS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO PLANNING BOARD SPECIAL PERMITS.
UM, THERE ARE A FEW, UH, ONE WHICH, WHICH ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE LARGELY BEFORE THE, UM, UH, THE REZONING.
UH, THE MULTIFAMILY REZONING WAS 7 45 CONCORD AVE.
WE, THAT PROJECT RECEIVED A SPECIAL PERMIT.
WE KNOW THAT AT, AT THIS POINT, IT'S NOT MOVING FORWARD, BUT THE PERMIT REMAINS VALID.
THAT'S SOMETHING AGAIN, THAT WE MAY SEE, UM, SOME CHANGE, UH, IN THE FUTURE AS WE, UM, AS AS PROJECT KIND OF GET RE REFORMED AND RECONCEPTUALIZED A BIT.
AND THEN WE HAVE A COUPLE OF PROPOSALS THAT ARE STILL IN THE REVIEW PHASE.
THERE'S THE HEALTH PEAK, PUD, UM, WHICH IS A MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT.
AND, UH, THAT WILL PRODUCE OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF UNITS.
AS WELL AS, UH, THE FIRST PROJECT THAT'S, UH, TRULY UNDER THE NEW MULTIFAMILY ZONING.
UH, THAT WOULD BE SUBJECT TO A PLANNING BOARD SPECIAL PERMIT, WHICH IS A PROPOSAL ON, ON BIR STREET AND BAYSTATE ROAD.
THEY'VE STARTED THEIR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS AND THEN THAT FROM, FROM THAT THEY'D BE PROCEEDING INTO THE PLANNING BOARD APPLICATION PROCESS.
AND JUST AGAIN, TO LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE, UM, PROJECTS THAT HAVE PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED PLANNING BOARD SPECIAL PERMITS.
THERE, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF, UH, PUD DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE REMAINING, UM, PHASES OF HOUSING THAT ARE, UH, YET TO BE COMPLETED IN SOME CASES LIKE THE, THE NORTH POINT OR CAMBRIDGE CROSSING PUD, THERE'S, UH, YOU KNOW, A MUCH OF THAT HOUSING HAS BEEN BUILT, BUT THERE'S MUCH MORE HOUSING LEFT TO, TO COME.
THERE'S HOUSING TO BE BUILT ON THE, UH, THE VOLPI SITE.
THERE'S HOUSING ON CAMBRIDGE SIDE, UM, 75 FIRST STREET IS AN EXAMPLE OF, OF ONE THAT, UM, HADN'T BEEN MOVING FORWARD FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, BUT NOW THE BUILDING PERMIT IS UNDER REVIEW.
SO WE'RE OPTIMISTIC THAT'S A, A PROJECT THAT WILL COME SORT OF OUT OF THAT, UM, PERMITTED PHASE AND INTO CONSTRUCTION FAIRLY SOON.
UM, AND THERE'S A FEW PROJECTS THAT STILL HAVE VALID SPECIAL PERMITS, UM, THAT, UH, THAT HAVEN'T MOVED FORWARD YET.
BUT SOME OF THESE WERE PERMITTED BEFORE THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING.
AND AGAIN, THESE ARE, THESE ARE ALL SITES THAT ARE, ARE VIABLE FOR REDEVELOPMENT.
SO, UM, IT WOULDN'T BE SURPRISING IF SOME OF THOSE PROJECTS CAME FORWARD PER, PERHAPS, SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT THAN, THAN THEY'VE ORIGINALLY BEEN BEEN PERMITTED.
UM, MOST OF THESE TAKEAWAYS I'M GONNA SORT OF SKIP OVER 'CAUSE I'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THEM.
UM, I, WE JUST KIND OF PUT THEM ON THE SLIDE SO THAT THEY WOULD BE THERE FOR, FOR PEOPLE TO REFER TO IF THEY WERE, UH, LOOKING AT IT OUTSIDE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, THE, THE ONE BIG HIGHLIGHT HERE IS THAT THE, THE THREE PUD PROPOSALS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, THE, THE THREE BIG ONES, THE HEALTH PEAK, CAMBRIDGE CROSSING AND KENDALL COMMON, UM, REALLY MAKE UP THE BULK OF EXPECTED UNITS IN OUR PIPELINE.
BUT AGAIN, THOSE ARE EXPECTED TO BE BILLED OUT OVER A VERY LONG PERIOD OF TIME, POTENTIALLY A DECADE OR TWO TO, TO REALLY SEE THOSE DEVELOPMENTS FULLY GET BUILT OUT.
UM, SO THE NEXT SECTION IS OUR PLANNING BOARD ADVISORY CONSULTATION.
SO THIS IS A, UM, THIS IS A PROVISION IN THE ZONING, WHICH USED TO APPLY JUST TO THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY, BUT THEN IT WAS, IT WAS SORT OF BROADENED IN THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING TO APPLY ALSO TO, UM, MARKET DEVELOPMENT.
THAT'S 50 TO 75,000 SQUARE FEET IN GROSS FLOOR AREA.
[00:25:01]
OF OF PROJECTS IN THIS CATEGORY ARE STILL AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY PROPOSALS.UM, BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE OF OF MARKET RATE PROPOSALS THAT HAVE STARTED TO MAKE THEIR WAY INTO THE PROCESS.
UM, 16 TO 28 PORTER STREET IS ONE THAT WE ACTUALLY JUST, JUST AS OF A FEW DAYS AGO, WE KNOW THAT, THAT, UH, HAS, UH, WITHDRAWN FROM ITS CONSULTATION PROCESS.
UM, WE EXPECT THAT WILL BE, UH, ONE OF THOSE PROJECTS THAT'S GONNA CHANGE.
UM, WE, WE DO EXPECT TO SEE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL ON THAT SITE, BUT IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY ANTICIPATED.
UM, AND 1740 MASS AVE HAS COMPLETED ITS FIRST CONSULTATION AND WILL BE HEADING TO ITS SECOND CONSULTATION, UH, AT THE PLANNING BOARD.
UH, WE, WE EXPECT IN THE NEAR FUTURE, AND THEN THAT WILL WILL COMPLETE THE PROCESS.
SO WE'RE STARTING TO SEE PROPOSALS IN THAT SIZE RANGE COME THROUGH.
UH, AND THERE ARE A COUPLE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY PROJECTS THAT WENT THROUGH REVIEW LAST YEAR.
WE EXPECT THOSE TO BE GOING INTO THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
I THINK IN SOME CASES THEY'VE, THEY, OR MAYBE IN BOTH CASES, THEY'VE, THEY'VE SECURED THEIR FUNDING OR IN THE PROCESS OF SECURING FUNDING TO MOVE FORWARD.
AGAIN, ALL THIS IS, THIS IS MOSTLY WHAT I'VE ALREADY SAID.
I THINK ONE OF THE OTHER BROAD POINTS HERE IS THAT WHILE, UM, THERE ARE SOME PROPOSALS THAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE RESIDENCY ONE DISTRICT IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOOD DISTRICTS, WE'RE ALSO SEEING PROPOSALS AT THIS SIZE RANGE IN, IN A VARIETY OF OTHER ZONING DISTRICTS, OTHER TYPES OF RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS AND, AND MIXED USE ZONING DISTRICTS.
SO IT'S NOT ALL IN, IN NEIGHBORHOODS.
UM, IN THE, SO THE, THIS IS A STAFF ADVISORY CONSULTATION, WHICH APPLIES TO PROPOSALS IN THE 25,000 TO 50,000 SQUARE FOOT RANGE.
WE'VE HAD FOUR PROPOSALS IN THAT RANGE, UM, SINCE 2025.
THIS, THIS REQUIRES A STAFF REVIEW.
UM, THESE HAVE BEEN IN ALL DIFFERENT ZONING DISTRICTS, UH, AND, UH, ALL ON SITES THAT EITHER HAVE, YOU KNOW, HAD NO UNITS BEFORE OR IN SOME CASES ONE UNIT.
UM, TWO OF THESE PROPOSALS HAVE MOVED INTO THE BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW PHASE, SO THOSE MIGHT BE IN CONSTRUCTION SOON.
UM, SO THIS PROCESS HAS, HAS REALLY, UH, HAS, HAS BEEN A SOMEWHAT, UM, SMOOTH PROCESS FOR, UH, FOR PROPOSALS TO, TO, UM, TO GO THROUGH THAT REVIEW AND GO INTO BUILDING PERMIT.
UM, WE'VE ONLY HAD ONE PROJECT IN THE PUBLIC ADVISORY CONSULTATION PROCESS.
IT'S A, A SMALLER DEVELOPMENT ON PROSPECT STREET.
UH, THIS PROCESS EXISTED BEFORE THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING AND IT REQUIRES A, A NON-BINDING PUBLIC MEETING ADMINISTERED BY CDD, AND IT APPLIES TO ALMOST ALL NEW BUILDINGS IN AREAS THAT WE CALL AREAS OF SPECIAL PLANNING CONCERN.
SO THAT INCLUDES HARVARD SQUARE AND CENTRAL SQUARE, WHICH HAVE THEIR OWN ADVISORY COMMITTEES THAT THAT HANDLE THIS.
UM, AS, AND IN THIS CASE, UH, THIS PROPOSAL WAS PARTLY IN THE PROSPECT STREET OVERLAY DISTRICT AND CAMBRIDGE STREET DISTRICT, UM, WHICH IS A, A NEW SPEC AREA OF SPECIAL PLANNING CONCERN THAT WAS CREATED AS PART OF THE CAMBRIDGE STREET REZONING.
UM, SO THIS, THIS SECTION WILL KIND OF TRACK PROJECTS THAT ARE, THAT ARE IN SOME OF THOSE, THOSE SPECIAL PLANNING AREAS, INCLUDING SOME SMALLER DEVELOPMENTS.
UM, SO WE'RE SEEING, YOU KNOW, INTEREST IN DEVELOPMENT AT THIS SCALE.
UM, ONE REFLECTION JUST ON THE PROCESS ITSELF, I SAID WE WOULDN'T TALK ABOUT THE PROCESS VERY MUCH, BUT IT, BUT WHAT WE'VE REALIZED IS THAT THIS STAFF REVIEW PROCESS IS REALLY HELPING DEVELOPERS UNDERSTAND WHAT THE ZONING REQUIREMENTS ARE FOR A PROJECT AT THIS SCALE.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, THESE PROJECTS ARE SUBJECT TO, TO GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENTS.
THEY'RE ALSO SUBJECT TO GREEN FACTOR REQUIREMENTS.
AND SO COVERING THESE ISSUES BEFORE THE BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW SEEMS TO BE HELPING RESOLVE SOME ISSUES AND KIND OF SMOOTH OUT THE PROCESS WHEN IT GETS TO THE BUILDING PERMIT PHASE.
UM, SO WE, WE'VE ALSO COVERED PROPOSALS THAT CAME TO THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION IN THIS SECTION.
UM, ONE THING THAT WE FOUND IS THAT THE PROPOSALS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO HISTORICAL COMMISSION REVIEW HAVE TENDED TO START THEIR PROCESS AT THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION, AND IN SOME CASES HAVEN'T MADE IT YET TO ANY OF THE ZONING REVIEW STEPS.
UM, SO IN MANY CASES WE DON'T HAVE COMPLETE INFORMATION ON THINGS LIKE UNITS AND, AND GROSS FLOOR AREA BECAUSE THAT, THAT WOULD COME AT THE ZONING PHASE.
UM, THIS PAGE HERE LISTS PROPOSALS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH DEMOLITION REVIEW.
IN THE NEXT SECTION WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT'S, UM, WHAT THAT ENTAILS.
UM, BUT THESE ARE, THESE ARE PROPOSALS THAT, THAT WERE CONSIDERED SIGNIFICANT AND HAD TO COME TO THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
UM, ALL OF THEM IN THIS CASE ARE IN RESIDENCY ONE DISTRICTS AND MOST ARE RELATIVELY SMALL WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE, UH, PROPOSAL ON WESTERN AVENUE, WHICH IS, IS LARGER AND, UM, WILL LIKELY NEED TO GO THROUGH A, UH,
[00:30:01]
AT, AT THE SCALE THAT'S ANTICIPATED SOME KIND OF A, AN ADVISORY CONSULTATION PROCESS UNDER ZONING BEFORE IT GOES INTO THE BUILDING PERMIT PHASE.UM, THERE ARE ALSO PROPOSALS THAT REQUIRED REVIEW, UM, BY BEING IN HISTORIC DISTRICTS OR NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICTS.
UM, YOU MAY REMEMBER OVER THE SUMMER THERE WERE THREE LARGER PROPOSALS THAT, UH, WERE RELATIVELY CLOSE TO EACH OTHER IN MID CAMBRIDGE THAT CAME KIND OF AROUND THE SAME TIME.
THERE WERE ALSO SOME PROPOSALS IN OR NEAR HARVARD SQUARE, UM, INCLUDING ONE PROPOSAL WITH A COMBINED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING AND HOTEL.
UM, THESE PROPOSALS, UH, ALSO HAVEN'T GONE THROUGH ANY OF THE APPLICABLE ZONING MANDATED REVIEW AT THIS STAGE.
SO WE DON'T, DON'T HAVE ALL THE DETAILS YET.
UH, BECAUSE THESE CASES WERE ALL SUBJECT TO PUBLIC HEARING PROCESSES.
UM, THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION AND THE NCS RECEIVED A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF PUBLIC TESTIMONY ON THESE CASES.
UM, MUCH OF THE CONCERNS THAT WERE RAISED WERE AROUND COMPATIBILITY WITH SURROUNDING AREAS, BUT THERE WERE ALSO CONCERNS RAISED AROUND OTHER DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS, NOT SQUARELY IN THE, UM, CITY'S HISTORICAL PURVIEW.
UM, THE COMMISSIONS HAVE LARGELY, UH, APPROVED THESE PROPOSALS THAT HAVE COME FORWARD.
IN ALL CASES, THERE HAVE BEEN DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS AS A RESULT OF THE, THE BINDING REVIEW PROCESS AND IN SOME CASES, UM, SOME CHANGES TO THE PROPOSAL, TO THE SCOPE OF THE PROPOSAL IN ORDER TO PRESERVE EXISTING BUILDINGS, UM, IN SOME CASES AND, AND ADD UNITS ONTO EXISTING RATHER THAN, UH, RATHER THAN ENTIRE DEMOLITION AND RECONSTRUCTION.
UM, SO THE, THE FINAL SECTION OF THIS IS ONE OF THE ADDITIONS, UM, IN THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING WAS A NEIGHBOR NOTIFICATION PROCESS.
THIS ONLY APPLIES IN RESIDENCY ONE DISTRICTS AND IT ONLY APPLIES TO PROPOSALS ABOVE THREE STORIES.
UM, AND SO AN APPLICANT NEEDS TO NOTIFY IMMEDIATE ABUTTERS AND HOLD A MEETING IN ORDER TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND GET FEEDBACK.
THIS WAS INTENDED AS, UM, IT WAS KIND OF PUT IN PLACE SORT OF LATE IN THE DISCUSSION PROCESS.
IT WAS SORT OF A INTENDED AS A A, A MORE KIND OF LOW LIFT ENGAGEMENT EFFORT.
UM, CDD IS NOTIFIED WHEN A NEIGHBOR NOTIFICATION IS ADVERTISED, SO IT'S POSTED ON OUR WEBPAGE AND, AND SO WE CAN INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION IN THIS REPORT.
UM, SO FAR THERE HAVE BEEN 27 OF THESE NEIGHBOR NOTIFICATION CASES.
UM, THERE'S A LITTLE OVERLAP WITH SOME OF THE CASES THAT HAVE GONE TO OTHER, THROUGH OTHER REVIEW PROCESSES.
UM, MOST OF THESE HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY SMALL PROJECTS ON SMALL LOTS.
SO ALL ALL HAVE BEEN EITHER FOUR STORIES OR THREE STORIES WITH ROOFTOP ADDITIONS THAT WERE WERE FOUND TO TRIGGER THE, THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE NOTIFICATION.
THERE'S ONLY ONE SIX STORY PROPOSAL, BUT THAT IS A UNIQUE CASE.
IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY MOSTLY IN A COMMERCIAL DISTRICT.
ONLY A SMALL PART IS IN RESIDENCY ONE, AND AGAIN, IT WAS FOUND TO, TO TRIGGER THE REQUIREMENT.
