Ordinance committee backs limiting AHO height increases in Residence C1 districts

The Cambridge City Ordinance Committee voted, 7–0 with two members absent, to recommend a city-council zoning petition that narrows where the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) may grant extra building height in Residence C1 districts. The committee’s vote instructs city staff to transmit the petition to the full City Council with a favorable recommendation.

The petition, drafted by the Community Development Department (CDD), would add a fourth condition to Article 11, Section 11.207(e) of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance, so that AHO projects in Residence C1 districts would not be eligible for the AHO'open-space height bonus unless the parcel also lies on a designated AHO corridor lot or within an AHO square. In practice that change caps non-corridor Residence C1 AHO projects at 9 stories; the measure does not change height allowances that already apply on AHO corridors and squares.

City staff said the amendment responds to concerns raised after recent zoning changes. "If the AHO project preserves existing open space, it may exceed the height limit by at most 3 stories," Evan Spetrini, senior manager for zoning and development, explained in a staff presentation that recapped changes made to the AHO in 2023 and the multifamily zoning amendments earlier in 2025. Jeff Roberts, director of zoning and development in CDD, said the 5% preserved-open-space threshold is intended to require a meaningful portion of a site'not a token area'be kept intact and that projects must still meet the minimum open-space requirement. "It's sort of encouraging the footprint to shrink a little bit and then the building can go a little bit taller," Roberts said, describing the policy logic behind the incentive.

Why it matters: the AHO'open-space provision, added in 2023, lets developers add up to three stories (and 35 feet) beyond base limits on some lots if they preserve at least 5 percent of the lot as contiguous green area and do not increase total gross floor area (GFA). Subsequent multifamily zoning changes in 2025 raised many base-height limits across the city; that change, combined with the AHO rules, in some cases allowed buildings of nine stories or more in areas that previously had lower limits. The committee's amendment seeks to limit that extra open-space bonus in typical Residence C1 areas while leaving corridor and square allowances intact.

Public comment split on whether the change matched earlier council commitments. Marilee Meyer, a resident of 10 Dana Street, told the committee the corridor caveat "was added after the vote, and I feel that that was, that's misleading to the public." Heather Hoffman of 213 Hurley Street agreed: "I listened to hours and hours of hearings, and what I heard was a very solemn promise from the city council that there would be a limit on heights in the new C1 District," she said.

Staff and several councilors urged that the amendment is a targeted correction rather than a broad repeal. Roberts and Spetrini reviewed how AHO heights are determined by a combination of base zoning tiers and the AHO corridors/squares system. CDD listed the designated AHO corridors in the presentation, including Albany Street, Alewife Brook Parkway, Bishop Allen Drive, Broadway, Cambridge Street, Concord Avenue, First Street, Fresh Pond Parkway, Massachusetts Avenue, Memorial Drive, Mount Auburn Street, Prospect Street and Sidney Street. The petition leaves height rules for those corridor and square areas unchanged.

Committee action: Councillor Azim moved to accept the CDD-drafted amendments and report a favorable recommendation to the City Council. The motion passed on roll call, 7 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstaining; Councilor Siddiqui and Mayor Simmons were recorded as absent. The recorded affirmative votes were: Councillor Azim; Vice Mayor McGovern; Councillor Nolan; Councillor Sabrina Wheeler; Councillor Toner; Councillor Wilson; and Councillor Zuzi. The committee then adjourned.

Next steps: The ordinance committee will transmit the petition and its favorable recommendation to the full Cambridge City Council for further consideration and any additional amendments. The change as approved by the committee would cap non-corridor Residence C1 AHO projects at nine stories while preserving corridor and square allowances and the AHO'open-space mechanism for those designated areas.

(Reporting based on the Cambridge City Ordinance Committee public hearing and staff presentation; public comments and staff explanations are recorded in the committee transcript.)