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Ordinance committee reviews Cambridge Street zoning petition that raises corridor heights to encourage active ground floors
Summary
City staff presented a Cambridge Street zoning petition that would establish four Cambridge Street districts (Cam 8/10/12/15), keep a six-story street wall baseline and allow taller set-back heights where projects provide active ground-floor uses. The Planning Board recommended approval; the committee recessed without voting.
City planning staff presented a zoning petition for Cambridge Street that would establish four new base districts and provide a framework to increase residential capacity along the corridor while applying the same design and active-ground-floor incentives used for Massachusetts Avenue.
Daniel Mesplay, director of community planning and design, said the Cambridge Street study follows Envision Cambridge guidance to concentrate growth in corridors and squares. "Envision recommends doing more specific area planning for squares and corridors and developing specific zoning recommendations for those areas," Mesplay said, noting the plan is a long-range vision informed by rounds of public engagement.
What the petition would change
- Districts and heights: The petition creates Cam 8 (primary corridor), Cam 10 (Inman Square), Cam 12 (Webster/Windsor) and Cam 15 (Lechmere). Baseline residential height along Cambridge Street would remain 6 stories in many places; projects providing active ground-floor uses could build to 8 stories in Cam 8, up to 10 in Cam 10, 12 in Cam 12 and 15 in Cam 15, with additional step-ups farther from the main street.
- Setbacks and street wall: Front-yard setbacks along Cambridge Street would be 4 feet (larger than Mass Ave's 3 feet) to achieve desired sidewalk widths; upper-story setbacks would begin above six stories to maintain a roughly 1:1 street-wall-to-roadway ratio on the narrower corridor.
- Design and floor-plate limits: The Cambridge Street petition retains the same design standards as the Mass Ave petition (ground-story heights, glazing percentages, massing recesses) and floor-plate caps above 8 stories to encourage slender towers where tall buildings are allowed.
- PUD and special areas: Like Mass Ave, Cambridge Street uses PUDs and area-specific rules for concentrated redevelopment. Staff noted the Cambridge Street map changes are simpler than Mass Ave but include targeted areas (Inman, Lechmere) for stepped-up heights.
Public comment and business concerns
Public comment on Cambridge Street ranged from residents requesting neighborhood protections for inner streets to business groups seeking clearer commercial protections. Jason Alves, executive director of the East Cambridge Business Association, urged more protections for the corridor’s commercial character and asked the council to require ground-floor commercial uses at six stories: "This is a commercial corridor, and I just think that we should be making sure that the commercial pieces of this zoning petition work and that the housing comes after," Alves said.
Supporters highlighted corridor housing's climate and transit benefits and said more residents near transit could provide customers for local shops. Several speakers asked for clearer guidance and stronger transitions where tall parcels abut low-rise neighborhoods and urged staff to tighten rules on parcel aggregation.
What happens next
The Planning Board forwarded a unanimous positive recommendation with suggested edits; the ordinance committee did not take action on the petitions tonight and recessed the hearing. Staff will provide revised text for committee consideration on Nov. 13, when the committee will hold council discussion and questions only.