UM, ON ACCOUNT OF THAT JUST UNDER HALF OF THE PROPOSALS ARE NOW IN CONSTRUCTION THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD NOTIFICATION PROCESS, BUT THERE ARE STILL SOME WAITING TO, UM, TO, TO GET INTO CONSTRUCTION.
AND I THINK I'VE ALREADY COVERED ALL THESE POINTS.
UM, SO HERE'S A SUMMARY OF THE PREVIOUS SLIDES, JUST GIVING US AN IDEA OF WHAT THE FUTURE PIPELINE OF DEVELOPMENT, UM, MIGHT LOOK LIKE DELIBERATELY.
WE DIDN'T TOTAL THESE UP, UM, PARTLY BECAUSE THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF OVERLAP ACROSS CATEGORIES.
ALSO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WE DON'T HAVE A GUARANTEE THAT ALL OF THESE PROJECTS WILL MOVE FORWARD AND WE CERTAINLY DON'T KNOW AT WHAT POINT IN TIME THE LAW MOVE FORWARD.
UM, BUT THIS WE THINK HELPS US TO SEE AND COMPARE HOW PROPOSALS OF DIFFERENT TYPES AND, AND DIFFERENT SCALES, UM, SORT OF LINE UP WITH EACH OTHER IN, IN TERMS OF THE, THE AMOUNT OF HOUSING THAT WE WOULD EXPECT TO BE PRODUCED.
AND FINALLY, WE HAVE, UH, A MAP LOOKING AT HOW THESE NEW PROPOSALS SPREAD ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, THEY ARE PRETTY SPREAD OUT, UH, EAST TO WEST.
THERE ARE SOME NEIGHBORHOODS THAT MAY HAVE MORE PROPOSALS AND OTHERS, UM, DON'T NECESSARILY THINK THAT'S A PATTERN ATTRIBUTABLE, ATTRIBUTABLE TO ANYTHING.
IT, IT MIGHT JUST BE WHERE THE REDEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES HAVE APPEARED, UM, OVER THE COURSE OF TIME.
UM, WE WILL KNOW MORE ABOUT THE ANY POTENTIAL GEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS, UH, WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS IN FUTURE YEARS.
UM, SOME OF THE BIG TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS, UM, SIX STORY PROPOSALS CERTAINLY SEEM TO BE A THING NOW.
UM, WE'VE BEEN SEEING THEM COME FORWARD IN MANY PARTS OF THE CITY.
UM, NOT NECESSARILY ALL IN RESIDENCY ONE DISTRICTS, BUT SOME, UM, WE'VE ALSO SEEN PROPOSALS AT BOTH HIGHER AND LOWER HEIGHTS, UM, IN ALL
[00:35:01]
DISTRICTS AROUND THE CITY.MOST OF THE NEW PROPOSALS WE'VE SEEN, UH, HAVE BEEN BELOW THE SPECIAL PERMIT THRESHOLDS.
UM, NOT ALL, UM, IT'S NOT ALWAYS THE CASE, BUT IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT DEVELOPERS OF MIDSCALE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS ARE FINDING THAT THE, AS OF RIGHT PERMITTING PATH IS, IS APPEALING TO THEIR, UH, TO THEIR, UH, PERMIT PATH.
AND, UH, ALTHOUGH THE FUTURE'S ALWAYS UNCERTAIN, IT SEEMS LIKE FOR NOW THE PIPELINE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT THAT WAS SET UP FOLLOWING THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY IS NOT SLOWING DOWN.
AND THAT SEEMS TO BE REMAINING STRONG.
SO NOW WE MOVE TO THE, THE SECOND BIG CHUNK OF THIS, UH, WHICH IS LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT THE BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED.
THIS IS THE LAST, LAST BIG BIT.
UM, IT'S A, IT'S A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN THAN THE PREVIOUS SECTION.
SO WHILE THE LAST SECTION WAS ABOUT STANDING IN ONE PLACE AND, AND LOOKING, YOU KNOW, ALL THE WAY DOWN THE ROAD AHEAD OF US, THIS IS MORE LIKE TAKING A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING AT, AT A SPECIFIC POINT IN TIME.
IN THIS CASE, LOOKING AT 2025, UM, WHERE WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO COMPARE THE DATA TO 2024, WE'VE DONE THAT.
UNFORTUNATELY, IN SOME CASES, THE, THE DATA FOR 2024 WAS, WAS MORE DIFFICULT TO, TO PULL TOGETHER.
UM, AND ONE OF THE GOALS HERE IS TO SET A BASELINE, UM, FOR COLLECTING DATA IN THE FUTURE.
SO IF WE'RE ABLE TO CONSISTENTLY COLLECT THIS DATA OVER TIME, THEN IT, IT WILL POTENTIALLY START TO REVEAL SOME OF THE TRENDS.
UM, SO WE START, UH, GOING BACK TO THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
UM, WE TALKED ABOUT THE SPECIFIC CASES THAT CAME TO THE COMMISSION FOR HEARINGS.
UM, BUT AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT WITH COUNSEL IN THE PAST, THERE'S BEEN A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN REQUESTS FOR SIGNIFICANCE, WHICH IS A MORE INFORMAL PROCESS THAT PROCEEDS, UH, OFTEN PROCEEDS THAT DEMOLITION AND DEVELOPMENT, BUT IN SOME CASES MIGHT JUST BE A REQUEST FROM A PROPERTY OWNER OR A PROSPECTIVE BUYER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PROCESS WOULD BE IF DEMOLITION WERE PURSUED.
AND SO, UH, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THOSE.
THERE WAS ALSO A SIGNIFICANT BUT NOT QUITE AS LARGE INCREASE, UM, FROM 2024 IN, IN DEMOLITION PERMITS THAT WERE APPROVED BY HISTORICAL.
UM, AND OVERALL THE PERCENTAGE OF, UH, OF, OF SITES THAT WERE INITIALLY CONSIDERED SIGNIFICANT, UM, HAS, HAS BEEN DOWN FROM IN PREVIOUS YEARS, UM, GIVEN, GIVEN THE VOLUME OF REQUESTS.
SO, UH, NEXT WE TURN TO THE ACTUAL DEMOLITION PERMITS THAT HAVE BEEN ISSUED BY ISD AND, AND HERE WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY TIGHTENING IT DOWN LIKE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT TO, UM, PERMITS THAT AFFECT THE HOUSING STOCK.
SO REMOVAL OF HOUSING UNITS SPECIFICALLY.
SO IT'S A SMALLER SUBSET OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF, OF, UH, OF THE DEMOLITION PERMITS SORT OF SIGNED OFF ON IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
UM, THE TOTAL NUMBER IS, IS LOWER THAN THAT, BUT WE SAW A SIMILAR INCREASE, A SORT OF PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PERMITS ISSUED FROM, FROM 12 TO 18.
AND AN ATYPICALLY LARGE NUMBER OF UNITS DEMOLISHED.
UM, THAT INCREASE WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY DUE TO THE, UM, UNFORTUNATE, UH, CASE OF THE RIVERVIEW CONDOMINIUMS NEEDING TO BE DEMOLISHED.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY THE BULK OF THAT, THAT LARGER NUMBER.
UH, I THINK THESE ARE THE TAKEAWAYS.
I ALREADY NOTED THIS, UH, NEXT CHART IS SOMEWHAT OF A TRICKY ONE.
UM, I, I THINK IT SAYS A LOT, BUT IT DOES REQUIRE A LITTLE BIT OF EXPLANATION.
UM, PRIMARILY THIS IS ABOUT BUILDING PERMITS AND AGAIN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BUILDING PERMITS THAT, THAT CHANGE THE HOUSING STOCK ADDING OR, OR SUBTRACTING UNITS.
UM, IN MANY CASES, A A SINGLE SITE MIGHT HAVE MULTIPLE BUILDING PERMITS AND SOMETIMES ONE OR MORE DEMOLITION PERMITS ASSOCIATED WITH THE, THE SORT OF THE ENTIRETY OF THE REDEVELOPMENT THAT'S HAPPENING ON THAT SITE.
AND SO WE WANTED TO GIVE SOMETHING THAT COMBINED ALL OF THAT INFORMATION TO GIVE A SENSE OF, OF WHAT TYPES OF REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS WE'RE SEEING.
AND BY LOOKING AT IT THIS WAY, UM, WE CAN LOOK AT THE, UH, NOT JUST THE, THE SORT OF NEW UNITS THAT ARE CREATED, BUT THE NET, UH, CHANGE IN UNITS FROM THESE TYPES OF PROJECTS.
UM, THE NUMBERS HERE, UNFORTUNATELY THEY'RE NOT, THE NUMBERS ARE NOT REALLY LARGE ENOUGH TO DRAW ANY FIRM CONCLUSIONS, BUT THERE, THERE'S A FEW THINGS THAT, THAT I THINK STAND OUT.
UM, THE MOST OBVIOUS ONE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, MANY FEWER UNITS ADDED IN 2025 THAN 2024.
THE DIFFERENCE IS ATTRIBUTABLE ALMOST ENTIRELY TO 1 21 BROADWAY.
SO THAT WAS A, A BUILDING THAT RECEIVED A BUILDING PERMIT IN, UM, 2024.
IT'S A 439, UH, UNIT, UH, BUILDING IN KENDALL SQUARE.
UM, THIS YEAR THERE WERE WEREN'T ANY BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED FOR, FOR BUILDINGS WITH, WITH THREE DIGIT NUMBERS OF
[00:40:01]
UNITS.SO THAT'S, SO WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT NUMBER, IT'S, IT'S JUST REALLY SMALLER SCALE PROJECTS THAT RECEIVED PERMITS IN IN THE PAST YEAR.
UM, WE SEE THAT THERE WERE SOME MORE PROJECTS THAN, THAN IN 2024 INVOLVING DEMOLITION.
UM, SO THAT SOMEWHAT TRACKS WITH THE DEMOLITION DATA THAT WERE ON THE EARLIER SLIDES.
AND ONE OF THE CHANGES THAT I FOUND MOST NOTABLE IS IF YOU LOOK AT THE ADDITION ALTERATIONS RIGHT IN THE SORT OF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHART, UM, A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN ADDITION AND ALTERATION PROJECTS THAT ADDED UNITS AND A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN ADDITION ALTERATION UNITS THAT, UH, SUBTRACTED UNITS.
AND I THINK THIS SPEAKS TO SOME OF THE CONCERNS RAISED BY SOME COUNSELORS ABOUT DOWN CONVERSIONS WHERE, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, CONCERNS ABOUT PROJECTS WHERE THREE FAMILIES WERE CHANGED TO TWO FAMILIES OR TWO FAMILIES CHANGED TO SINGLE FAMILIES.
THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING SEEMS TO HAVE KIND OF SWITCHED PROJECTS FROM, FROM THAT SORT OF DOWN CONVERSION, UH, MODEL TO, YOU KNOW, ADDING UNITS.
UM, ALTHOUGH THE, YOU KNOW, IN WITHIN THAT KIND OF ADDITIONAL ALTERATION SECTION, THE OVERALL NUMBER OF UNITS BEING CREATED OR REMOVED REMAINS MEANS RELATIVELY SMALL IN THE, THE KIND OF THE LARGER PERSPECTIVE.
CAN I, SO I JUST SUPER QUICK CLARIFYING QUESTION.
THAT NEW CONSTRUCTION WITH DEMOLITION RESIDENTIAL MEANS A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING WAS TAKEN DOWN AND IT BUILT UP THE NEW CONSTRUCTION WITH DEMOLITION NON-RESIDENTIAL MEANS IT WAS A NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDING? CORRECT.
UM, SO, SO THAT'S, THAT'S ONE POINT.
ANOTHER NOTABLE POINT IS THERE WAS A NOTABLE UPTICK IN NON-RESIDENTIAL TO RESIDENTIAL CONVERSIONS.
THAT'S SORT OF THE BOTTOM, THE BOTTOM LINE OR THE, YOU KNOW, BEFORE THE BOTTOM, BOTTOM LINE.
BUT THE LAST LINE ON THIS, UM, THIS COULD BE SOMEWHAT OF AN ANOMALY.
UM, I THINK A LOT OF THOSE ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO FORMERLY LESLIE UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS, UM, MANY OF WHICH WERE KIND OF SOLD AT KIND OF ALL AT THE SAME PERIOD OF TIME, AND A LOT OF THEM WENT THROUGH RENOVATION AND UM, TO, TO HOUSING.
UM, BUT IT ALSO SHOWS A LITTLE BIT OF HOW THE NEW ZONING ADDS, UH, A, A, A GREAT DEAL OF FLEXIBILITY IN ORDER TO MAKE THOSE KINDS OF PROJECTS FEASIBLE.
SO THE NEXT PIECE IS, UH, LOOKING AT INDIVID THIS, AND IN THIS ONE WE'RE LOOKING JUST NOW AT INDIVIDUAL BUILDING PERMITS.
SO WE'RE NOT SORT OF COLLECTING ALL THE DIFFERENT PERMITS TOGETHER, WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT BUILDING PERMITS THAT CREATED, UM, THAT CREATED NEW HOUSING OR THAT, OR THAT CHANGED THE NUMBER OF HOUSING UNITS.
UM, UH, AND WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW THEY, UH, BREAK BY ZONING DISTRICT AND NOT JUST CURRENT ZONING DISTRICTS, BUT THE DISTRICTS THAT WERE IN PLACE BEFORE THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING.
THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN, IN BUILDING PERMITS IN THE FORMERLY, UH, RESIDENCE B DISTRICTS, WHICH COVER A LARGE PART OF THE CITY AND HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, MADE THE, THEY'VE BEEN MADE MUCH MORE PERMISSIVE, UH, WITH THE CHANGE TO RESIDENCY ONE AND THE OTHER CHANGES IN THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING, WE'VE SEEN SOMEWHAT OF A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF BUILDING PERMITS, UH, IN RESIDENCY ONE, BUT AN INCREASE IN A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN UNITS.
UH, IN, IN THOSE RESIDENCY ONE AREAS.
WHEN WE LOOKED INTO THIS CLOSER, WE REALIZED THAT A LOT OF WHAT WAS GOING ON IS, UM, IN 2024 THERE WERE A LOT MORE PROPOSALS FOR MULTIPLE SINGLE FAMILY AND TWO FAMILY HOMES ON A LOT.
THIS IS SOMETHING I THINK WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT WITH COUNCIL, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT CASES WHERE LARGER SITES WERE REDEVELOPED AS, AS MULTIPLE SMALL, UM, SINGLE FAMILY OR TWO FAMILY IN UNDER THE, THE, UH, IN 2025 UNDER THE NEW ZONING, WE'VE SEEN A LOT MORE PROPOSALS THAT ARE MULTIFAMILY OR TOWNHOUSE DEVELOPMENT.
SO SINGLE BUILDING PERMITS WITH MORE UNITS AS OPPOSED TO MORE BUILDING PERMITS WITH FEWER UNITS PER PERMIT.
UM, SO, UH, IN OTHER DISTRICTS THERE HASN'T BEEN QUITE AS MUCH CHANGE IN THE PERMITS ISSUED EXCEPT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, A GREATER VARIETY IN SIZES AND, AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, ONE, ONE LARGER PROJECT IN 2024 AND NOT, AND NONE OF THOSE LARGER PROJECTS IN 2025.
UM, AND THEN THE NEXT PIECE LOOKS AT TYPES OF BUILDINGS BEING PERMITTED IN TERMS OF THE SCALE OF THE BUILDING.
WE'RE LOOKING ONLY AT, UH, NEW CONSTRUCTION OR, UH, ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS, UH, THAT INCREASED UNITS.
OTHER PERMITS ARE A BIT HARDER TO CATEGORIZE, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S A DECREASING UNITS, IT'S KIND OF HARD TO TELL WHERE TO CATEGORIZE THAT.
UM, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM LINE, YOU KNOW, MORE BUILDING PERMITS TO INCREASE UNITS IN 2025 COMPARED TO 2024, PROBABLY THE MOST NOTABLE INCREASES IN PROJECTS WITH THREE TO FIVE UNITS THERE WERE, WERE NO THREE TO FIVE UNIT PROJECTS IN 2024.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, 15, UH, IN, IN 2023 FOR A COMBINATION OF, OF 31 NEW UNITS.
SO SOME OF THOSE WERE NEW CONSTRUCTION, SOME OF THEM WERE ADDING UNITS TO EXISTING BUILDINGS.
