Cambridge ordinance committee hears petition to limit paved paths in open-space parks

Petitioners asked the Cambridge City Council’s Ordinance Committee on a zoning petition that would limit the width and growth of paved ways in the city’s open-space districts, saying the change is needed to protect mature trees and reduce heat in parks.

The petition, filed by Martin Bacall et al., would amend the Cambridge zoning ordinance (sections 4.3 and 4.4) to treat paved ways greater than 10 feet wide as prohibited principal uses in open-space districts and would limit increases in paved ways within a contiguous open-space area to no more than 2 percent of that area within any two-year period. The petitioners also proposed clarifying footnotes around permitted paving materials and site-specific restrictions.

Proponents said the measure is aimed at preserving existing canopy and reducing incentives to over-pave parks. “People should be able to use a park for whatever it’s meant to be used for,” petitioner Martin Bacall said in the committee meeting, and later summarized: “Wider is not faster and faster is not safer.” Petitioners cited the city’s Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP), examples of tree loss during the 2016 and 2022 droughts, and a study they cited that reported an 18 percent loss in canopy between 2009 and 2018 to make the case for protecting park soils and root zones.

Jeb Mays, a resident of Harvey Street in North Cambridge, told the committee during public comment that neighborhoods…