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.
BB&N school appeals nonuse
Board of Zoning Appeal, 6 to 11:30 p.m. Thursday. The Buckingham Browne & Nichols private school argues that a variance granted in July 2020 authorizing it to use its 1.2-acre plot at 30 Gerry’s Landing, West Cambridge, for educational uses, isn’t lapsed: The land has been used by the school for classes, meetings and storage as imposed on it by the Covid pandemic. If that can be settled, the school hopes to go on to use the land for day care, preschool, kindergarten, primary or secondary school uses and even some parking, as needed. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Considering use of police drone
Public Safety Committee, 2 to 4 p.m. Monday. This committee run by city councillors Paul Toner and Ayesha Wilson picks up a conversation referred from a Feb. 3 council meeting (and delayed from a Feb. 20 meeting that was canceled): whether police should get a drone with high-resolution infrared cameras that can be equipped with a speaker “to give verbal commands.” Potential uses given by police are documenting traffic accident scenes, checking out suspicious packages, searching for missing and lost people and getting aerial photographs and videos of crime scenes to help reconstruct events and gather evidence. Many residents and councillors seemed creeped out by the idea of the devices, especially since their $1,000 to $15,000 cost will likely be paid for by a federal grant. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online.
Zoning in squares and corridors
Housing Committee and Neighborhood & Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. These committees run by city councillors Burhan Azeem and Sumbul Siddiqui and councillors Catherine Zusy and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, respectively, talk about zoning priorities for the city’s major squares and traffic corridors. The committees meet at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Project in East Cambridge
BioMed Realty community meeting, 6 p.m. Tuesday. The life-sciences developer active in Kendall Square and Somerville’s Assembly Square explores the possibility of redeveloping 320 Charles St., East Cambridge, described as a two-story lab of 99,513 square feet bought by BioMed in 2013 and since leased to the Broad Institute as a processing facility. Plans for the site – which began as an Anheuser-Busch Co. bottling plant in the 1950s – will be discussed at 301 Binney St., Kendall Square at a meeting also watchable by Zoom videoconferencing (Meeting ID 854 7942 4530; passcode 639970).
Information for immigrants
“Know Your Rights” workshop, 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Immigration attorneys present in English and with Spanish interpretation at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. The same event is streamed with Haitian Creole interpretation at the library’s Central Square Branch at 45 Pearl St. (interpretation in other languages may be available with a request in advance).
Supporting the arts and artists
Neighborhood & Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillors Catherine Zusy and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler get an update on the state of the arts in Cambridge and talk about how the city supports artists and art organizations through grant programs and funding, with a focus on the state-designated Central Square cultural district. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Charter changes examined
Election Commission, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Commissioners look at changes to the city’s governing document – getting an update after more than 80 years – and discuss a timeline for how it will show up on the November ballot for consideration by voters. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
A stronger
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I suppose it’s moot because the BZA ruled in favor of BB&N, but I am unhappy that they didn’t even acknowledge my testimony that the City of Cambridge is covered by the Dover Amendment again because of the massive upzoning earlier this month. Our hard-won exemption applies only in residential districts with a minimum lot area/dwelling unit of 1200 s.f., which is now none of them. The City Council knew this and obviously didn’t care.
Chapter 40A, sec. 3, says in relevant part, “No zoning ordinance . . . shall . . . prohibit, regulate or restrict the use of land or structures for religious purposes or for educational purposes on land owned or leased by . . . a nonprofit educational corporation; provided, however, that such land or structures may be subject to reasonable regulations concerning the bulk and height of structures and determining yard sizes, lot area, setbacks, open space, parking and building coverage requirements.” Goodbye, Institutional Use Regulations.