A proposal for multifamily-building zoning, which could allow apartments of up to six stories in all residential areas of Cambridge, has been delayed until Monday due to concerns that sending the petition as written would prevent changes from being incorporated.
In response to a City Council vote Sept. 16, zoning language was drafted by the Community Development Department. The City Council’s next step is to forward the zoning petition, which it received Monday, to the Ordinance Committee and the Planning Board, which in turn will schedule public hearings on the petition.
At Monday’s meeting, councillor Patty Nolan exercised her “charter right” to postpone discussion and voting on this next step by one regular meeting.
The action came from a concern that “if the language goes to Ordinance, we won’t be able to make certain amendments like those that were brought up last week,” vice mayor Marc McGovern said. At the Sept. 16 meeting there were amendments and alternate language offered by councillors Ayesha Wilson, Paul Toner and Nolan.
City solicitor Megan Bayer confirmed that, in general, once the public hearings are scheduled, the “fundamental character of a petition” can no longer be changed. She could not specify whether this applied to the amendments introduced the previous week.
The zoning petition as written would allow multifamily buildings up to six stories high across all residential areas, along with dimensional changes to allow for more density and reductions of development barriers such as special permit requirements.
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