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Cambridge committees weigh zoning stepbacks to protect rooftop solar, agree to continue study
Summary
After a staff presentation and extensive public comment, Cambridge City committee members agreed to keep studying zoning options — including north-side stepbacks on upper stories — to reduce shading of existing rooftop solar while gathering more site-specific data and homeowner outreach before any amendment.
Cambridge City staff and councilors spent more than an hour on Sept. 16 examining whether zoning changes could protect existing rooftop solar from shading by new multifamily buildings, ultimately agreeing to continue study and outreach rather than immediately pursue a citywide amendment.
The joint Housing and Health & Environment Committee heard a presentation from Jeff Roberts, director of Zoning and Development, who said the city’s modeling showed the largest solar impacts occur when very tall buildings (modeled at 74 feet) are sited close to lower buildings. Roberts told the committee that a targeted dimensional approach — for example adding an extra 5-foot north-side stepback on a building’s fifth story and another on a sixth story — could reduce top-floor area in extreme examples by 9 to 19 percent and total building floor area by about 3 to 6 percent.
“Those setbacks would provide protection in cases where there would be a significant impact,” Roberts said, while…
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