UM, THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, UH, ABOUT, AND THAT'S ABOUT 30% OF THE BUILDING PERMITS
[00:45:01]
ISSUED IN, IN 2025 WERE FOR THREE TO FIVE UNIT MULTIFAMILY OR, OR TOWNHOUSE BUILDINGS.AND THEN, UH, FINALLY WE LOOK AT BUILDING PERMITS IN TERMS OF HEIGHT.
UM, ONLY THIS IS ONLY NEW CONSTRUCTION OR ADDITIONS THAT INCREASE THE HEIGHT OF EXISTING BUILDINGS.
UM, SO IT'S A, IT'S AN EVEN SMALLER SUBSET OF PERMITS.
UM, WE COULDN'T EASILY GET THIS DATA FOR 2024, SO WE STARTED WITH 2025 AND WE'LL CONTINUE TRACKING IN THE FUTURE.
UM, MANY BUILDING PERMITS WERE FOR ADDITIONS OR ALTERATIONS THAT ADDED UNITS WITHOUT CHANGING THE HEIGHT OR CHANGING THE NUMBER OF STORIES.
BUT THERE WERE TWO PROJECTS THAT, UH, INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF A BUILDING FROM THREE STORIES TO FOUR STORIES.
UM, AND THERE WERE A COUPLE OF, OF FIVE AND SIX STORY DEVELOPMENTS, BUT BESIDES THAT, EVERYTHING WAS THREE STORIES OR LESS, UH, RECEIVING BUILDING PERMITS.
UM, SPEAKING OF, UH, THOSE, THOSE FOUR, THOSE FIVE AND SIX UNIT PROJECTS, THOSE WERE BOTH AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS.
UM, ORIGINALLY, YOU KNOW, GOING THROUGH THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY PROCESS, UM, IT TURNS OUT THAT ALL THE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS LAST YEAR WERE FOR PROJECTS THAT WERE EITHER BELOW THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING THRESHOLD OR FOR ALL AFFORDABLE DEVELOPMENT.
SO WHILE THERE WERE NO INCLUSIONARY PROJECTS RECEIVING BUILDING PERMITS LAST YEAR, THE OVERALL PERCENTAGE OF AFFORDABLE TO MARKET RATE UNITS WAS FAIRLY HIGH, UM, DUE TO THOSE LARGER, UM, AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY PROJECTS BEING BEING PERMITTED.
DOES THAT MEAN THEN BASICALLY 140 TOTAL UNITS WERE MADE IN 2025 AND THE TWO 100% AFFORDABLE WERE HALF OF THAT? YEAH, THAT'S BASED ON THIS.
I JUST, IT WAS CONFUSING TO SEE 46 WHEN EVERYONE ON THIS PAGE IS A HUNDRED PERCENT AFFORDABLE.
SORRY, THAT'S, THAT'S BASED ON THAT WE CAN MAYBE UPDATE THIS, BUT IT, IT'S BASED ON THE TOTAL NUMBER FROM THE PREVIOUS SLIDES.
UM, FINALLY, WE, WE WANTED TO GIVE SOME FLAVOR OF HOW BZA ACTIVITY HAS CHANGED.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE FOUND IT WAS A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO DISSECT THE NUMBERS.
UM, WE KNOW MANY OF THE PROJECTS THAT GOT BUILDING PERMITS IN 2025 HAD RECEIVED BZA RELIEF IN 2024.
IN SOME CASES THEY MADE SOME MODIFICATIONS AFTER THE ZONING WAS AMENDED.
SO IT BE, IT BECAME A LITTLE BIT MESSY TO TRY TO TRACK THIS, BUT WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT BZA APPLICATIONS OVERALL HAVE DECREASED BY ABOUT 70% FROM 2024 TO 2025.
UM, NOT NECESSARILY ALL, WE'RE NOT NECESSARILY JUST TALKING ABOUT HOUSING IN THAT CASE, BUT ANECDOTALLY WE KNOW THAT THE APPLICATIONS FOR HOUSING, UH, MAKE UP A BULK OF THAT DECREASE IN, IN BZA ACTIVITY.
UM, SO HERE'S OUR MAP OF THE BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED.
UH, THERE DOESN'T AGAIN SEEM TO BE THAT MUCH OF A DISCERNIBLE PATTERN.
UM, THERE ARE CLUSTERS IN SOME AREAS LIKE WHERE, WHERE THE LESLIE UNIVERSITY PROPERTIES WERE SOLD UP, UP IN THE BALDWIN NEIGHBORHOOD, AND AS WE SAW IN THE CHART, MANY OF THE PERMITS ISSUED WERE, WERE RESIDENCY ONE, UH, DISTRICTS, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT MANY OF THEM ARE ALSO IN OTHER DISTRICTS OR ARE ON MAIN CORRIDORS OR CLOSE TO MAIN CORRIDORS.
UM, SO THIS, UH, PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW WASN'T TO DO SORT OF DEEP ANALYSIS, BUT WE, WE DID CHART A FEW THINGS WHERE WE KNOW THE COUNCIL HAD HAD RAISED ISSUES IN THE PAST AND WHERE THE DATA WERE ACCESSIBLE TO US.
WE CAN'T DRAW A LOT OF CONCLUSIONS FROM THIS, BUT IT ALLOWS US TO KEEP TRACK OF SOME INFORMATION, UM, OVER TIME.
SO IN THIS SLIDE, WE LOOK AT THE METRIC OF GROSS FLOOR AREA PER UNIT.
THAT'S KIND OF A, IT'S NOT EXACTLY UNIT SIZE, BUT IT'S KIND OF A PROXY FOR THE AVERAGE SIZE OF UNITS BEING CREATED.
UM, WE SAW A PRETTY WIDE RANGE IN THIS METRIC ACROSS, ACROSS BUILDING PERMITS THAT WERE ISSUED.
THE MEDIAN TENDS TO FALL AROUND.
UH, WHAT'S TYPICAL WITHIN CAMBRIDGE? SO IN, IN SOME OF THE PREVIOUS WORK WE'VE, WE'VE DONE, WE'VE FOUND THAT THE AVERAGE GROSS FLOOR AREA PER UNIT TENDS TO BE AROUND 1000 TO 1500 SQUARE FEET FOR MULTIFAMILY IT, BUT IT DOES TEND TO BE SOMEWHAT LARGER FOR SINGLE FAMILY AND TWO FAMILY.
UM, THE ONE CAVEAT HERE IS THAT BASEMENT SPACE IS EXCLUDED FROM GROSS FLOOR AREA IN ZONING.
SO, SO THERE ARE PROBABLY SOME PROJECTS LIKE SINGLE FAMILY AND TWO FAMILY AND TOWNHOUSE PROJECTS WHERE IF THEY HAVE USABLE BASEMENT SPACE, THE UNITS THEMSELVES MIGHT ACTUALLY BE, YOU KNOW, IN REAL LIFE LARGER THAN THE, THE FIGURES WOULD KIND OF INDICATE.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING TO, TO PAY ATTENTION TO AS WE, AS WE LOOK AT THIS IN THE FUTURE.
UM, WE ALSO PULLED SOME INFORMATION FROM OUR GREEN FACTOR REVIEWS.
UM, THERE WAS A, AN INCREASE IN, IN GREEN FACTOR REVIEWS, TRACKING THE OVERALL INCREASE IN IN DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS.
[00:50:01]
THESE REVIEWS CONSIDER NOT JUST BUILDING PERMITS, BUT ALSO INITIAL DESIGN REVIEW STAGE AND THEN LATER CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY.UM, THE INFORMATION WE GET FROM THESE REVIEWS INCLUDES THE OPEN SPACE AREA AS A PERCENTAGE OF LOT AREA AND THE COOL SCORE, WHICH IS A RATIO THAT SORT OF, IT A COMPLICATED TO EXPLAIN, BUT IT KIND OF INDICATES THE QUALITY OF SITE DESIGN IN TERMS OF TREES.
UM, OTHER PLANTINGS, SHADE, UM, HIGH REFLECTIVITY PAVING, OTHER MEASURES THAT REDUCE URBAN HEAT.
UM, AND, AND IT'S A BASICALLY A RATIO BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF OPEN SPACE PROVIDED.
SO IT'S KIND OF NORMALIZED TO HOW MUCH OPEN SPACE IS ON THE LOT.
THE, THE RATIO HAS TO BE AT LEAST 1.0 TO MEET THE ZONING REQUIREMENT.
AND OVERALL WE'RE SEEING PROPOSALS THAT MEET THE OPEN SPACE AND GREEN FACTOR REQUIREMENTS.
IN MANY CASES, THE PROPOSALS ARE STARTING TO COME IN CLOSER TO THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT, WHEREAS IN THE PAST, UM, ESPECIALLY WHEN, WHEN MORE DEVELOPMENT IN THE PAST WAS SINGLE FAMILY AND TWO FAMILY, UM, THOSE PROPOSALS TENDED TO EXCEED THE MINIMUM.
UM, AGAIN, WE CAN'T DRAW ANY FIRM CONCLUSIONS FROM THIS, BUT THIS SORT OF TRACKS A BIT WITH THE SHIFT THAT WE'VE SEEN ON SMALLER SITES FROM SINGLE FAMILY AND TWO FAMILY TO MULTIFAMILY AND TOWNHOUSE DEVELOPMENT CHAIR.
AND THEN JUST, OH, ON THE GREEN FACTOR, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE PROJECTS IS ALSO FOSSIL FUEL FREE.
BECAUSE WE HAVE A COMMITMENT TO REDUCE OUR EMISSION POLLUTION AND ONCE WE CHANGED IT, CORRECT, THAT'S, THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT 20, THIS, THAT WASN'T IN, WE DIDN'T TRACK THAT DATA, BUT I BELIEVE AS OF 2025, I MIGHT HAVE TO LOOK TO ISD ALL, ALL NEW CONSTRUCTION WAS, UH, REQUIRED TO BE FOSSIL FUEL FREE.
I, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE IT'S SOMETHING THE CITY IS DOING TO REDUCE POLLUTION.
IT'S ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND BECAUSE THAT REDUCES ITS HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT TOO WHEN PEOPLE ARE NOT INHALING PARTICULATES FROM THEIR GAS STOVES, WHICH MANY PEOPLE IN THE CITY, INCLUDING MYSELF, DO EVERY DAY.
UM, I PROMISE WE'RE ALMOST AT THE END.
UM, GREEN FACTOR ALSO GIVES US INFORMATION ABOUT, UH, CANOPY TREE PRESERVATION AND PLANTING.
UM, WE KNOW THAT THIS WAS A CONCERN TO MANY ON COUNCIL.
UM, BOTH PRESERVATION AND PLANTING OF CANOPY TREES EARN POINTS UNDER THE COOL SCORE RUBRIC.
UM, BUT BECAUSE GREEN FACTOR DOESN'T COLLECT DATA ON TREE REMOVAL, UM, WHICH OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T EARN POINTS UNDER THE, THE, UM, THE GREEN FACTOR OR THE COOL SCORE RUBRIC, UH, WE PULLED IN DATA ON TREE REMOVAL PERMITS.
NOW THIS ISN'T A PERFECT COMPARISON, WE REALIZE BECAUSE NOT ALL TREE REMOVAL PERMITS ALIGN WITH GREEN FACTOR PROJECTS AND SOME GREEN FACTOR PROJECTS WOULDN'T NEED TREE REMOVAL PERMITS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, TREE REMOVAL PERMITS MIGHT REQUIRE NEW PLANTINGS AS MITIGATION THAT ARE NOT COUNTED IN THE GREEN FACTOR NUMBERS IF THEY DON'T TRIGGER THE REQUIREMENT.
UM, BUT WE DID WANT TO SHOW THE, WHAT, WHAT INFORMATION WE HAD AND WE'RE GONNA WORK TO KEEP COLLECTING THIS INFORMATION AND THE FIVE YEAR VALUATION CALLS FOR, FOR A A, A FULLER ANALYSIS OF, UH, IMPACTS ON TREE CANOPY AMONG OTHER FACTORS.
I JUST WANTED TO ADD, ASK A CLARIFYING QUESTION.
SO THIS, UH, TALLY OF TREES DOESN'T INCLUDE A BUTTER'S TREES ON THE LOT LINE THAT WILL BE IMPACTED BY THE DEVELOPMENTS, IS THAT CORRECT? I DON'T BELIEVE IT.
SO I, SO AGAIN, THE, THE TREE REMOVALS ARE, ARE NOT BASED ON THE GREEN FACTOR REVIEWS, THEY'RE BASED ON THE TREE REMOVAL PERMITS.
SO WE GOT THAT INFORMATION FROM, FROM PUBLIC WORKS.
I BELIEVE THEY'RE ONLY COUNTING TREES REMOVED ON THE SITE.
I'M GONNA LOOK TO EMILY SEE IF SHE KNOWS THE ANSWER TO THAT.
SO WHAT WE DID, LEMME PUSH A BUTTON, SORRY.
UH, SO WHAT WE DID FOR THIS INFORMATION IS CROSS-REFERENCE, UH, UH, ADDRESSES THAT HAD RECEIVED GREEN FACTOR REVIEW, UH, AND BUILDING PERMITS FOR, UH, CONSTRUCTION OF NEW UNITS.
UH, SO THOSE WERE THE TREE REMOVAL PERMITS THAT WE LOOKED AT.
SO IF THERE HAPPENS TO BE AN IMPACT ON, UH, OTHER ADJACENT PROPERTIES OR NEARBY, THOSE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN EVALUATED.
UM, THANKS FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
I THINK WE SHOULD KEEP TRACK OF, UH, BUTTERS TREES THAT ARE IMPACTED BECAUSE THEY'RE, UH, THEY'RE IMPACTED, RIGHT? WHETHER THEY'RE ON THE, THE PROPERTY THAT'S BEING DEVELOPED OR THE ABUTTERS PROPERTY.
I THINK WE CAN DIG, DIG MORE INTO THAT IN THE FUTURE.
FOR THIS ONE, WE WANTED TO, I THINK THE DATA FELT A LITTLE BIT INCOMPLETE WITH JUST SHOWING THE PRESERVED AND PROPOSED NEW TREES.
SO WE WANTED TO TRY, TRY TO TIE THAT IN WITH, WITH REMOVAL.
BUT UM, AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S A, THE DATA'S A LITTLE MESSY, SO WE WILL, WE'LL KEEP WORKING ON THAT.
UM, AND THEN JUST SOME FINAL TAKEAWAYS.
UH, THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY MAP, UM, SHOWING ALL THE PROPOSALS AND PERMITS TOGETHER.
NOTHING REALLY MORE TO SAY HERE EXCEPT THAT THIS IS A HANDY REFERENCE TO GO BACK
[00:55:01]
TO IF WE, IF WE NEED TO.UM, AND THEN JUST THE, THE KIND OF OVERALL TAKEAWAYS.
UM, THERE DOES SEEM TO BE A GOOD DEAL OF INTEREST IN MULTIFAMILY DEVELOPMENT.
IN THE PAST YEAR, WE'VE SEEN MANY PROPOSALS COME FORWARD, ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE MORE SIZABLE PROJECTS HAVE NOT YET MADE IT INTO THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE.
UM, THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE GONE INTO CONSTRUCTION IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE BEEN MOSTLY SMALLER SCALE, ALTHOUGH WE'VE SEEN A NOTABLE SHIFT FROM, FROM SINGLE FAMILY AND TWO FAMILY CONSTRUCTION TO MULTIFAMILY AND TOWNHOUSE CONSTRUCTION, AS WELL AS A SHIFT AWAY FROM ALTERATIONS THAT REDUCE THE NUMBER OF UNITS TOWARDS ALTERATIONS THAT INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNITS.
AND WHILE WE'RE SEEING SOME MORE INTEREST IN, IN MARKET RATE HOUSING PRODUCTION, WE'RE ALSO CONTINUING TO SEE A STRONG PIPELINE OF ALL AFFORDABLE DEVELOPMENT.
UM, WE'RE GONNA GO NOW TO PUBLIC COMMENT FOLLOWED BY QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION FROM THE CITY COUNCIL.
UH, MADAM CLERK, IF YOU COULD CALL FOLKS SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
BEFORE WE START PUBLIC COMMENT, I'M JUST GONNA CALL FOR COUNCILOR SIMMONS.
OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS CAROLYN FULLER.
CAROLYN FULLER, 12 DOUGLAS STREET.
I AM A HOMEOWNER, HOMEOWNER AND A 58 YEAR RESIDENT OF CAMBRIDGE.
AND I'M HERE TODAY TO EXPRESS STRONG OPPOSITION TO REPEALING OR WATERING DOWN THE 2025 MULTIFAMILY ZONING THAT ENDED THE SHAMEFUL 83 YEAR EXCLUSIONARY ZONING IN CAMBRIDGE.
