ADVANCING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY (AHA) ZONING PETITION
As investors are buying up Cambridge homes, property values are skyrocketing, appropriating long standing rental units for luxury condos and single family homes. New permits for constructing new housing and commercial (labs notably) continue a piece as the number of Cambridge residents soars alongside current and estimated new investment returns. The pressure to act now is sizable from all sides not only to modify single family zoning requirements in A-1 and A-2 districts to add more housing, but also to preserve current sustainable housing, along with green spaces and shade trees at the same time as adding more housing affordability possibilities for renters and owners alike. The time to act is now but also to bring in the City's largest employers to help come up with an area-wide solution to meet our growing housing, transportation, parking and infrastructure needs. The AHA zoning petition is the result of many months of work by a citywide coalition of neighborhood leaders, experts and others.
UPDATE: Meeting Results of the November 16, 2021 City Council Ordinance Committee and Planning Board Meetings: The City Council Ordinance Committee decided to keep the AHA “in Committee” so that further work can be done on it. And they asked CDD to work with the Planning Board to come up with guidelines for new Single- and Two-Family District zoning language. The Planning Board, aware of the Council’s decision, gave a unfavorable vote to the AHA “as written” with the idea that the AHA proposals would be taken up by CDD and the Planning Board at a future meeting. At the same time, the Planning Board lauded the goals of the AHA petition and Hugh Russell noted that Part III of the AHA petition sought to address the root of our housing problem. This latter issue will be key if we are to have any sustainable plan going forward to address this.
One of the things we are asking for is that housing be added to the Parking, Transportation, Demand Management Ordinance where key decisions for commercial and institutional employers are made. With CDD now requiring that sometimes 20% of new commercial employees live in Cambridge, but not requiring that these groups address city and area housing needs has exacerbated the problem and made it untenable, particularly since what was supposed to be a new City Plan (Envision) has yet to be used to create a city wide housing plan, so we end up with more and more long term residents being displaced, and both rental and home ownership prices sky-rocketing. The AHA Powerpoint for the November 16 meetings can be found at the link below.
UPDATE: Meeting Results of the November 16, 2021 City Council Ordinance Committee and Planning Board Meetings: The City Council Ordinance Committee decided to keep the AHA “in Committee” so that further work can be done on it. And they asked CDD to work with the Planning Board to come up with guidelines for new Single- and Two-Family District zoning language. The Planning Board, aware of the Council’s decision, gave a unfavorable vote to the AHA “as written” with the idea that the AHA proposals would be taken up by CDD and the Planning Board at a future meeting. At the same time, the Planning Board lauded the goals of the AHA petition and Hugh Russell noted that Part III of the AHA petition sought to address the root of our housing problem. This latter issue will be key if we are to have any sustainable plan going forward to address this.
One of the things we are asking for is that housing be added to the Parking, Transportation, Demand Management Ordinance where key decisions for commercial and institutional employers are made. With CDD now requiring that sometimes 20% of new commercial employees live in Cambridge, but not requiring that these groups address city and area housing needs has exacerbated the problem and made it untenable, particularly since what was supposed to be a new City Plan (Envision) has yet to be used to create a city wide housing plan, so we end up with more and more long term residents being displaced, and both rental and home ownership prices sky-rocketing. The AHA Powerpoint for the November 16 meetings can be found at the link below.
Three-Part Proposal (pieces of a larger whole)
•Modify single-and-two family zoning - better use of our housing stock to deal with demand
•Require rain permeable materials for residential outdoor parking to better address climate change
•An area wide plan for large employers - better use of our institutions and large employers to help with this
•Modify single-and-two family zoning - better use of our housing stock to deal with demand
•Require rain permeable materials for residential outdoor parking to better address climate change
•An area wide plan for large employers - better use of our institutions and large employers to help with this
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OVERVIEW OF THE AHA ZONING PETITION
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This AHA Petition offers an important avenue to change both the short term and long-term impacts of our growth. And, it helps maintain many of the City features that our residents we love and hope to preserve in an era of climate change, large scale out of town property investments, large scale commercial development. We believe these zoning changes will not only provide an avenue for more affordable housing in Cambridge but also area solutions to the problems we are facing, _________________________________________________________ OVERVIEW OF THE AHA ZONING PETITION - ---long-- What this Zoning Petition Seeks to Do With this petition, we are seeking to do several things to advance housing affordability in Cambridge.
