These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City Calendar and in the city’s Open Meetings Portal.
A just-in-case budget session
Finance Committee, 9 a.m. Thursday. This committee run by city councillors Patty Nolan and Joan Pickett has socked away this hearing time in case there’s more to dig into on the proposed $955.6 million city budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which starts July 1 – but in recent years the previously scheduled meetings were enough. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Alternative crisis response
Mass Senior Action Council, 11:30 a.m. Monday. Seniors are invited to come learn about the alternative police response programs being put in place in Cambridge and Somerville. The council meets at the Citywide Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge.
Central Square Lots Study
Neighborhood & Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee, noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday. This committee run by city councillors Joan Pickett and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler looks at the Central Square Lots Study, the result of an inventory of city-owned property that showed so much of it in and around Central Square – a baker’s dozen of unused, overused and empty lots and buildings – that it got study of its own. Five of the sites are parking lots where councillors have called repeatedly for affordable housing to be built. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
City-funded housing vouchers
Ordinance Committee, 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday. This committee run by vice mayor Marc McGovern and city councillor Paul Toner talks through the Griffin petition (named after first signer Khalida Griffin-Sheperd), which calls for the city’s Affordable Housing Trust to, among other things: directly fund vouchers that fill the gap between their income and rent demands; expand its board to 13 from nine by having more members who have experienced their own housing instability or live in affordable housing; and pay each board member a stipend. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
One multifamily home notion …
Planning Board, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The board focuses on the Ronayne petition (named after first signer Joseph Ronayne), one of the ongoing efforts to allow multifamily residential uses citywide, ending restrictions in so-called Residential A and B areas where development is limited to single-family homes. The agenda also has special-permit extension requests for the projects at 544-550 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, for 27 homes, community meeting space and retail space such as Teddy’s Shoes; 88 Holworthy St., Strawberry Hill, with its run-down house we wrote about here; and 711-727 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, the Gas Light Building once eyed for a boutique hotel addition. In January, city staff said it had reached out to the building’s brokers to explore a purchase. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Updating ‘family’ for city law
Ordinance Committee, 10 a.m. Wednesday. This committee run by vice mayor Marc McGovern and city councillor Paul Toner will pin down details on updating the legal definition of “family” to catch up with 2024 lifestyles, and delineating differences between terms for where people live or visit – hotels and motels, lodging houses and so on. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
… and another multifamily idea
Housing Committee, 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillors Burhan Azeem and Sumbul Siddiqui returns to its May 8 discussion on allowing multifamily housing of up to six stories in all neighborhoods of the city by right. In Monday’s council meeting, this session was described as being solely for public comment. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
The city and ‘Neville Manor’
Health & Environment Committee, 3 to 5 p.m. May 23. This committee run by city councillor Patty Nolan wants to discuss Cambridge’s partnership with “Neville Manor” – the former city-owned senior home that is now Neville Place assisted living and Neville Center nursing. Both facilities are near Fresh Pond and still have ties to city government, though they are operated by private management companies. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
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The white and turquoise residential building (that would look good in Miami) is a good scale tucked away. But when it first opened, a two-bedroom unit was $6,600 a month!! I would like to know occupancy as well as Mass and Main, before we cram more building everywhere as of right. This will possibly be the result of these other new proposals, where units will be expensive, raise the land prices– and it still won’t help the financially challenged.
The empty central sq lot study was really interesting and showed possibilities, but it also took into account context. Will the newly proposed 6-stories consider the small side streets and neighborhoods they are shooting for or ignore citizens and property owners who have lived there for generations?
The Cambridge apartment vacancy rate is basically zero. https://bostonpads.com/boston-rental-market/2023-cambridge-apartment-rental-market-report/
How long do you have to live in a neighborhood before you get a permanent veto of all new homes and apartments? I’ve only been here 20 years, but my children are lifelong residents. Will their children be eligible for veto power, or do we have to wait another generation beyond that?