LIKE MANY CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS, I HAVE FELT THE EFFECTS OF OUR SEVERE HOUSING SHORTAGE EVERY SINGLE YEAR SINCE 1995.
AS I WATCHED OUR FRIENDS AND EVEN OUR OWN SON LEAVE CAMBRIDGE BECAUSE THEY COULD NO LONGER AFFORD TO LIVE HERE.
THE A HO THAT PASSED IN 2020 AND WAS AMENDED IN 2023 HAS BEEN A HUGE SUCCESS WITH MORE AND MORE AFFORDABLE UNITS COMING TO MARKET.
BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR MIDDLE CLASS? THOSE WHO ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR A HO UNITS, WE'RE DOING NOTHING FOR THEM.
THE 2025 ZONING REFORM SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR MORE OF THE MISSING MIDDLE HOUSING.
REPEALING OR WATERING DOWN CAMBRIDGE'S LANDMARK MULTIFAMILY ZONING ORDINANCE WILL MAKE OUR HOUSING SHORTAGE WORSE.
PLEASE FOCUS ON ENCOURAGING MORE HOUSING, NOT BLOCKING IT OR IMPOSING NEW AND COSTLY UNFOUNDED MANDATES.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORTIVE HOUSING THAT MEETS THE NEEDS OF CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS NORA JOHNSON, FOLLOWED BY BILL VINNEY.
I'M A RESIDENT OF TWO 18 HAMILTON STREET IN CAMBRIDGEPORT, AND I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE COMMITTEE TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE IMPACT OF THREE AND FOUR STORY DEVELOPMENTS AND ASSESS WHETHER THEY'RE REALLY CREATING DIVERSE HOUSING STOCK OR SIMPLY HIGH-END LUXURY UNITS.
AND IN PARTICULAR, I WANNA SHARE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE FROM MY, MY BLOCK AND MY STREET.
UM, A DEVELOPER RECENTLY BOUGHT TWO PROPERTIES ON HAMILTON STREET AS WELL AS A PROPERTY ONE BLOCK AWAY ON ALSTON ON ALL THREE PROPERTIES.
LUXURY TOWN HOMES ARE PLANNED IMMEDIATELY NEXT TO MY HOME AT TWO 10 HAMILTON, THE DEVELOPER WILL CONSTRUCT THREE LUXURY 2,600 PLUS SQUARE FOOT UNITS, FOUR BEDROOMS, FIVE AND A HALF BATHROOMS. EACH OPEN SPACE FOR THESE TOWN HOMES IS LARGELY IN THE FORM OF ROOF DECKS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF TOWN HOME RESIDENTS.
AND THIS, UH, SAME DEVELOPER JUST LAST WEEK LISTED PRE-LIST SALE OF UNITS THAT THEY'RE COMPLETING AT 26 J STREET FOR $2.85 MILLION EACH.
I DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS REALLY AFFORDABLE OR, OR EVEN MIDDLE INCOME HOUSING THAT'S BEING DEVELOPED ON THESE LOTS.
THE FOUR STORY DEVELOPMENT WILL IMPACT THE PRODUCTIVITY OF A LARGE SOLAR ARRAY THAT MY FAMILY INSTALLED LAST SUMMER.
WE INSTALLED SOLAR TO OFFSET THE COST OF HEATING WITH HEAT PUMPS AFTER RENOVATING OUR HOUSE AND GOING ELECTRIC TO MEET CAMBRIDGE'S NEW STRETCH CODE WITH A NEW FOUR STORY BUILDING.
OUR SOLAR PANELS WILL BE, BE IN SHADE UNTIL NOON FOR MOST OF THE YEAR.
AN EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING OUTCOME AFTER ALL OF OUR WORK AND INVESTMENT.
I ALSO HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE LOSS OF GREEN SPACE AND BENEFITS IT PROVIDES FOR COOLING AND MITIGATING AGAINST FLOODING FROM SEVERE STORMS. SO I, AGAIN, I JUST WANNA ASK THE COMMITTEE AND THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER WHETHER THERE COULD BE SENSIBLE AMENDMENTS MADE THAT WOULD SUPPORT, UM, AFFORDABLE AND, AND MIDDLE INCOME HOUSING AND NOT THE CREATION OF THESE LARGE LUXURY UNITS THAT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTING, UM, NEIGHBORS.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS BILL MCNY, FOLLOWED BY LIZ LOYA, THEN CAROLYN LYNN.
[01:00:04]
BILL, PLEASE GO AHEAD.UH, BILL NEY 12 DOUGLAS STREET.
I LOVE OUR CITY AND I'VE LIVED HERE NOW FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT CAMBRIDGE IS OUR COMMUNITY, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE.
TO ME, CAMBRIDGE CAMBRIDGE'S EXCEPTIONAL CHARACTER IS OUR PEOPLE, NOT OUR BUILDINGS.
THAT CHARACTER IS SLOWLY BEING EATEN AWAY BY THE DISPLACEMENT OF OUR NEIGHBORS.
AS I WALKED AROUND CAMBRIDGE OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS, TIME AND TIME AGAIN, I SEE MULTIFAMILY HOMES BEING CONVERTED TO LUXURY BUILDINGS WITH NO NEW UNITS ADDED.
ALMOST EVERY ONE OF THOSE REPRESENTS PEOPLE, OUR NEIGHBORS BEING DISPLACED TO OTHER CITIES.
SOME PEOPLE SAY OUR NEW MULTIFAMILY ZONING IS RADICAL CHANGE TO CAMBRIDGE.
I SAY THE RADICAL CHANGE IS THE ONGOING DISPLACEMENT OF OUR NEIGHBORS, ESPECIALLY IF WE DON'T TRY TO PREVENT THAT.
THE IDEA THAT NEW HOUSING WILL PROVIDE HOMES MOST OF US CAN AFFORD IS HOGWASH.
NEW HOUSING, LIKE MOST NEW THINGS, IS INHERENTLY EXPENSIVE.
WHAT NEW HOUSING DOES THAT HELPS US IS PRESERVE OUR EXISTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING BY PROVIDING A PLACE FOR THE MOST AFFLUENT AMONG US TO LIVE INSTEAD OF OUT BIDDING US FOR OUR OWN HOMES.
MY VISION FOR CAMBRIDGE'S FUTURE IS A PLACE WHERE OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR CHILDREN CAN CONTINUE TO LIVE.
THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE SO FAR FOR THIS VISION, BUT PLEASE CONTINUE TO MAKE, DON'T GO BACK ON THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING, BUT IF ANYTHING, MAKE IT EASIER TO BUILD MORE NEW HOUSING.
I ASK YOU TO MAKE CAMBRIDGE A PLACE WHERE OUR CAN CHILDREN CAN LIVE BY CONTINUING TO MAKE MORE HOUSING AVAILABLE.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS LIZ LOYA, FOLLOWED BY CAROLYN CAROL LYNN ALPERT, THEN KAREN ETTE.
HI, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
THANK YOU COUNSELORS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.
I SUPPORT MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT IS BUILT RESPONSIBLY AND WITH THE ENVIRONMENT IN MIND.
I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF CARE HOUSING CAMBRIDGE TO ASK YOU TO AMEND THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING SO IT BETTER ALIGNS WITH CAMBRIDGE'S CLIMATE EQUITY AND LIVABILITY GOALS.
FIRST, THE PROPOSAL FAILS TO PROTECT EXISTING AND FUTURE ROOFTOP SOLAR.
AS ONE CAMBRIDGE RESIDENT ALREADY POINTED OUT, CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS HAVE INVESTED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS PER HOME AND SOLAR BASED ON THE CITY'S CLIMATE COMMITMENTS.
ALLOWING TALLER BUILDINGS WITH SMALL STEP BACKS WILL PUT EXISTING PANELS IN SHADE, UNDERMINING THOSE INVESTMENTS AND DISCOURAGING FUTURE INSTALL INSTALLATIONS.
STATE LAW GIVES CITIES TOOLS TO PROTECT SOLAR ACCESS, BUT THOSE TOOLS ARE NOT BUILT INTO THE ZONING.
IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER OF 2024, CARE HOUSING MET WITH EIGHT OF THE NINE COUNSELORS.
ALL EIGHT SAID PROTECTING SOLAR WAS IMPORTANT, BUT THAT THE MULTI-FAMILY PROPOSAL WAS TOO FAR ALONG TO CHANGE.
THEY ALSO SAID THEY WOULD SUPPORT AMENDMENTS IF IT PASSED.
WE ARE NOW ASKING YOU TO MAKE THOSE CHANGES.
WE ALSO WANT TRANSPARENCY AND TIMELINESS IN HOW THE CDD USES DEVELOPERS INPUT AT THE 12 14 25 JOINT HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT AND HOUSING COMMITTEE MEETING, CDD PRESENTED INFORMATION INFORMED BY DEVELOPERS, INCLUDING ONE WHO IS ACTIVELY SUING THE CITY.
WE ASK THAT YOU PRIORITIZE INPUT FROM DEVELOPERS WHO LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE AND ARE COMMITTED TO AFFORDABLE, ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE HOUSING THAT PROTECTS THE CITY'S HISTORY AND CULTURE.
SECOND, THE PROPOSAL DOES NOT DO ENOUGH TO PROTECT OUR TREE CANOPY AND GREEN SPACE.
CANOPIES LOST QUICKLY, BUT IT TAKES DECADES TO RECOVER.
YET THE ORDINANCES DOES NOT REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT VEGETATED OPEN SPACE OR PRESERVATION OF MATURE TREES.
PLEASE ADOPT AMENDMENTS THAT PROTECT SOLAR ACCESS THROUGH STEP BACKS OR HEIGHT AND BULK LIMITS.
SAFEGUARD TREES IN GREEN SPACE WITH REAL REQUIREMENTS FOR VEGETATED OPEN SPACE.
FINALLY, WE HOPE FUTURE REPORTS INCLUDE CURRENT RENTS, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM ZILLOW AND PROJECTED RENTS FROM DEVELOPERS BECAUSE SOME PROPOSED HOUSING MAY BE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN WHAT IT REPLACES, INCLUDING SO-CALLED AFFORDABLE UNITS.
CAMBRIDGE CAN EXPAND MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING AND AN EXCLUSIONARY ZONING WHILE STILL PROTECTING CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS.
APOLOGIES FOR, UM, YOUR TIME HAS EXPIRED.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS CAROL LYNN ALPERT, FOLLOWED BY KAREN BURETT.
I LIVE AT 99 CUSHING STREET IN STRAWBERRY HILL.
THE HOUSING REPORT FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROFOUND DISAPPOINTMENT.
THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF MY NEIGHBORS IN THIS ALREADY, MULTI-FAMILY, MULTI-GENERATIONAL, DIVERSE COMMUNITY FEEL THAT WE WERE SOLD A BILL OF GOODS
[01:05:01]
ABOUT INCREASING AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT HAS TURNED INTO A ROUTE OF OUR FORMERLY QUIET BE ZONED COMMUNITIES BY DEVELOPERS AND THEIR INVESTORS.NOW, WE ARE ASKING THE CITY'S PROFESSIONAL OVERSIGHT DEPARTMENTS TO PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH SOME PROTECTION FROM THE EXCESSES.
I HOLD IN MY HAND A LETTER I WILL SUBMIT THAT HAS SO FAR BEEN SIGNED BY 151 NEIGHBORS OF 95 CUSHING STREET.
98% OF THE NEIGHBORS WE'VE CONTACTED TO DATE ABOUT THE DETAILS OF A PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT ON 95 CUSHING.
MARK HILLERIN, THE DEVELOPER SUBMITTED A PRE-APPLICATION TO BUILD A GINORMOUS CUBIC FOUR STORY, SIX UNIT LUXURY COMPLEX ON A LOT BARELY 42 FEET WIDE.
I HAVE NO TIME TO GET INTO ALL THE DETAILS OF ALL THE WAYS WE, WE BELIEVE HE IS VIOLATING THE CODE AND THE INTENTIONS OF THE CODE, BUT IT IS IN OUR LETTER KILLER AND BRAGS ABOUT THE 9 MILLION.
HE'S GONNA NET FOR HIS INVESTORS IN REFUSING PLEAS FOR MODERATION.
IN THE NOTIFICATION MEETING HE ANNOUNCED TO US, I HAVE CONTROL OF THIS PROPERTY IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD BY RIGHT.
IT'S A RIGHT THAT WE'RE AFRAID THAT THIS CITY COUNCIL GAVE HIM WITHOUT ANY CONSULTATION FROM OUR COMMUNITY OR FROM THE 151 ABUTTERS WHO HAVE SO FAR SIGNED THIS LETTER.
WE ARE ASKING WHY YOU ARE SELLING OUT OUR QUIETER NEIGHBORHOODS WHEN CAMBRIDGE, EVEN BEFORE THIS ZONING AMENDMENT PASSED, WAS ALREADY NUMBER TWO BEHIND BOSTON OF ALL THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES IN PERMITTING NEW HOUSING UNITS AS PUBLISHED RECENTLY IN THE GLOBE.
AND WHEN THERE ARE ALREADY SO MANY HOUSING UNITS IN THE PIPELINE ALONG CORRIDORS, WE BEGGED.
WE WILL ASK YOU TO PLEASE EMAIL THE REMAINDER.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS KAREN BETTE, FOLLOWED BY THOMAS G**O.
THEN SUZANNE B KAREN, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES, PLEASE.
GO AHEAD, KAREN, IF YOU CAN TURN THE MIC ON, JUST PRESS THE BUTTON AND YOU'LL SEE A GREEN LIGHT.
I AM A NEIGHBOR OF CAROLYN, AND I'M GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT A LOT OF THE SAME THINGS.
OUR NEIGHBORS, WE HAVE 151 NEIGHBORS THAT SUPPORT OUR LETTER OF OPPOSITION TO THE, TO THE 95 CUSHING STREET DEVELOPMENT.
ALL OF THE RED ARE PEOPLE THAT READILY AND GRATEFULLY SIGNED OUR LETTER IN OPPOSITION OF THIS DEVELOPMENT, WHICH LEAVES MINIMAL SETBACKS OF FIVE FEET.
YOU GUYS CAMPAIGNED ON CLIMATE RESILIENCY.
YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT THE URBAN FOREST THAT YOU PROTECT AND YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
THIS REMOVES ALL OPEN SPACE AT GRADE AND IT THINKS THAT A ROOFTOP THAT'S GREEN REPLACES IT.
THAT'S NOT CLIMATE RESILIENCY OR PROTECTION OF OUR URBAN FOREST.
THERE ARE EIGHT TREES IN THIS YARD.
ONE IS A BEAUTIFUL OLD MAGNOLIA.
WELL OVER A HUNDRED YEARS IT'S GONNA BE CHOPPED DOWN BECAUSE THIS GUY'S MAKING $9 MILLION.
THAT'S NOT URBAN FOREST PROTECTION.
YOU GOTTA SAY YOU'LL PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY.
THAT'S WHAT YOU, YOU CAMPAIGNED ON.
THERE IS ZERO PARKING, THERE IS A PRESCHOOL NEARBY.
THERE IS A SOLAR PANEL ARRAY THAT WILL BE IN COMPLETE SHADE WITH THIS FOURTH STORY UP AGAINST THE, THE BORDER OF THIS PROPERTY THAT'S NOT PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, LASTLY, THERE'S ZERO AFFORDABLE UNITS.
THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU TOLD US YOU WERE WORKING ON.
THIS IS NOT WHAT WE SIGNED UP FOR.
AS SOME NEIGHBORS HAVE PUT IT.
WE HAD NO IDEA THIS WAS HAPPENING, AND WE ARE UPSET.
WE LOVE THAT GOAL, BUT WE WANT IT RESPONSIBLY.
WE WANT IT STRATEGICALLY, AND WE DO NOT WANT TO GIVE IT AT THE EXPENSE OF ALL OF THIS.
AND WE DO NOT WANT THE POWER, THE KEYS TO THE CAR IN INVESTORS' HANDS AND IN WEALTHY DEVELOPERS' HANDS THAT ARE OUT OF CAMBRIDGE AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE CONTROL HAS BEEN GIVEN.