Why these Zoning Changes are Needed Cambridge, founded in 1630, is a unique historic city and decades of growth and more recent explosive commercial development have made it one of the densest cities per square mile in the United States. Cambridge’s diverse neighborhoods include a broad array of architecturally beautiful and historic housing which most residents feel is essential to preserve. Cambridge's diverse neighborhoods strike a unique and delicate balance between architectural density and green space that is the envy of many other cities. Climate Change makes it imperative to preserve mature trees, green spaces, and open spaces between buildings, but we also need to provide still more housing than we are currently providing in the City and the area. The significant addition of new employees arriving here for the infotech and biotech industry, many of whom make far higher salaries than long term residents is forcing out the latter as gentrification accelerates. The Cambridge Envision Report Housing Goals explicitly seek to promote: Affordable Housing; Housing Diversity; Livable Communities; Housing Stability; Market Affordability; Opportunity Neighborhoods (near transportation, services, and employment); and green spaces. For purposes of equity, it is time to modify zoning for exclusively single-family housing throughout the city, and to do so in a way that will not exacerbate housing costs by substantially increasing property values, destroying the rich array of sustainable historic housing, or adding to environmental problems by tearing down existing stock for larger more expensive housing. It is also time to require our large employers and institutions to work with the City residents and officials, individually and together, to create areawide housing, transportation, parking, and infrastructure plans that will help address the critical concerns the City is now facing. Cambridge is a wealthy city with a progressive citizenry committed to both maintaining its historic diversity and adding more affordable housing. Cambridge is one of the only cities in Massachusetts currently meeting state affordable housing standards, but the local and area waiting list for our affordable housing is extremely long. Sadly, the cost of creating each new unit of tax-funded affordable housing is very high ($908,914.93 per unit recently in Jefferson Park). Yet Cambridge has a large existing housing supply of smaller units within our existing housing infrastructure, both in compliance with and not in compliance with applicable zoning and building codes. We also know from the recent U.S. Census data that the total number of residential units of housing in Cambridge is up 14.0% or 6,616 units between 2010 and 2020. The total number of occupied units increased 12.6% in the same decade, while the number of vacant units rose a staggering 33.3% during this period. How many people would those 1,084 units house? If all the units went for affordable housing, they would increase affordable housing by 13.8%. That's a big increase. And the number of residents who benefit could easily exceed 2,000 people. Much of this may be due to properties being bought as investments, some 30% likely with foreign money. In 2010 the vacancy rate would be high because the country was barely emerging from the 2008 Recession. As the country recovered the rate should have fallen. Our vacancy rate grew. Why? Many units were purchased by investors, not residents. The investors care less about income City residents provide than about capital gains, bringing even more empty units. We need to address root causes - the number of city vacancies and national or international LLC investments that lack any viable transparency. Meanwhile, we also need to look holistically at the housing situation and what we can do now. Many single-family and multi-family homes can be adapted to create a new supply of residential units such as studios, one-bedrooms, and smaller two-bedroom units, as well as single-room-occupancy communities and cooperatives with shared living spaces. These all will enable individuals and households seeking lower rents to move in, increasing the supply of existing various unit sizes and thereby helping reduce average rents citywide. As noted by the Cambridge Community Foundation “14.84% of our current housing is income-restricted affordable housing units accessible to families earning below $78,480 for a family of four (80% of Cambridge‘s area median income of $98,100)….This means we are losing school teachers, firefighters, artists, police, nurses, nonprofit staff, small business owners, senior citizens, and increasingly, the long-standing African American families, who have been anchors in our community for generations.” One key concern is the paucity of homes for families more generally. Our hope is that by providing a bonus for affordable housing in existing single-family homes we will be able to ameliorate this situation. In addition, by asking our large employers (and the City) to step up, we hope that they will provide plans to pay the down payments for homes in the broader area for their low-and middle-income employees thus helping Cambridge employees build equity where they are living. The stated purpose of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance (Section 1.30) is as follows: to lessen congestion in the streets, conserve health, secure safety from fire, flood, panic, and other danger, provide adequate light and air, prevent overcrowding of land, avoid undue concentration of population, and encourage housing for persons of all income levels. It is also intended to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water supply, drainage, sewerage, schools, parks, open space, and other public requirements, while also helping to conserve the value of land and buildings, including the conservation of natural resources and the prevention of blight and pollution of the environment. In addition, our zoning is intended to encourage the most rational use of