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City Council adopts amended order to end exclusionary zoning, asks CDD for further modeling
Summary
After extensive debate and amendments, the council adopted a policy order on Sept. 16 requesting Community Development Department analysis of alternative height and inclusionary scenarios; the final motion passed unanimously in the meeting.
The Cambridge City Council voted on Sept. 16 to adopt an amended policy order directing the Community Development Department (CDD) to provide additional analyses as the city moves toward citywide multifamily zoning. The motion — advanced through a sequence of amendments by Councilors Toner and Wilson and supported by multiple council members — asks CDD to model outcomes for alternative height scenarios (including 4–6 stories citywide, higher heights on main corridors and taller buildings in squares) and to project 2030 and 2040 market-rate and inclusionary unit yields under those scenarios.
Councilor Diana Toner, who introduced the amendment, said the request is aimed at producing clearer projections: "We want CDD to provide information about how much housing we could possibly produce if we had 9 to 10 stories on our main 0.25 and squares," Toner said. Vice Mayor McGovern and other councilors emphasized modeling to understand where construction — and potential teardowns — would likely occur and to evaluate displacement risk.
Councilor Nolan and others said the analysis should include effects of changing inclusionary zoning thresholds and whether lowering the 20% requirement for smaller projects would materially increase production. Assistant City Manager Farooq and City Manager staff told the council that while staff had prepared analyses focused on residential districts, additional work would be needed to include corridors and squares and that more complex modeling would take extra time.
After discussion and roll calls on several amendments, the council adopted the amended policy order; the clerk recorded eight votes in the affirmative and the chair announced the matter had been adopted. The directive does not itself change the zoning code; it instructs CDD to return with detailed, transparent modeling to inform subsequent ordinance drafting.