PLEASE EMAIL THE REMAINDER OF YOUR COMMENTS AND FOR EVERYONE, YOU CAN EMAIL YOUR COMMENTS TO CITY COUNCIL@CAMBRIDGEMA.GOV AND COPY CLERK@CAMBRIDGEMA.GOV SO THAT THEY MAY BE ENTERED INTO THE RECORD.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS THOMAS GARROW, FOLLOWED BY SUZANNE BLEIER, THEN MARYLEE MEYER THOMAS, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
UH, MY NAME'S TOM GORO, 37 PLEASANT STREET, AND I'VE LIVED HERE IN CAMBRIDGE FOR ALMOST 60 YEARS.
I'M THE PRESIDENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATION.
[01:10:01]
UM, IN 1974, I TOOK THE HARVARD GRADUATE ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY COURSE.WE FOCUS ON THE EFFECTS OF COMBINED SEWAGE OVERFLOWS INTO OUR RIVERS AND STREAMS. AT THE TIME, WE CONCLUDED THAT CAMBRIDGE WOULD DO THE RIGHT THING SOONER OR LATER, 52 YEARS LATER, IT WAS STILL DUMPING RAW SEWAGE INTO OUR WATERS.
AT THE SAME TIME AS GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, AS RAISING THE WATER TABLES AT THE SAME TIME AS BAD ZONING DECISIONS ARE INCREASING THE DENSITY OF PEOPLE AND THE AMOUNT OF SEWAGE GOING INTO THE GROUND.
ALL THROUGH CAMBRIDGE, HALF OF CAMBRIDGE IS WETLAND THAT WAS FILLED IN WITH TRASH.
IT'S GONNA FLOOD AGAIN AS THE GROUNDWATER TABLES RISE AND PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE WALKING AROUND ANKLE DEEP IN THEIR OWN SEWAGE IF WE DON'T HAVE AN ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR DEALING WITH OUR ENVIRONMENT AND GROUNDWATER ZONING DECISIONS THAT ARE OVER PAVING AND OVERDEVELOPING CAMBRIDGE ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THIS.
AND, AND AS WE, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S JUST SIMPLY IRRESPONSIBLE.
WE NEED TO START DOING THE RIGHT THING.
PROFESSOR RALPH MITCHELL TAUGHT THAT COURSE 52 YEARS AGO, DIED LAST YEAR, AND I THINK HE WOULD'VE BEEN SHOCKED TO SEE THAT SITUATIONS ONLY GOTTEN WORSE BECAUSE OF OVERDEVELOPMENT.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS SUZANNE BLEIER, FOLLOWED BY MARYLEE MEYER.
SUZANNE BLEIER FIVE FULLER PLACE.
AND I FORWARDED TO YOU THIS MORNING A VERY ROUGH DRAFT OF A REPORT WHICH I DID PULLING TOGETHER THE DATA FROM, UM, THE REVISED DATA FROM KATHY SUSIE'S GOOGLE DOC.
UM, AND IT, IT NEEDS TO BE REVISED STILL FURTHER, BUT I JUST WANTED YOU TO HAVE THAT.
UM, THE ONE POINT I WOULD MAKE HERE VIS-A-VIS, UM, JEFF ROBERTS IS THAT ONE QUARTER, 23% OF THE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS OF ONE TO THREE UNIT PROPERTIES IS ACTUALLY THE SAME SIZE.
MEANING WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE ALLOWING THE DEFINITION OF EXISTING HOMES TO BUILD FAR LARGER, MORE EXPENSIVE ONES FOR THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF PROFITS FOR SOME PEOPLE.
AND THE ISSUE ON FOSSIL FUEL, UM, AND UH, CARBON IS DEMOLITIONS ARE ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
AND THEN WE HAVE TREES AND THEN FOSSIL FUEL.
DIRTY FUEL IS BASICALLY WHAT'S FUELING ELECTRIC.
UM, THIS IS NOT ABOUT SINGLE FAMILY ZONING CHANGE.
WE'VE GOT THE DONOVAN PETITION AND THE INE PETITION.
FINALLY, THIS IS FORCING OUT CURRENT RESIDENTS, GENTRIFICATION, MINORITIES AND OTHERS.
PLUS THE HUGE INCREASE IN HOUSING COSTS AS THEIR PROPERTY VALUES RISE.
AND TAXES RISE IF THEY LIVE NEARBY, UH, TO THESE UNITS.
UM, UH, THIS IS NOT MORE EQUITABLE.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT WHERE THESE ARE BEING BUILT THROUGHOUT THE CITY, IT IS MAKING THINGS EVEN LESS EQUITABLE THAN BEFORE.
WEST CAMBRIDGE IS NOT BEING HIT WITH THIS.
IT'S NORTH CAMBRIDGE AND BALDWIN AND MANY OTHER, UH, PLACES THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN HIT HARD.
THERE'S AN ECONOMIST STUDY THAT I ALSO FORWARD TO YOU THAT SAYS IT'S NOT ABOUT ZONING RULES, IT'S ABOUT WEALTH INEQUITY.
AND WE ALREADY HAVE THAT IN PLACE.
BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE HOUSING COSTS, UH, ARE ALREADY GOING DOWN TWO TO 3% BECAUSE WE HAVE LESS NEED THANKS TO THE PROBLEM WITH BIOTECH LOSSES AND ARE LESS, UM, GRADUATE STUDENTS.
THIS IS OUTSIDE INVESTOR MONEY AND ALMOST NO INCLUSION AREAS BEING BUILT.
THE KEY PROBLEM WITH NO URBAN PLANNER AND ISD NEEDS TO BE FIXED BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT NO ARCHITECT.
IT HAS TO COME INTO PLAY IN CDD MORE GENERALLY.
NEXT WE HAVE MARYLEE MEYER, FOLLOWED BY YOUNG KIM.
MARYLEE, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
HI, MARYLEE MEYER 10 DANA STREET.
THE MULTI-FAMILY ZONING ORDINANCE IS NOW EXPOSING IMPACT WHILE SIDESTEPPING ACTUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING, LACK OF GUARDRAILS AND, UM, GUIDELINES INTENDED TO BUILD, UH, MAKE BUILDING EASIER ARE ALSO DEVASTATING SMALL NEIGHBORHOODS WITH PREDICTED CONSEQUENCES INCLUDING DISPLACEMENT.
ACCORDING TO THE NEW, UM, HOUSING REPORT, NOT ONE INCLUSIONARY UNIT WAS PRODUCED IN 2025.
HOW MANY UNITS ARE IN, UM, UNDER CONSTRUCTION NOW? THE NEW, UM, ZONING IS OPEN SEASON FOR DEVELOPERS MAKING BIG PRO UM, PROFITS.
ONE PARTICULAR, UM, IS A CASE STUDY CHANGING THE STREETSCAPE FOR GOOD.
HIS MANTRA IS, UM, DE DECLARES AS OF RIGHT NO CONSIDERATION OF DESIGN CONTEXT OR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
WHILE LE AND PROSPECT STREETS MAY SEEM PRO, UM, POSITIVE OTHER PROJECTS ARE STRICTLY AIMED AT MARKET RATE.
UM, NUMBER ONE, TRIPLE DECKER IS REPLACED BY THREE LUXURY UNITS FOR 2.8 MILLION.
WHERE IS THE GAIN? A HISTORICAL TWO FAMILY HOUSE IS TORN DOWN FOR THREE LUXURY CONDOS, WHICH COULD HAVE HAD THE
[01:15:01]
ONE EXTRA UNIT ADDED BEHIND.AND A SINGLE FAMILY WORKER COTTAGE OF 1100 SQUARE FEET IS NOW A THREE STORY SINGLE FAMILY, UM, OF 3,600 PLUS SOME SQUARE FEET.
OTHER OWNED PROPERTIES BY HIM INCLUDE, UM, UM, PLYMOUTH, AUSTIN, HAMILTON, WHITE, UH, WHITE, UH, STREETS, ALL ORIGINAL, UH, AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN HUMBOLDT NEIGHBORHOODS TORN DOWN FOR LUXURY UNITS, QUOTE, BECAUSE HE CAN, HE, UM, HE SAID YOU DON'T PRO PROPOSE A, UM, DEMOLITION AND BUILD NEW STRUCTURES.
ONLY WHERE, UM, PROPERTIES ARE, UM, ARE RUN DOWN.
EQUIPPING, TELL ME HOW YOU MAKE A PROFIT WITH AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
PLEASE REINSTATE MORE FROM PROJECT REVIEWS AND PROTECTION FOR BALANCED DEVELOPMENT WHILE BUILDING ACTUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS YOUNG KIM, FOLLOWED BY JASON.
THANK YOU TO CDD FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
IF THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PIPELINE PRESENTED TODAY HAD BEEN AVAILABLE IN 2024 WITH THE PROJECTIONS THAT FORMED THE FOUNDATION OF MULTIFAMILY HOUSING, STILL HOLD BUILDING ON THE PREVIOUS COMMENTS.
THIS SHOULD NOT BE A TREATED AS A ZONING ISSUE.
HOW MUCH HAS ENTERED THE MFH PIPELINE AND WHAT THE PROJECTED OUTCOMES ARE? MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS A POLICY ISSUE WHETHER MFH HAS ACHIEVED THE HOUSING GOAL AND, UH, OVER WHAT TIME HORIZON 20, 20 30 OR 2040.
WE DO NOT YET HAVE A FULLY INTEGRATED BASELINE ACROSS A-H-O-M-F-H CORRIDOR, REZONINGS AND NO MARKET PERSPECTIVE AT ALL.
SO I LOOKED AT ACTUAL TRANSACTIONS ON ARY STREET 84 86, SOLD FOR ABOUT 6.65 MILLION FOR 15 UNITS AT THAT SCALE, THE ECONOMICS DETERMINE THE OUTCOME DEVELOPMENT PRODUCES MARKET RATING RATE HOUSING, BUT MARKET RATING HOUSING IS NOT THE SAME AS MARKET RATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, LET ALONE A HUNDRED PERCENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO THE QUESTION IS NOT WHETHER MFH PRODUCES HOUSING, IT IS WHETHER IT PRODUCES HOUSING THAT IS ACTUALLY AFFORDABLE, THAT, UH, A MIDDLE INCOME, UH, HARDWORKING CITY EMPLOYEES CAN LIVE IN.
MR. CHAIR, VICE MAYOR ZIM HAS HIS HAND RAISED IN THE ZOOM.
UH, COUNCILOR ZE, VICE MAYOR ZIM.
COUNSELOR ZIM, DID YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING? WE'LL GO BACK TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
JASON DOE FOLLOWED BY TODD BRUBAKER, THEN CATHERINE HOFFMAN.
JASON, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
UH, I AM A FORTUNATE HOMEOWNER HERE IN CAMBRIDGE.
I ALSO OWN WSAN ROAD IN HARVARD, SQUARE IN GATO, EXOTIC IN THE CAMBRIDGE SIDE.
UH, FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, FROM A PURELY BUSINESS STANDPOINT, UH, WE ARE VERY PRO MULTIFAMILY.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE MORE RESIDENTS YOU HAVE, ESPECIALLY NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE CENTRAL SQUARE, WHICH TEND TO BE MORE OF A, UH, ECONOMIC FORCE, TENDS TO TO BE DEPEND UPON THE NEIGHBORHOOD VERSUS EXTERIOR FORCES LIKE HARVARD SQUARE, WHICH IS A LOT OF TOURISM.
I DO FEEL THE EMOTION FROM THE REST OF OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR CITIZENS HERE.
BUT SO WE ARE VERY PRO MULTIFAMILY, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS THAT ARE VERY CLOSE TO TRANSPORTATION, WHICH WOULD ALSO HELP I THINK, WITH OUR GREEN FACTOR.
SO WE REALLY, REALLY DO BELIEVE AS A BUSINESS, ESPECIALLY PLACES LIKE CENTRAL WHERE WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT AND CENTRAL'S DIFFICULT, UH, IT'S INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT.
THERE ARE OLD BUILDINGS WHICH ARE VERY CHALLENGING, AND FOR US TO GO IN THERE AS A BUSINESS THAT'S LOCALLY OWNED THAT DOESN'T HAVE VC FIRMS AND THINGS OF THAT BEHIND US, TAKING ONE OF AN OLD GASLIGHT BUILDING OR AN OLD BANK AND TRYING TO CONVERT THAT TO SOMETHING THAT'S USABLE RIGHT NOW IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE.
UNLESS YOU HAVE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS AND MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND LANDLORDS, REALLY, THEY'RE NOT WILLING TO GIVE THAT TO A LOCAL BUSINESS.
THEY'LL GIVE IT TO A SWEET GREEN, THEY'LL GIVE IT TO A KAVA OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
BUT SOMEONE LIKE ME, THEY NECESSARILY WON'T DO SO.
FOR US, WE BELIEVE THAT THE MULTI-FAMILY
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HOUSING IS VERY IMPORTANT TO BRING MORE, YOU KNOW, ESSENTIALLY BUSINESS TO THOSE AREAS THAT ARE SLIGHTLY DEPRESSED RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY COME TO ECONOMIC FORCES THAT REALLY FOCUS ON THE AREA.UM, HARVARD SQUARE, NOT SO MUCH, BUT PLACES LIKE KENDALL NEEDS MORE HOUSING.
PLACES LIKE CENTRAL NEED MORE HOUSING AND WE BELIEVE IN IT.
I CAN SEE WHY YOU WOULDN'T WANT A 15 STORY BUILDING NEXT TO YOUR HOUSE BLOCKING YOUR SOLAR, AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
I WOULDN'T WANT THAT EITHER NEXT TO MY HOUSE.
UH, BUT WE DO FEEL THAT INTELLIGENT MULTIFAMILY HOUSING, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE AREAS THAT MAYBE CAN CONDENSE POPULATIONS BY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, WHICH WOULD HELP WITH THE GREEN FACTOR, WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED BY US SMALL BUSINESSES.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS TODD BRUBAKER, FOLLOWED BY CATHERINE HOFFMAN, THEN GORDON MOORE.
TODD, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES, PLEASE.
UM, YEAH, SO I OWN A HOUSE HERE ON ALSTON STREET.
UM, I MOVED HERE IN 2003 AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ATTRACTED ME ABOUT THE AREA WERE ALL THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEOPLE.
THE CHARACTER OF THE STREETS, THE HOUSES, UH, ALL THE PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, UH, IS SOMETHING THAT I THRIVE ON.
AND I KNOW THAT EVERYONE I'VE MET HERE IN THE COMMUNITY THRIVE ON THE VERY SAME THING.
UM, THINGS HAVEN'T CHANGED A HECK OF A LOT UNTIL THE ZONING LAW.
UM, AND THEY HAVE CHANGED VERY RAPIDLY ALL OF A SUDDEN.
AND I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, HOW MUCH IS THIS A GOOD CHANGE OR NOT? UH, RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET, UH, AN OLD HOUSE IS, UH, TORN DOWN AND THEY'RE BUILDING LUXURY UNITS FOR MILLIONAIRES.
UH, AND ALSO BEHIND ME ON ALL ON HAMILTON, THE SAME DEVELOPER IS RIPPING DOWN TWO HOUSES AND PUTTING UP, UH, THE SAME TYPE OF MODERN BOX FOR MILLIONAIRES.
UH, I FEEL THAT THE GOAL OF AFFORDABILITY IS HAVING THE, IS NOT, NOT ONLY NOT HAPPENING, BUT IT'S HAVING THE OPPOSITE EFFECT.
AND ONE ANECDOTE IS, I'VE LOOKED AT MY ZILLOW PAGE ON THE MY PROPERTY VALUES, WHICH HAVE SKYROCKETED.
LITERALLY, THE, THE LINE GOES STRAIGHT UP AT A DRAMATIC ANGLE SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF ALL THE LUXURY PROPERTIES BEING BUILT AROUND ME, THAT'S GREAT FOR ME AS A PROPERTY OWNER, BUT I CARE MORE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY AND WHAT WE'RE LOSING AND THE PEOPLE WE ARE DRIVING OUT.
I FEEL THIS, THIS ZONING LAW NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT AGAIN TO MAKE SURE WORKERS CAN LIVE HERE.
TEACHERS, NURSES, TRADESPEOPLE.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS CATHERINE HOFFMAN, FOLLOWED BY GORDON MOORE, THEN LAWRENCE KLEIN.
GORDON, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
UM, THIS PROGRESS REPORT IS A VERY GOOD START AT MEASURING HOW WE'RE DOING, AND I WANNA THANK THE CDD FOR DOING IT.
HOWEVER, I WANNA MAKE A POINT THAT IT FALLS VERY, VERY SHORT OF WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW.