land throughout the city, including the encouragement of appropriate economic development, the protection of residential neighborhoods from incompatible activities, and consideration of plans and policies adopted by the Cambridge Planning Board, as well as to provide the means to preserve and increase the amenities of the city. The AHA petition addresses and complements many of these purposes. A note on process: This petition is a modification of the 2020 Donovan petition that the filers withdrew due to timing issues. Over the Spring and Summer of 2021, a group of citywide residents (professionals and others), including some of the original Donovan petition drafters, met to discuss a possible new plan and what it would entail. Because our intent here is smart policy not politics, we invited individuals from some of the main Citywide political groups who have been interested in housing issues to join the discussion, we also invited two City Councillors from different camps and several individuals from the volunteer judiciary Boards to join us. During the initial Spring and Early summer meeting we were joined by a local zoning attorney and developer who in the past had met with neighborhood groups and others in helping to draft zoning petitions. Seeking to create a document that is as simple and clear cut as possible, we left out policy proposals that lie outside of zoning and focused this petition on issues that we consider doable and important to do now. The Advancing Housing Affordability Petition offers an important avenue to change both the short term and long-term impacts of our growth. It also helps maintain the many features of this city that we love and must preserve in an era in which climate change and other factors weigh heavily. We believe that these zoning changes will not only provide an avenue for more affordable housing in Cambridge but also area wide solutions to the problems we are facing. |
LANGUAGE OF THE AHA ZONING PETITION
WHEREAS: Cambridge is a unique historic city, founded in 1630, and decades of growth and more recent explosive commercial development have made Cambridge one of the densest cities per square mile in the U.S., -Cambridge’s diverse neighborhoods include a broad array of architecturally beautiful and historic housing which most residents feel is essential to preserve, -Cambridge's diverse neighborhoods strike a unique and delicate balance between architectural density and green space that is the envy of many other cities, -Climate Change makes it imperative to preserve mature trees, green spaces, and open spaces between buildings, and WHEREAS: Cambridge is facing unique and massive development pressures (including $4.6 billion life science investment) (Boston Globe 5.26.21). WHEREAS: Cambridge is a wealthy city with a progressive citizenry committed to maintaining its historic diversity, but the cost of creating each new unit of tax-funded affordable housing is extremely high, and Cambridge is one of the only cities in Massachusetts currently meeting state standards for affordable housing, but the local and area waiting list for our affordable housing is extremely long, and anyone in the U.S. is eligible to apply, so very few people will live in the new affordable units and the vast majority of our residents in need of lower-rent housing will not be helped, and WHEREAS: Cambridge already has a large existing housing supply of smaller units within our existing housing infrastructure both in compliance with and not in compliance with all applicable zoning and building codes, and WHEREAS: Many single-family and multi-family homes can be adapted to create a new supply of residential units such as studios, one-bedrooms, and smaller two-bedroom units, as well as single-room-occupancy communities and cooperatives with shared living spaces, all of which, will enable individuals and households seeking lower rents to move in, increasing the supply of various unit sizes, thereby helping reduce average rents citywide, and WHEREAS: for purposes of equity it is time to end zoning for exclusively single family housing throughout the city, and do so in a way that will not exacerbate housing costs by substantially increasing property values, or destroying the rich array of sustainable historic housing, or adding to environmental problems by tearing down and building new larger more expensive housing, and WHEREAS: the Cambridge Envision Report Housing Goals explicitly promote: 1) Affordable Housing; 2) Housing Diversity; 3) Livable Communities; 4) Housing Stability; 5) Market Affordability; and 6) Opportunity Neighborhoods (near transportation, services, and employment); 7) retaining and increasing green spaces, and. WHEREAS: City housing needs will vary over time; while the housing concerns now are REAL and severe, over the next 10-15 years a massive decline in housing needs due to demographic and other factors is expected according to a recent Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies Report. COVID may also bring more changes. THEREFORE: We, the undersigned ten or more Cambridge residents and registered voters, hereby petition the City Council to integrate all zoning amendments specified of this petition as new zoning law and implementing its other recommendations as Policy Orders to the City Manager in order to: ENACT The Following NEW ZONING AMENDMENTS to Increase Housing, Enhance Housing Affordability, Promote Equity, Accountability and Environmental Sustainability Modify Cambridge Zoning Ordinance Section 4.31 as follows: 4.31 Current language: Detached dwelling occupied by not more than one family [Res A-1&2, Res B, Res C, C-1, C-1A, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B] YES. Insert New Footnote. Provided that the street-facing exterior design of the structure is not changed, and minimal changes are made on the sides, a maximum of three dwelling units may occupy a single structure in what is currently a single family home; four dwelling units may ocuppy a current two-family home.
