City Councilors Propose Zoning Changes to Allow 6-Story Multifamilies Across Cambridge

At a recent meeting of the Cambridge City Council’s housing committee, City Council Members Burhan Azeem and Sumbul Siddiqui proposed allowing six-story apartment buildings to be constructed by right across the city. The proposal responds to calls for changes in zoning language to more effectively promote multi-family housing, including income-restricted affordable housing. The current zoning in Cambridge makes multifamily development challenging and most of the housing stock is currently non-conforming. According to a presentation from the City of Cambridge Community Development Department, there are 150+ general requirements in the Zoning Ordinance that affect housing. The new guidelines proposed hope to make multifamily housing more conforming and easier to build. The proposal would allow for…

- Duplex, triple deckers, and larger apartment buildings up to 6 stories citywide
- With current 20% inclusionary program 
- Simplified dimensional requirements similar to the Affordable Housing Overlay
- Without discretionary review
- Percentage based density bonus for the AHO 

The Housing Committee voted unanimously to draft language for the proposal which now needs to go through several public hearings and Housing Committee & City Council votes. Opponents, including the Cambridge Citizens Coalition, have already expressed concerns and given the ambitious nature of the proposal, which would make Cambridge the first city in MA to end single-family zoning, the debate is just beginning.