IT'S FOCUSED ALMOST ENTIRELY ON MEASURING UNITS, BUT MORE UNITS IS NOT REALLY OUR TARGET FOR SUCCE SUCCESS.
ALL OF THE DISCUSSIONS OF HOUSING FOR THE PAST YEAR OR MORE HAVE FOCUSED ON AFFORDABILITY, WHOSE AFFORDABILITY.
WE KNOW THAT AFFORDABILITY ISN'T AN ISSUE FOR WEALTHY PEOPLE WANTING TO LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE, NO PROBLEM THERE.
AND YOU'VE SHOWN EXCELLENT PROGRESS, REALLY EXCEEDING OUR GOALS OF MAKING AFFORDABLE HOUSING AVAILABLE FOR LOW INCOME PE-PEOPLE.
SO CLEARLY OUR DEFICIT IS AFFORDABILITY FOR MIDDLE INCOME FAMILIES.
LET'S FACE IT, THAT'S THE PROBLEM.
WE HAVE INITIATED POWERFUL NEW ZONING MEASURES TO FIX.
SO I PROPOSE THAT OUR MEASURES NOT BE LIMITED TO UNITS, BUT RATHER TO OUR GOAL OF MAKING CAMBRIDGE AFFORDABLE FOR MIDDLE INCOME FAMILIES.
SO HOW DO WE DO THAT? I THINK FIRST OF ALL, WE HAVE TO START BY DEFINING THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE MEASUREMENTS THAT WE'RE USING SO THAT THE CDD CAN ACTUALLY TRACK AND LET US KNOW HOW WE'RE DOING WITH REGARD TO THAT IMPORTANT SUPERORDINATE GOAL.
SO HERE ARE SOME DEFINING NUTS AND BOLTS QUESTIONS.
HOW DO WE DEFINE OUR MIDDLE INCOME FAMILIES? THE, UH, THE COHORT SIZE, INCOME, WORK, AGE, FAMILY NUMBERS? WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE GROUP IS THAT WE'RE MEASURING.
HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE DEFINE AFFORDABILITY? UM, WHAT IS OTHER, IF, IF WE DON'T DEFINE IT, IT'S LIKE GETTING A SPEEDING CITATION WHEN THERE'S NO, UH, LAW FOR HOW FAST YOU CAN GO.
WHAT'S OUR PLAN AND PROJECTIONS? WHAT'S THE TIMELINE? WHAT SHOULD BE THE COUNCIL'S MEASURES OF SUCCESS FOR THE MIDDLE INCOME? AND HOW WILL THE CITY MANAGER ACTUALLY PROPOSE TO
[01:25:01]
MEASURE IT? UM, THESE ARE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.THIS IS SOMETHING I'VE DONE ALL MY CAREER.
I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HELP THE CDD TO ACHIEVE THIS KIND OF REPORT.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS LAWRENCE KLEIN, FOLLOWED BY JUSTIN SAFE.
LAWRENCE, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES.
I LIVE IN A LARGE MULTI-FAMILY UNIT WITH ABOUT 250 NEIGHBORS THAT WAS BUILT ABOUT 50 YEARS AGO.
AND I LIKE IT BUS LANE, UH, A BUS STOP, BIKE LANES, PARKING.
BUT I ALSO LIKE MY SURROUNDING STRAWBERRY HILL NEIGHBORHOOD AND I WAS SHOCKED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING IN TODAY'S PUBLISHED GOALS AND ACTIONS TO ASSESS DEVELOPMENT IN FIVE YEARS.
OTHER THAN NUMBERS, NO SPECIFIC FEEDBACK ACTION STEPS FROM NEW OR OLDER RESIDENTS DURING, DURING, OR AFTER DEVELOPMENT KIND OF MIRRORED THE LACK OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT EXISTED BEFORE THIS UPZONING, UH, THE UPZONING LAWS WERE PASSED.
THERE IS A STATEMENT ABOUT MAKING DEVELOPMENT IN NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE STRAWBERRY HILL MORE COMFORTABLE AND EASIER TO BUILD FOR DEVELOPERS.
I KNOW THAT WE HAVE TO, IF WE WANT MORE HOUSING, IT'S GOING TO BE A PARTNERSHIP WITH DEVELOPERS, BUT I WOULD CERTAINLY URGE A GREATER COMMUNITY INPUT IN THOSE DECISIONS THAN HAPPENED IN THIS CASE IN STRAWBERRY HILL.
THERE'S BEEN LOTS OF INFILL BUILDINGS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE THE RECENT UP ZONING.
THERE ARE GENERALLY, THESE ARE GENERALLY UPSCALE, $2 MILLION PLUS HOMES.
AND THIS HAS RAISED THE SELLING PRICE FOR LONGER TERM RESIDENTS FOR THEIR HOMES.
WHAT THE NEW RESTRICTIONS WILL DO IS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THE COST FOR NEW HOMES.
WHAT WILL PROBABLY LOWER THE WINDFALLS FOR THE CURRENT RESIDENTS.
AND DESPITE THE ZONING INCENTIVE FOR INCOME ADJUSTED UNITS, DEVELOPERS ARE ALREADY PUSHING BACK ON EVEN THIS MINOR ASK FOR LARGER BUILDINGS.
THE SCALE OF THE NEW PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS WILL AFFECT THE NEIGHBORHOOD SIGNIFICANTLY LOST CANOPY LOST PARKING SUNBLOCK PANEL AND MAJOR STREET CON CONGEST AROUND THE SCHOOLS.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS JUSTIN SAFE, FOLLOWED BY DAVID HALPERIN, THEN MARINA G**O ATLAS.
THANKS TO CDD FOR PRESENTING THIS DATA ON HOUSING TODAY.
UM, MY UNDERSTANDING THOUGH IS THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE INCLUSIONARY BUILDING THAT'S UNDER CONSTRUCTION THAT'S NOT, NOT PART OF A PUD OR SIMILAR SCENARIO.
AND REALLY INCREASING INCLUSIONARY SHOULD BE THE FOLKS OF THIS HEARING.
THERE IS REALLY NO POINT IN HEARING FROM THE EXACT SAME PEOPLE WHO HAVE OPPOSED EVERY SINGLE ZONING CHANGE IN THE PAST DECADE ATTEMPT TO REINSTATE EXCLUSIONARY ZONING THAT BANNED APARTMENT BUILDINGS FROM NEIGHBORHOODS OF CAMBRIDGE.
WE ALL KNOW CAMBRIDGE HAS A HUGE HOUSING SHORTAGE AND SOME OF THE HIGHEST RENTS IN THE COUNTRY, BUT WE STILL CAN'T FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM EZRA KLEIN'S ABUNDANCE NOT TO LOAD ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND UNFUNDED MANDATES ON HOUSING LIKE AN EVERYTHING BAGEL.
MOST OF AMERICA IS EXPERIENCING DROPS IN RENT FOLLOWING THE BUILDING OF SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF MULTIFAMILY HOUSING.
SO IT'S NOT FAIR TO SAY THAT INCREASED CONSTRUCTION OR FINANCING COSTS ARE BLOCKING NEW CONSTRUCTION EVERYWHERE OR ARE INSURMOUNTABLE.
CAMBRIDGE PERMITTED VERY, VERY FEW NET NEW HOMES IN 2025.
I THINK THE NUMBER'S AROUND 60, THAT'S THE LOWEST NUMBER SINCE 2009.
WE KNOW THAT MANY OF THE PROJECTS LISTED AS IN THE PIPELINE ARE ACTUALLY DEAD.
7 45 CONCORD, FOR EXAMPLE, AND WILL NEVER BE BUILT.
WE SHOULD BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
THERE ARE OTHER PROJECTS THAT ARE ONLY BEING ENTITLED TO SELL OR TO FINANCE NOT TO BUILD.
WE DO A REAL DISSERVICE TO THE 64% OF RESIDENTS ON THE ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC SURVEY WHO WANT YOU ALL TO FOCUS ON MARKET RATE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY.
THAT'S 78,000 PEOPLE WHO AREN'T COMING TO ALL THESE WEEKDAY MEETINGS, BUT WHOSE CONCERNS YOU NEED TO WORK HARD TO ADDRESS.
WE'VE ALREADY ADMITTED FAILURE AND REACHING OUR 2030 AND VISION GOAL FOR HOUSING MORE THAN FOUR YEARS IN ADVANCE.
LET'S MAKE SURE WE HOLD SPACE FOR THOSE RESIDENTS WHO WANT HOUSING ABUNDANCE AND AFFORDABILITY.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS DAVID HALPER, FOLLOWED BY MARINA G**O ATLAS, THEN PATRICK BARRETT.
[01:30:02]
DAVID, YOU'RE ON MUTED, BUT WE CANNOT HEAR YOU DAVID.UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW.
HI, DAVID HALPIN 14 VALENTINE STREET, UH, UNIT THREE.
I REALLY WANNA THANK CDD FOR PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
THIS IS SOME REALLY INTERESTING INFO AND THANK THEM FOR A LOT OF THE NUANCE PROVIDED SUCH AS, YOU KNOW, THE LARGE DIFFERENCE IN DEMOLITIONS WITH MOSTLY THE RIVERVIEW CONDOS.
UM, I THINK GENERALLY THIS IS REALLY ENCOURAGING DATA.
UM, WE ARE NOT SEEING A LOT OF THINGS THAT PEOPLE FEARED WOULD HAPPEN AFTER PASSING MULTIFAMILY.
THE A HO PIPELINE REMAINS VERY ROBUST AND DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE BEEN HARMED SO FAR.
UM, WE HAVE NOT SEEN LIKE, YOU KNOW, AN OUTER SCALE, YOU KNOW, NUMBER OF DEMOLITIONS.
LIKE WE ARE NOT REALLY SEEING THE KIND OF, UM, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPMENT DRIVEN DISPLACEMENT.
WE ARE SEEING A VERY INCREMENTAL CHANGE.
AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, INSTEAD OF, YOU KNOW, LOSING UNITS AND GUT RENTALS, WE ARE SEEING, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THESE SMALL PROJECTS GAIN UNITS, WHICH FROM AN AFFORDABILITY PERSPECTIVE, I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UNDERRATED, I WILL POINT TO PEOPLE, PEOPLE AT A RESEARCH STUDY, UM, UH, LOW RISE, MULTIFAMILY AND HOUSING SUPPLY, A CASE STUDY OF SEATTLE, WHICH, UM, UM, FINDS THAT IN AREAS THAT ALLOWED, UH, LOW SCALE MULTIFAMILY, UM, THE RESULTS WERE MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE THAN AREAS THAT WERE RESTRICTED TO FA UH, SINGLE FAMILY.
UM, AND FIGURE NUMBER 11 SHOWS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU REDEVELOP, UM, A A SINGLE FAMILY INTO A NEW SINGLE FAMILY, THAT'S THE RESULT.
THE MEDIAN PRICE CHANGE THERE WAS 182%.
AND THE MORE DENSITY YOU ADD, UH, THE MORE AFFORDABLE IT BECOMES.
UM, I DO THINK IT'S VERY CONCERNING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE NOT SEEING A LOT OF NEW INCLUSIONARY GET BUILT AND YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA NEED TO, YOU KNOW, FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THAT WORK, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN GIVE THEM BETTER INCENTIVES THERE.
UM, BUT UH, YOU KNOW, I HOPE WE CAN AVOID ANY, YOU KNOW, WATERING ANYTHING DOWN.
I THINK IT'S VERY ENCOURAGING.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MARINA G**O ATLAS, FOLLOWED BY PATRICK BARRETT.
AND OUR FINAL SPEAKER WILL BE LAWRENCE ATKINS.
MARINA, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
HI EVERYONE, THIS IS MARINA G**O ATLAS OF THE RIVERSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD IN CAMBRIDGE AND ABUTTING BELMONT.
THANK YOU TO THE CHAIR AND COMMITTEE FOR THIS IMPORTANT MEETING.
AND THANK YOU TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THOUGHTFUL RECONSIDERATION OF IMPORTANT DETAILS IMPACTING LOCAL LIVABILITY BUILT ENVIRONMENT, OUR COMMUNITY'S HEALTH.
THIS COMMENT IS ON DEMOLITION AND THE LACK OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PLANNING AND REGULATORY NON-COMPLIANCE TO HISTORICAL FEDERAL, STATE, MUNICIPAL, AND LOCAL BEST PRACTICE STANDARDS, WHICH HAS LARGELY BEEN MISSING FROM CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS AND ENTIRELY FROM OBSERVED CDD DISCUSSIONS AND PUBLICATIONS.
SAFE SUSTAINABLE HOUSING IS THE BARE MINIMUM FOR EQUITABLE HOUSING, IN MY VIEW, PER MY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE WORK BACKGROUND.
LARGER MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS AND WALKTHROUGHS TO FEDERAL HISTORIC OSHA STANDARDS AND CORRECTING DEFICIENCIES IS MY BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC'S HEALTH, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND UPHOLD ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY HEALTH.
WHEN I WAS AT THE U-S-A-E-P-A REGION ONE, I CONDUCTED THESE LARGE MUNICIPAL BUILDING WALKTHROUGHS TO EVALUATE ADHERENCE TO OSHA STANDARDS, PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO MANY MUNICIPALITIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH AND CORRECT EFFICIENCIES TO MEET FEDERAL AND ALL APPLICABLE MULTI-LEVEL STANDARDS.
THERE WAS GREAT INTEREST IN CAMBRIDGE AND THE LEGACY CONTAMINATION BECAUSE OF MATERIALS BOTH ONSITE OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS AND IN SITU OF HISTORICAL CAMBRIDGE BY MANY FEDERAL INSPECTORS.
THE FEDERAL MUNI AND MUNICIPAL STANDARDS ARE LEGALLY MANDATED TO FOLLOW SPECIAL REGULATIONS FOR CERTAIN PROVISIONS FOR DEMOLITION A CERTAIN SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.
LEGACY CONTAMINATION CHEMICALS ARE PRESENT ON SITE MANDATING SPECIAL CONSIDERATION AND REGULATORY CONTROLS.
THIS IS CRITICAL FOR PROTECTING THE PUBLIC'S HEALTH WITH DEMOLITION OF ALL PROPOSED NEW DEVELOPMENTS.
I RECOMMEND THESE LOOPHOLES ARE CORRECTED WITH URGENCY AND REEXAMINED TO UPHOLD HISTORICAL BEST PRACTICE STANDARDS FOR ALL APPLICABLE LAWS AND TO UPHOLD THE INTENT AND MANDATE OF THE MUNICIPALITY FOR THE RESIDENTS AND BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CAMBRIDGE.
I APPRECIATE EVERYONE ELEVATING THESE DEFICIENCIES AND OVERSIGHT AND THANK THE CITY COUNCIL, CDD AND ISD FOR YOUR OVERSIGHT AND ADHERENCE TO HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS.
PLEASE EMAIL THE REMAINDER WE WILL HEAR NEXT FROM PATRICK BARRETT, FOLLOWED BY HEATHER HOFFMAN, THEN LAWRENCE ATKINS.
PATRICK, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES.
UM, I'M THE DEVELOPER THAT'S SUING YOU.
UM, FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO KNOW.
I'VE ALSO BEEN A RESIDENT OF CAMBRIDGE FOR ABOUT 22 YEARS BEFORE WE MOVED LAST YEAR OR A YEAR AND A HALF
[01:35:01]
AGO ACTUALLY.IT'S BEEN, TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN.
UM, I'M HERE TO ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF SOME OF MY CLIENTS, BUT ALSO TO JUST EXPLAIN TO THE COUNCIL THE EFFECT OF WHAT IT IS THAT YOU ARE DOING.
WHEN YOU HAVE HEARINGS LIKE THIS, YOU'RE SIGNALING TO THE DEVELOPMENT WORLD THAT PUT THE BRAKES ON.
WHEN WE HAVE A COUNSELOR WHO'S THE CHAIR OF A COMMITTEE WHO HAS A PROJECT NEXT DOOR TO THEIR HOUSE AND IS CONCERNED ABOUT THIS DEVELOPMENT, BRINGING THESE HEARINGS, YOU'RE SIGNALING THAT DEVELOPERS SHOULD PUT THE PAUSE BUTTON ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE CITY.
YOU'RE SEEING THE VAST MAJORITY OF PROJECTS.
AND IF YOU LINE THE NUMBERS UP, WHICH I KNOW WE COULD JUDGE THEM AROUND A LITTLE BIT, UH, THE VAST MAJORITY OF PROJECTS ARE GONNA BE UNDER THE INCLUSIONARY THRESHOLD.