5.16 [General Regulations section to apply to all districts]. Insert New Footnotes:
6.22 [off street parking regulations]. Current language: All accessory off street parking facilities shall be located in accordance with the provisions of subsections 6.22.1, 6.22.2 and 6.22.3. New Footnote: All new residential parking provided in accordance with this Article not located within a structure shall be of permeable construction to absorb rainwater and minimize runoff. Rationale: To facilitate water drainage in this period of global warming and climate change. 6.45 [Parking] Drainage, Surfacing, and Maintenance. [Current language]: All sections of off street parking facilities which are not landscaped according to the requirements of Subsection 6.48 shall be graded, surfaced (preferably with durable pervious paving materials such as modular paving blocks, bricks or similar materials), and maintained…. New Footnote: All new residential parking provided in accordance with this Article shall be surfaced with pervious paving materials that absorb rain water and minimize runoff and maintained…. Rationale: To facilitate water drainage in this period of global warming and climate change. 20.2000 Citywide Commercial, Institutional, and Public Property Overlay District Rationale: The 20.2000 ordinance will require all employers of more than 100 persons to provide area plans and annual reports for housing, transportation, parking, and infrastructure for 85% of its full-time employees, students, and affiliates by the year 2040. These plans will be reviewed and approved by CDD staff, irrespective of when affiliated properties have been or will be constructed or renovated. A continuing enforcement mechanism for compliance including approval of future building plans and/or other mechanisms including fees, special permit requirements or other means consistent with 20.2000 can be used. 20.2001 Purpose. It is the purpose of the Commercial, Institutional, and Public Propoerty Overlay District, to promote an area-wide solution to local Cambridge residential, transportation, and infrastructure needs. 20.2002 Establishment and Scope. There is hereby established the Commercial, Institutional, and Public Property Overlay District. It is the intent of this Section that these regulations will apply to properties within the City of Cambridge owned or leased by employers of more than 100 full-time persons, students or affiliates. This requirement applies to the employer or lease holder identified with the Cambridge property and applies to existing employers as well as new companies or institutions seeking to establish here. 20.2003 Stipulations. The Commercial, Institutional and Public employers meeting 20.2000 criteria of 100 or more full time employes, students, or affiliates shall provide a regional plan that sets out how it will meet housing, parking, transportation and infrastructure needs for 85% of its full-time employees and affiliates (the latter including students, post-doctoral students and research associates) by the year 2040. These employers will also provide Annual Reports on how and where the specific housing, parking, transportation, and infrastructure goals will be met in both Cambridge and in other area communities. Annual reports shall be submitted to the City Manager who will determine if compliance goals have been reached; the City of Cambridge will report its compliance with its designated goals for its own employees in an Annual Report to the City Council. Employers who decrease employee numbers to 20% below 100 employees are excluded; those attaining the 100 employee threshold shall come into 20.2000 compliance. 20.2003.a Each institution’s or employer’s 2040 Goals and Annual Reports shall include a time line as well as plans, and both achieved and proposed outcomes for housing, transportation, parking, and infrastructure needs for 85% of its employees, students, and affiliates in both Cambridge and outlying communities as established in 20.2000. While all employers and institutions may not be asked to acquire the requisite housing, transportation, parking, or essential infrastructure themselves, they will be required to show that they have successfully met the goals on their own or in collaboration with other Cambridge or area institutions and/or employers. 20.2003.b Plans for employees to work from home, telecommunicating certain days of the week, should be incorporated into such reports. A reporting means similar to the current Cambridge Parking and Transportation Demand Management Plan, but also including Housing and infrastructure may be set up for this purpose with a time line addressing specific goals to meet the 2040 commitment. Examples of parking plans include that created by MIT for where their non-Cambridge resident employees will park: http://web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation/index.html Employers may rent parking spaces not in use in company parking structures to local residents who meet certain income criteria to offset some parking requirements. Employers may create plans to provide home down payments for low-and-middle income employees to offset some housing requirements. The City itself may chose to meet its own annual housing goal by acquiring or building on its own land to prioritize key groups, for example, employees such as teachers, social workers, and fire fighters. 20.2003.c Plans for new residential and commercial structures shall include early and ongoing plans that safeguard or move existing mature trees, and otherwise comply with the City’s tree ordinance. These plans shall be included and presented in subsequent public meetings. New plans for larger residential and commercial projects (FAR 1.5 and higher) shall include and present at public meetings CAD drawings and viewshed analyses of neighborhood impacts. All open space requirements shall be met using rain permeable surfaces. 20.2004 Letter of Commitment. Issuance of a base building permit or certificate of occupancy for any new building approved pursuant to a Special Permit granted under the above Section 20.2000 shall be conditioned on certification by all relevant departments of the City to the Superintendent of Buildings that the reports are accurate and goals are being met in accordance with the initial Letter of Commitment, and Annual Reports. 20.2005 Project Review. In granting approval for a building or buildings under this article, the Planning Board may approve commercial, institutional and public area plans, subject to later review and approval by the Planning Board upon finding that the interim and final plan is consistent with the meeting of annual goals under Section 20.2000. Construction, use and development under this Section shall be authorized by Special Permit granted by the Planning Board. In granting a Special Permit under this Section 20.2000, the Planning Board shall find that the intent of this Section has been satisfied if yearly housing, transportation and other goals toward reaching 85% of employees by 2040 have been met and find that provisions have been made for the conveyance to the City, or a designee thereof, by fee or easement, of interests in properties herein. |