WHAT'S INTERESTING THOUGH IS OF THE PUDS THAT WERE PRE 2016, ALL OF THOSE ARE EXEMPT FROM 20% INCLUSIONARY.
WHY AREN'T THEY BUILDING? HAVE YOU KNOCKED ON THEIR DOORS TO ASK? UM, I HEARD SOME HONESTY IN THE BACK ROOM TODAY.
I HEARD, UH, WE WANT OUR CONTROL BACK.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S REALLY THE CRUX OF IT, ISN'T IT? YOU WANT TO CONTROL THE PROPERTY THAT I OWN TO DETERMINE WHAT I CAN DO.
OKAY, WELL THAT DIDN'T LEAD YOU TO A VERY GOOD PLACE, UH, IN HOUSING STOCK.
I ALSO HEAR ABOUT LUXURY UNITS.
IT'S EVERYONE'S FAVORITE WORD TO SAY.
UM, OF THE PEOPLE WHO SPOKE TODAY, AND I'LL ADMIT, I SOLD MY HOUSE FOR $4 MILLION.
I BOUGHT IT FOR 915 AND I BUILT IT MYSELF.
BUT ONE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLAR CONDO OWNER, $2.2 MILLION ASSESSMENTS, ALL THOSE ASSESSMENTS ARE ALSO PROBABLY PRETTY LOW.
SO EVERYONE LIVING IN A HOUSE IN CAMBRIDGE LIVES IN LUXURY HOUSING.
YOU KNOW, WHETHER YOU WISH TO ADMIT THIS OR NOT, AND IT'S FINE.
THIS IS AN OPEN CONVERSATION AND THERE'S NO JUDGMENT FROM ME.
BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO ACTUALLY ADDRESS THE ISSUES OF HOUSING, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO ADDRESS IT HONESTLY AND DIRECTLY.
AND THE BIGGEST, THAT BOTTLENECKS HAVE ALREADY BEEN UNVEILED TO YOU.
UH, OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS LEE FERRIS, FOLLOWED BY HEATHER HOFFMAN.
CLERK, I, I, UM, EMAILED YOU THAT I'M NOT ABLE TO SPEAK AT THIS TIME.
WE WILL GO TO HEATHER HOFFMAN.
HELLO, HEATHER HOFFMAN, TWO 13 HURLEY STREET, LIVING IN A PLACE THAT IS ASSESSED FOR A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY AND I DON'T DESERVE IT.
UM, I WANT TO POINT OUT SOMETHING THAT JEFF ROBERTS SAID THAT CONSULTATION MAKES PROJECTS BETTER.
AND YET THIS COUNCIL AND ITS PREDECESSORS HAVE BEEN INTENT ON REMOVING CONSULTATION, ON MAKING EVERYTHING, WHATEVER THE DEVELOPER WANTS TO DO WITH THAT.
I WOULD ADD SOMETHING THAT TIM LOVE SAID AT THE BOSTON FOUNDATION WHEN I ASKED HIM ABOUT WHETHER REDUCING COSTS OF BUILDING WOULD DECREASE RENTS.
AND HE SAID, CAPITALISTS WILL REMAIN CAPITALISTS.
THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS WHERE WE HAVE INDEED BEEN MISLED.
AND I WOULD ALSO NOTE THAT MR. ROBERTS FIRST OFF TRIED TO CLAIM THAT ALL OF THE RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS ARE C ONE NOW AND THEN ABOUT TWO SENTENCES LATER POINTED OUT THAT THEY AREN'T, I'M TIRED OF THIS.
CAN WE HAVE REAL NUMBERS, REAL DISCUSSIONS TO THE PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY WERE BAMBOOZLED.
YOU SHOULD HAVE READ THE GOALS OF THE MULTIFAMILY ORDINANCE.
AND THAT WAS TO REDUCE SCREEN SPACE AND NEVER TO INCREASE AFFORDABILITY.
AND I WILL POINT OUT THAT WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN TERMS OF DEVELOPMENT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE, UH, PEOPLE LIKE ME SAID YOU WERE GOING TO SEE.
AND TO MR. BARRETT, I WOULD ADD ANOTHER THING THAT IS SLOWING DEVELOPMENT IS HIS LAWSUIT, WHICH I WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORT.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS LAWRENCE ATKINS.
MY NAME IS LAWRENCE ATKINS, ELLIOT, 45 HAYES STREET.
I AM HEADING TOWARDS THAT NEARLY THREE QUARTER OF A CENTURY THAT I'VE BEEN HERE IN CAMBRIDGE.
PHYSICALLY I AM FIFTH GENERATION.
[01:40:01]
A LOT OF FAMILY, A LOT OF HISTORY.WE ARE A CITY THAT WAS BUILT ON SOIL BEING BROUGHT IN TO MAKE US THE TOWN WE ARE YEARS AGO, BUILT ON IT.
SO I'M KIND OF STUNNED AT THIS.
UH, NON OBSERVANCE OF FLOOD STUDIES, THE NUMBER OF PROPERTIES THAT I GO BY.
AND NOW I SEE OLD PRIOR THREE STORY BUILT-INS, COMPLETELY TORN DOWN PRIOR PROPERTY, COMPLETELY ERODED OUT TO MEET THE FIVE FEET BARRIERS.
ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE'S NOBODY THERE TO GET THAT WATER OUT OF THERE.
ALL OF A SUDDEN NOW I HEAR THAT WE ARE WAITING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION TO COME IN BEFORE WE FURTHER ACT OR LOOK, WE NEED TO STEP UP THESE PROTECTIONS AND THESE PROTECTIONS NEED TO GO INTO EFFECT IMMEDIATELY.
I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT DEVELOPERS NOT COMING HERE.
I HAVE A CONCENTRATION ABOUT THOSE THAT ARE HERE THAT ARE BEING PUSHED ASIDE.
I HEARD ALREADY THE ENERGY OF COLLECTION BEING BROUGHT IN, THE HYPE BEING SHUT DOWN, PEOPLE NOT GETTING IT.
THE CONCENTRATION OF WHO HERE HAS BEEN PUT ASIDE FOR THE VALUE OF SO SUPPOSEDLY THESE NEW STUFF COMING IN.
THIS IS A MISTAKE BECAUSE WHEN THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE BUILDING THESE HOLES FIGURE OUT THAT THEY'RE NOT GONNA MAKE ANY MONEY ON IT, STALL, STAGNANT, GO AWAY, FIND SOMEBODY ELSE TO BUY IT.
YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE LEFT WITH A MESS.
AND THEN WHAT THE STRUCTURES THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO ARE NOT ACHIEVED.
AND ALL YOU CAN DO IF ANYBODY IS LEFT, IS APOLOGIZE.
DO A BETTER ACCLIMATION ARE WHAT'S GOING.
CURRENT INFORMATION SHOULD BE STEADY AND NOW NOT FIVE, 10, OR 50 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD.
THAT IS EVERYONE THAT WAS SIGNED UP.
WE WILL NOW GO TO CITY COUNCIL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS.
WE'VE GOT, UH, ABOUT 15 MINUTES AND WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER MEETING MEETINGS AFTER THAT.
UM, I SEE COUNCILOR EY WITH HER END UP, UH, THANK YOU CHAIR SABRINA WHEELER.
I HAVE LOTS OF COMMENTS, BUT I I WANTED TO ASK QUESTIONS 'CAUSE STAFF IS HERE.
AND I'M REALLY GLAD THAT YOU'RE HERE.
THIS IS A, AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS OF YOU.
SO, UM, BUT LET ME JUST PREFACE THAT BY SAYING, AS SOME OF YOU KNOW, WITH, UM, MY AIDS AND WITH, UM, CROWDSOURCING, UM, I'VE HELPED TO DEVELOP A DATABASE THAT DEMONSTRATES THAT WE HAVE ALMOST 80, 80 PROJECTS, MULTIFAMILY HOUSING PROJECTS THAT HAVE IMPACTED NEIGHBORHOODS.
UM, AND I'LL BE SHARING THAT LIST MORE BROADLY ONCE WE REFINE THE NUMBERS BETTER.
BUT I FEEL AS THOUGH THIS, UM, ORDINANCE IS HAVING A DRAMATIC IMPACT ON NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND AGAIN, WE DID FOCUS ON NUMBERS IN YOUR REPORTING AND IT WAS A GREAT REPORT RATHER THAN ON HOW IT'S BEING AFFECTED, UH, UM, IMPACTING THE NEIGHBOR, THE NEIGHBORS IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS THEMSELVES.
UM, BUT WHAT I'M SEEING OVERALL IS THAT WE'RE PRODUCING, UM, WE'RE REMOVING NATURALLY AFFORDABLE UNITS AND WE'RE PUTTING IN MARKET RATE HOUSING.
THAT'S THE GENERAL TREND THAT I SEE TO DATE.
AND I WONDER IF IT'S WORTH THE PAIN, UM, THAT WE'RE INFLICTING ON OUR PROPERTY OWNERS, UM, WHEN WE'RE NOT PRODUCING AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN, IN THE NEIGHBORS NEIGHBORHOODS.
BUT WHAT I WANTED, WHILE YOU'RE HERE, I WANTED TO ASK, REALLY, THE DIFFERENT STAFF MEMBERS.
I WANTED TO ASK THE HISTORIC COMMISSION IN INSPECTION SERVICES AND CDD ABOUT HOW THIS ZONING HAS IMPACTED YOUR, YOUR WORK IN YOUR DEPARTMENTS.
BECAUSE I THINK WE, AND AND I THINK YOU MAY HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER.
'CAUSE ULTIMATELY WHAT WE HOPE WILL RESULT FROM THIS SERIES OF MEETINGS ARE, UH, WAYS WE CAN IMPROVE THIS ORDINANCE.
THAT'S THE GOAL, TO IMPROVE THE ORDINANCE.
SO STARTING WITH YOU, CHARLIE, AT THE HISTORIC COMMISSION IN 24, YOUR STAFF REVIEWED 43 PROPERTIES FOR HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE INFORMALLY.
AND THEN IN TWENTY FIVE, TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO PROPERTIES.
AND IN 26, YOU'VE ALREADY REVIEWED 42 PROPERTIES.
LIKE YOUR, YOUR WORK HAS, YOU KNOW, QUADRUPLED EVEN MORE SINCE 24.
IN REVIEWING THESE PROPERTIES, DO YOU HAVE ANY, UM, WISDOM TO SHARE ABOUT HOW WE MIGHT IMPROVE THIS ORDINANCE FROM YOUR WORK IN THE DEPARTMENT? AND THEN, UH, JAKE, UM, JACOB AND, UM, I, AND AND INSPECTION SERVICE, UH, I'M SORRY.
COMMISSIONER MCLAUGHLIN, I WANNA HEAR, YOU KNOW, I I JUST KEEP
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HEARING FROM NEIGHBORS THAT ARE REALLY UPSET ABOUT DEVELOPMENTS HAPPENING CLOSE BY IN MESSY JOB SITES AND, UM, CONSTRUCTION, YOU KNOW, BASEMENTS THAT ARE HAZARDS TO NEIGHBORHOOD CHILDREN.SO I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HEAR YOUR WORK HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY, SO I ALSO WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
AND THEN FROM CDD, YOU'RE ALSO MEETING, YOU'RE DOING ALL THESE ADVISORY MEETINGS.
SO I I JUST LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU'RE HEARING BECAUSE I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE IF WE'RE WANT, WE WANNA IMPROVE OUR ORDINANCE, WE WANNA IMPROVE THE PROCESS, WE NEED TO HEAR FROM THE PEOPLE WITH THE BOOTS ON THE GROUND THAT ARE LIKE IMPACTED DIRECTLY.
WELL, UH, I'M NOT SURE I HAVE A LOT OF WISDOM, UH, TO IMPART ON THIS.
UH, YEAH, IT'S AN INCREASED WORKLOAD.
THERE'S TREMENDOUS INTEREST IN DEVELOPMENT IN CAMBRIDGE.
UM, WE, WE DO ADMINISTER, UH, DEMOLITION PERMIT REVIEW ORDINANCE THAT AFFECTS, UH, BUILDINGS OVER 50 YEARS OLD.
UM, AND WE SCREEN THEM FOR SIGNIFICANCE BEFORE, UM, IN SOME CASES REFERRING THEM TO THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION FOR A HEARING TO SEE IF A DEMOLITION SHOULD BE DELAYED, UM, OR WHETHER IT'S IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST TO ALLOW A PROJECT TO GO AHEAD.
SO THIS IS, IT'S, IT'S A LARGER WORKLOAD, BUT IT'S JUST PART OF WHAT WE DO.
AND, UM, WE'RE GLAD TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THERE IS SOME FILTER, UM, THAT THERE IS SOME MECHANISM BY WHICH DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS ARE, ARE SCREENED, UH, TO, UM, ENSURE THAT ADVERSE EFFECTS ON SIGNIFICANT BUILDINGS AND NEIGHBORHOODS ARE MITIGATED.
UM, AND I'D POINT OUT THAT THE FEW HEARINGS WE HAVE HAD, UH, ALL OF THE PROJECTS HAVE GONE AHEAD IN SOME FORM, UM, BOTH WITH THE DEMOLITION DELAY AND WITH THE BUILDINGS THAT ARE IN DISTRICTS, UM, NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.
UM, THERE HAS BEEN SOME, UM, I THINK QUALITY CONTROL, UM, THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT, UH, PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS FOR, FOR CAMBRIDGE.
AND I'VE ATTENDED MANY OF YOUR MEETINGS IN THE PLANNING BOARD MEETINGS TOO, AND I'VE BEEN INCREDIBLY IMPRESSED WITH THE HIGH LEVEL OF DISCOURSE IN DISCUSSION IN HOW PROJECTS HAVE BEEN IMPROVED BY THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND COUNSELOR, JUST IF YOU CAN REACH, TRY TO KEEP IT TO ONE EACH SINCE WE'VE JUST GOT 10 MINUTES LEFT IF YOU YEAH.
ONE MORE OTHER STAFF PERSON THERE.
WE SHOULD PROBABLY GO TO THE NEXT COUNSELOR.
UM, I'LL JUST SAY, YOU KNOW, ISD ALWAYS HAS TO BE A, A DEPARTMENT THAT CAN EVOLVE AND ADAPT TO CHANGES, RIGHT? THE CODES CHANGE CONSTANTLY.
UM, I THINK WE WERE WELL PREPARED FOR CHANGES IN THE ZONING AND IT'S A CREDIT TO CDD FOR WELCOMING US INTO THE PROCESS, UM, AND, AND FOR ALL INVOLVED IN, IN THE OVERSIGHT OF, OF THE PROCESS IN GENERAL.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, DEMOLITION PROJECTS ARE PROBABLY THE MOST DIFFICULT TO TO MANAGE, RIGHT? UM, THERE'S MORE THAT CAN GO WRONG.
IT'S, IT'S MESSY, UM, AND THERE'S MORE DEMO, SO IT'S CHALLENGING FOR SURE.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M PARTICULARLY PROUD OF THE STAFF.
UM, IT'S HELPFUL THAT WE'VE REMAINED FULLY STAFFED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS AND, AND IN THE LAST YEAR ESPECIALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR BUILDING INSPECTORS ARE, ARE WELL TRAINED AND ARE ABLE TO STAY ON TOP OF THE SITES.
UM, SO, SO I, I THINK WE'RE DOING WELL.
I WILL SAY THAT WHEN, WHEN, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE, UH, LESS OF AN AVENUE FOR A VOICE, THEN, THEN THEY CERTAINLY COME TO OUR DEPARTMENT BECAUSE WE'RE MANAGING, UM, THESE PERMITS.
SO OUR STAFF HAVE BEEN HEARING COMPLAINTS, BUT WE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALWAYS HEARD COMPLAINTS.
UM, THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF, OF THE JOB OF ISD IS TO HEAR PEOPLE OUT.
WHAT'S DIFFICULT IS THAT WE CAN'T, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY A PARTICIPATORY PROCESS.
WE DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THE COMPLAINTS AND, AND WE DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO TAKE OPINION INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN WE'RE ISSUING A PERMIT.
WE, WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THE CODE AND THE ORDINANCE AS IT'S WRITTEN.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING IN PARTICULAR, I KNOW THAT, THAT, THAT HAS BROUGHT ATTENTION TO PROJECTS WHERE IT'S NICE THAT FOLKS ARE GETTING A NOTIFICATION, UM, BUT, BUT THEY DON'T, THEY DON'T HAVE A VOTE AT THAT MEETING, RIGHT? SO OUR JOB HAS, HAS TRANSITIONED A LITTLE BIT TO TRY TO EXPLAIN MORE, UM, AND ACT MORE AS EDUCATORS.
AND, AND I THINK OUR STAFF IS ABLE TO DO THAT QUITE WELL.
UNLESS CDD WANTS TO RESPOND, UH, I DON'T HAVE MUCH TO ADD EXCEPT THAT, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS, I THINK WE'VE, WE'VE HAD SOME NEW PROCESSES THAT WE'VE HAD TO STAND UP.
I THINK WE'VE, WE'VE DONE A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF GETTING THOSE STOOD UP.
[01:50:01]
OVERWHELMING.I, I OWE A LOT TO MY STAFF AND TO URBAN DESIGN AND, YOU KNOW, OTHER, OTHER STAFF IN CDD AND IN MAKING THAT WORK, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO, LIKE EVERYONE SAID, THERE'S A LOT OF INTEREST IN DEVELOPMENT, YOU KNOW, BUT WHAT THE NUMBERS DON'T NECESSARILY SHOW IS, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPERS, PERSPECTIVE DEVELOPERS, PERSPECTIVE BUYERS COMING TO US TO, TO TALK ABOUT THE ZONING AND UNDERSTAND IT.
UM, WHICH WE, WE CERTAINLY GET A LOT OF THOSE KINDS OF QUESTIONS.
UM, IN SOME WAYS, I, I SOMETIMES I WISH MORE DEVELOPERS WOULD COME TO US EARLIER IN THE PROCESS TO, UM, TO TALK OVER THE ZONING AND UNDERSTAND IT.
AND THERE, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT COULD MAYBE BE SMOOTHED OUT.
UM, BUT, UH, BUT OTHERWISE I THINK WE'VE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE BEEN PREPARED AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO, TO HANDLE IT PRETTY WELL.
I SAW COUNCILOR NOLAN'S HAND AND THEN COUNCILOR ZE.
UH, FOLKS COULD KEEP IT TO ONE QUESTION EACH IN MIND THAT, UM, CITY STAFF IS ALSO GONNA BE AT THE APRIL 7TH MEETING.
SO ANY QUESTIONS WE'RE NOT ABLE TO GET TO, WE CAN CONTINUE TO THE THAT MEETING.
I WON'T ASK MY SEVERAL QUESTIONS, BUT I WILL NOTE, I THINK FOR THIS REPORT, IT WOULD BE REALLY IMPORTANT TO TAKE OUT THE A HO PROJECTS, BECAUSE THOSE ARE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FROM INCLUSIONARY.
I KNOW IT'S INFUSED IN HERE, BUT WHAT WE HEARD WAS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN NO INCLUSIONARY, BUT IT'S, THERE'S A HIGH NUMBER OF AFFORDABLE, BUT THEY'RE ALL A HO MY QUESTION IS, DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THESE PROJECTS ON CURRENT AND FUTURE SOLAR? THAT'S BEEN OBVIOUSLY A MEETING.
WE'VE HAD SEVERAL MEETINGS ABOUT IT.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS IT'S MOSTLY THE SIX STORY BUILDINGS THAT WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT, BUT I KNOW THAT THE STAFF HAS, HAS THOUGHT ABOUT THIS.
IS THIS SOMETHING, AND IF YOU CAN'T ANSWER IT TODAY, WHETHER WE COULD GET SOME UNDERSTANDING IN THE FUTURE ABOUT ALL THIS RANGE OF PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE, HOW IT IS THAT IT'S AFFECTING SOLAR, BECAUSE THAT'S PART OF OUR CITY GOALS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, NOT TO MENTION SAVING THE PLANET.
UM, WELL, I, I WOULD SAY WE, WE DON'T, UH, THROUGH THE CHAIR, WE, WE DON'T HAVE, UM, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE KIND OF HARD INFORMATION ON THAT.
I MEAN, I THINK MOST OF THESE BUILDINGS, ESPECIALLY LIKE THE SIX STORY BUILDING, SO THEY, THEY HAVEN'T BEEN BUILT YET.
THEY'RE NOT EVEN IN CONSTRUCTION.
SO IF WE WERE GONNA LOOK AT ANY REAL DATA ON WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE IMPACTS ARE, WE, WE REALLY WOULDN'T HAVE THAT UNTIL BUILDINGS ARE BUILT AND WE HAVE, WE WOULD HAVE TO GET SOME INFORMATION ABOUT HOW, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THESE ARE PRIVATELY OWNED, YOU KNOW, SOLAR ARRAYS, SO GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT HOW THEY'RE ACTUALLY FUNCTIONING, YOU KNOW, MIGHT BE CHALLENGING.
SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD TRY TO LOOK AT.
WE COULD THINK ABOUT IT AS, AS TIME GOES ON AND AS PROJECTS GET BUILT AND, AND TO SEE IF THERE'S A WAY TO, UM, TO KEEP TRACK OF THAT.
OTHER THAN THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE DONE THE, SOME OF THE COUNCILS AWARE, WE DID A LOT OF STUDY LAST YEAR ON KIND OF PROJECTING OUT WHAT THE IMPACT WOULD BE, AND WE FOUND THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE ARE DIFFERING LEVELS OF IMPACT VERY BASED ON THE HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS AND BASED ON HOW CLOSE THE BUILDINGS ARE TOGETHER.
BUT, UM, UM, OTHER THAN THAT, WE, WE DON'T HAVE ANY KIND OF HARD DATA BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, THE, THAT JUST THE SMALL NUMBER OF, OF CASES WE'D HAVE TO LOOK AT.
IT'S NOT, IT MAY BE A FOUR STORY BUILDING, COULD HAVE BEEN IMPACT IF IT'S A TWO STORY SOLAR.
BUT I, I YIELD, UH, I SAW COUNCILOR ZE AND THEN COUNCILOR FLAHERTY, UH, IAN COUNCILOR ZUBIE, DID YOU WANNA TO THE NEXT ONE? OKAY, GREAT.
UH, COUNCILLOR ZE, VICE MAYOR ZIM.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A FEW BRIEF COMMENTS ABOUT THINGS THAT MAYBE WE COULD DISCUSS IN THE FUTURE MEETINGS.
UM, I'LL KEEP MY COMMENTS BRIEF AND I DO HAVE TO DROP OFF AT ONE O'CLOCK, SO I APOLOGIZE THERE.
UM, SO I WANTED TO SAY, I THINK IN GENERAL THERE'S LIKE THREE SORTS OF OPTIONS WE HAVE.
ONE IS THAT LIKE WE COULD JUST STOP ALL DEVELOPMENT PERIOD, RIGHT? LIKE WE COULD MAKE ZONING SO RESTRICTIVE THAT YOU CAN'T BUILD ANYTHING AT ALL.
I THINK THAT YOU COULD, YOU KNOW, UM, DECIDE TO INCENTIVIZE THE INCLUSIONARY UNITS.
I THINK A LOT OF THE CONCERN TODAY WAS ABOUT EXPENSIVE, YOU KNOW, 1, 2, 3 UNIT BUILDINGS.
AND THAT'S ACTUALLY A CONCERN THAT I VERY MUCH SHARE.
AND I KNOW WE'VE TALKED BEFORE ABOUT ADDING RESTRICTIONS SUCH THAT YOU CAN'T BUILD LIKE, YOU KNOW, A 4,000 SQUARE FOOT SINGLE FAMILY HOME OR DUPLEX.
AND I THINK THAT YOU COULD PAIR THAT WITH REMOVING THE 5,000 SQUARE FOOT THRESHOLD, AND YOU WOULD BE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO GET INCLUSIONARY UNITS AND BUILDINGS WITH THOSE RATHER THAN THOSE SUPER EXPENSIVE, YOU KNOW, LARGER UNITS.
AND I THINK THAT THOSE TWO CAN BE A NATURAL PAIRING.
UM, AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD GO THE OTHER WAY AND TRY TO ADD MORE RESTRICTIONS TO SHRINK DOWN THE SIZE OF BUILDINGS, BUT I JUST ALSO WANNA CAUTION THAT UNLESS YOU'RE GOING TO THE POINT OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, BANNING EVEN A DUPLEX, YOU'RE PROBABLY GOING TO THEN RESULT IN LARGER, YOU KNOW, SINGLE AND TWO FAMILY BUILDINGS TO BE BEING BUILT.
AND SO WE, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THOSE ARE ROUGHLY THE THREE RANGE OF OPTIONS WE HAVE.
UM, I WOULD SAY IN TERMS OF LIKE THE WORK ON HISTORICAL, UH, I DO THINK IT IS QUITE SIGNIFICANT.
I THINK THAT IT'S ALSO A RESULT OF BASICALLY EVERY BUILDING IS HISTORICAL BY DEFAULT THAT'S OLDER THAN 50 YEARS.
AND I THINK THAT'S VERY ABNORMAL FOR OUR CITY OF OUR SIZE.
SO JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
AND I WOULD, UH, FINALLY JUST SAY THAT LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE A HO WHILE SEPARATE IS ALSO LINKED TO BASE ZONING.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE REZONED THE CITY TO SAY THREE STORIES WAS A MAXIMUM, THE A HO WOULD GET DOWN ZONED, RIGHT? BECAUSE IT'S A DENSITY BONUS IN FRONT OF IT.
AND SO JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT THAT, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD REALLY ALSO HAMPER THE A HO IF WE DID LIMIT, UM, THE HEIGHTENS FOR MULTIFAMILY CONSTRUCTION.
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UM, SO THAT'S KIND OF MOST OF THE POINTS THAT I WANTED TO MAKE HERE.UM, AND I WOULD JUST SAY IN FINAL, LIKE, I THINK NEW CONSTRUCTION IS TERRIBLE AND THAT YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH LOUD NOISES, PARKING, YOU KNOW, CLOSING ISSUES.
UM, BUT WE'VE NOT ACTUALLY SEEN ANY OF THESE BUILDINGS ACTUALLY OPEN YET.
AND THAT'S THE FUN PART WHERE YOU GET TO MEET YOUR NEW NEIGHBORS AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY'RE NOT SO BAD PEOPLE AND YOU HAVE NEW FRIENDS AND NEW LIFE AND NEW CUSTOMERS FOR YOUR STORES.
AND SO I DO ALSO WORRY ABOUT MAKING A VERY HASTY DECISION HERE AFTER WE JUST PASSED A PRETTY BIG CHANGE.
COUNCIL 30, JUST VERY BRIEFLY, I, I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF SHORT QUESTIONS, BUT IN MY VIEW THAT THIS, UM, MULTIFAMILY ZONING ORDINANCE DOESN'T RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS A REGIONAL ISSUE.
IT'S NOT A, UH, A LOCAL ISSUE THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH IN CAMBRIDGE.
THE HOUSING SHORTAGE IS A NATIONAL QUESTION.
AND IN MY VIEW, THIS MULTIFAMILY ZONING ORDINANCE, UH, INCENTIVIZES THE DEMOLITION OF ONE, TWO, AND THREE FAMILY HOMES THROUGHOUT THE CITY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF FOUR STORY BUILDINGS WITH ZERO AFFORDABILITY ON ANY SIZE, LOT, ANYWHERE, ANY STREET, ANY BLOCK, ANY NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE CITY.
AND THE IMPACT OF THAT IS CLEARLY, UH, DISPLACING MIDDLE CLASS RESIDENTS.
AND I THINK THE OUTLIER, WHICH IS CONCEPTUALLY IN AN EMAIL TO ALL OF US, IS 95 CUSHING STREET, THAT WAS A SINGLE FAMILY HOME.
UH, AND THE MONSTROSITY THAT IS PROPOSED AND HAS GONE THROUGH A, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD NOTIFICATION MEETING WITH NO INPUT, NO OBJECTIONS, NONE WHATSOEVER IS GROTESQUE.
UH, AND THAT'S A, THAT IS A QUAINT NEIGHBORHOOD.
UH, BUT, UH, SETTING ALL THAT ASIDE FOR THE MOMENT, MY QUESTIONS QUICKLY ON PAGE 44 WHERE IT SAYS CONVERSION OF ACCESSORY STRUCTURES, AND I THINK IT'S, UH, ONLY TWO IN 2025, DOES THAT INCLUDE ADU? IS THAT WHAT THAT SPEAKS TO, OR DOES IT, OR ARE ADUS EVEN TRACKED HERE? UH, YEAH, THROUGH THE CHAIR, YES.
I, I BELIEVE BOTH OF THOSE WERE CASES OF GARAGES THAT HAD BEEN CONVERTED TO DETACHED, WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL A DETACHED ACCESSORY UNIT.
THE ACCESSORY UNIT THING IS A LITTLE TRICKY.
WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT A FEW TIMES, LIKE IN OUR ZONING, THERE'S REALLY NO DISTINCTION.
LIKE ANY UNIT IS A UNIT AND IN THE BUILDING CODE, ANY UNIT IS A UNIT.
BUT IF SOMEONE OWNS IT AND IS USING AS AN ACCESSORY, IT COULD, YOU KNOW, COULD COUNT AS AN ACCESSORY UNIT.
SO DOES THAT REALLY MEAN THERE, THERE WAS ONLY TWO IN 2025 IN CAMBRIDGE? UH, ONLY TWO PERMITTED.
AND THEN ON PAGE 56, WHERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GFA, IS THERE ANY METRIC WHERE WE TRACK WHETHER THE BUILDING PERMITS OR THE PROPOSALS INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF BEDROOMS, UH, PER UNIT? BECAUSE WE CALL THIS THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING ORDINANCE, BUT IN MY VIEW, UH, AND WHAT I'VE SEEN AND SPEAKING WITH PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS, UH, THAT ARE IMPACTED BY THE PROPOSALS, THEY'RE NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY, UH, PROPOSALS.
THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, AT AT MOST TWO BEDROOM UNITS FROM WHAT I'M SEEING.
BUT DO WE TRACK THAT METRIC? UM, THROUGH THE CHAIR, WE, WE STARTED TO LOOK AT THAT.
WE REALIZED WE, THAT THAT DATA WAS NOT AS COMPLETE AS WE'D LIKE IT TO BE.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE STILL STILL WORKING ON.
I THINK, AGAIN, THIS LIKE GROSSER AP UNIT GIVES YOU KIND OF A PROXY OF THE SIZE OF UNITS AND, YOU KNOW, THE LARGER UNIT, AS YOU SEE, THERE'S A PRETTY WIDE RANGE.
SO I THINK THERE'S SOME UNITS THAT ARE BIGGER THAT ARE GONNA HAVE MORE BEDROOMS, SOME UNITS THAT ARE SMALLER, FEWER BEDROOMS. BUT WE CAN, WE, WE CAN KEEP WORKING ON TRYING TO GET THAT BEDROOM COUNT.
AND, AND OBVIOUSLY, UM, AND, AND I'LL YIELD AFTER THIS COMMENT, BUT I THINK IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IMPROVEMENTS TO THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING ORDINANCE, WHICH WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT IMPROVEMENTS, UM, I THINK WE'VE GOTTA FIGURE OUT AS MR, I THINK HIS NAME IS MI, MR. GORDON MOORE HAD MENTIONED, WHAT'S OUR METRIC FOR IDENTIFYING MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES? WHAT'S OUR NEED? HOW DO WE SUPPORT THAT? WHAT TYPE OF HOUSING IS REQUIRED IN CAMBRIDGE FOR THAT? BECAUSE IF NOT, AND I THINK WE'RE FURTHER DOWN THE PATH AND MAYBE ANYONE IN THE CITY REALLY RECOGNIZES TO BECOMING A CITY OF, UH, VERY WEALTHY AND IMPOVERISHED RESIDENTS WITH ZERO MIDDLE CLASS.
THANK YOU TO CITY STAFF AND COUNSELORS AND RESIDENTS FOR PARTICIPATING IN TODAY'S MEETING.
UH, AS A REMINDER, WE'LL CONTINUE THIS ON APRIL 7TH, UH, WHERE WE'LL HAVE SOME OUTSIDE SPEAKERS.
IN ADDITION TO, UM, CITY STAFF.
WE WILL BE THERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
UH, COUNCILLOR
UM, WITH THAT, UH, WE'LL DO A VOTE TO CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT, FOLLOWED BY A MOTION TO RECESS.
UM, MADAM CLERK ON THE, THE MOTION TO CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT.
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COUNCILOR ZUBE? YES.ON THE MOTION TO RECESS, COUNCILOR ZUBY? YES.