Decisions about public safety and surveillance technology drew emotional debate at Monday’s special summer meeting of the Cambridge City Council, but a movement toward streamlining business and construction permitting was something members could feel excited about.
There was action on the longtime goal of a smoother permitting process to support development, particularly of housing, and toward a “concierge” approach to communication. Councillors also urged options for “reforming and modernizing” the License Commission, which had alarmed lots of people this summer with unpopular (and many argued, unworkable) ideas for Cambridge bar regulations.
The attempts at decreasing developer and business owner misery are not new – councillor Patty Nolan spotted items in a city presentation that she’d made years ago – but officials were eager to see the work. “We are not a role model in this area, and I want us to be,” Nolan said.
Councillors had anecdotes at the ready to explain what was going wrong, including a condo association claiming the city cost it $5,000 in state funding for a solar panel installation; another story was about how permitting confusion caused a yearslong delay in opening a Huron Village daycare, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“One department told them they had to do A, B and C, and so they did it. And then another department came in and said, ’Oh no, you weren’t supposed to do it that way. You’re supposed to do it this way,’” councillor Marc McGovern said.
The “concierge” order by councillor Cathie Zusy wanted a process that required the city to communicate better what was happening and what was needed, with “one point of contact for developers,” less confusion and more predictability. It wouldn’t add public input on projects, but Zusy envisioned it letting the public be better informed. “They don’t know what’s going to happen next door,” she said, including when a neighboring home might be torn down.
Having permit applications online helps residents and saves staff time by not having to respond to individual questions, Nolan said, imagining a time when “everyone in my neighborhood says ’What’s going on with the old Formaggio’s place on Huron Avenue?’ and I could just say, ’Go look online, any applications will be online.’”
Staff have broken down improvements into what can get done in the next three months and six months and what will take nine-plus months, said Jen Caira, deputy chief of planning. There are recommendations that need to go through the legislative process of Planning Board, Ordinance Committee and City Council meetings, or are already, and several studies will be needed. One is on inclusionary zoning, which looks at how much affordable housing can be required for developments before scaring off builders, while others include bike parking utilization and green building codes. “We think there’s some immediate changes we can make there where we have redundancy with building codes and the fossil fuel-free ordinance,” Caira said.
More than one councillor had the surprise razing of homes on their minds after a spate of demolitions for anticipated projects based on last year’s enactment of multifamily zoning. Most prominent was 66 Kinnaird St., Riverside, where a two-story home was torn down without permits and remains as rubble behind a fence.
Easing pain points
A comprehensive review of the city’s ordinance around demolition of potentially historic properties is being looked at, since it hasn’t been updated in roughly 50 years, Caira said. That’s separate from the issue of surprise demolitions and the problem of lots sitting empty for long periods between teardown and construction – but there has been conversation about “the demolition permitting process, the requirements that go along with it and how those are moving to building permits,” Caira said. “I don’t think anybody wants those sites sitting vacant or under construction longer than they need to be.”
In easing identified pain points – policy issues such as redundant, unclear or overly burdensome regulations; process problems of inconsistent forms, poor sequencing and slow inspections; and bad communication – staff said there has been progress. Building permit preapplication reviews for departments such as Public Works and by fire inspectors now happen at the same time rather than sequentially, according to the presentation, and staff from departments involved in permitting meet regularly to discuss active projects.
“In an economic environment where projects struggle to pencil and margins are especially thin, it is increasingly important to evaluate regulations and processes to reduce bottlenecks and regulations that add more cost than value,” said Melissa Peters, assistant city manager for Community Development.
On the path
The process has seen significant improvement in the past few years from regulatory and process changes, Peter said, pointing to implementation of an OpenGov permitting portal. But that portal is still six months away from becoming that central point for all applications.
Fixing inconsistencies between zoning and building codes and the creation of a single permitting website are also expected within six months; creating a sole point of contact is slotted to take nine months or longer, along with adding an AI chatbot to that new website.
Zusy had another improvement to propose: a tree tracking system that is more complete and easier for the public to use. “We’re all hearing from citizens across Cambridge about lots of trees coming down,” Zusy said, yet developers aren’t always identifying the number of trees affected by construction and why. “The only way to care for our environment is to be aware of what’s happening overall.”
In other development, planning and zoning changes heard Monday:
Two petitions about requiring ground-floor businesses to create livelier streets on major traffic corridors – Cambridge Street and parts of Massachusetts Avenue – were moved onward in the zoning process for “second readings” and votes on Sept. 14, the zoning expiration date and next scheduled meeting of the council after its summer break. After nearly a year of discussion, the Massachusetts Avenue zoning sailed through Monday, but Cambridge Street drew debate before passage. It’s “more complicated” because the corridor has no such zoning now, McGovern said, meaning businesses on Cambridge Street sprang up without a requirement. “What we have been discussing is do we want to change that and require active use, and then in what way?” Limiting ground-floor active-use business requirements to only the Lechmere and the Windsor-Webster areas along Cambridge Street failed 7-2; in the final Cambridge Street vote of 8-1 toward a second reading, with Azeem the “no” vote, three-story buildings can be all residential and buildings that are four stories and above need ground-floor business.
Changes that would have affected Affordable Housing Overlay zoning and last year’s multifamily zoning were voted down 9-0, and as a result a similar set of proposals can’t be reintroduced for another two years. The rejection of the development-slowing petition, named after author and initial signer Doug Brown, was foreshadowed in a Planning Board vote July 14 that went 5-0 against recommendation and a 7-2 “negative recommendation” on July 21 in an Ordinance Committee hearing. Flaherty hoped to use his “charter right” to block the vote until city planning staff brought forward related changes, but Siddiqui told him that the hold couldn’t be applied to old business. The city’s Law Department confirmed it. “With all due respect to the city solicitor, she’s not the final word on this,” said Flaherty, a lawyer, but he ultimately let the matters drop.
The company Alexandria Real Estate Equities filed for a land swap in the form of a zoning proposal, which the council handled as it does all zoning petitions, with a referral to its own Ordinance Committee and to the Planning Board for hearings. What Alexandria gets in this deal: the right to add 250,000 square feet of gross floor area, as a new building or addition, in a new four-block Technology Square Transfer Receiving District between Broadway and Main Street and Portland Street and Galileo Galilei Way. What Alexandria gives: 161 First St., a three-story, 40,000-square-foot, brick structure built in the early 1900s for the Ashton Valve Co. but more recently the offices of life sciences company Solid Biosciences. (Solid left Kendall Square for Charlestown in 2022.) The industrial building would be turned into more than 30 affordable homes under Affordable Housing Overlay zoning.
“It does represent a creative and innovative opportunity for a 100 percent affordable-housing development right in the heart of Kendall Square, two blocks from Toomey Park, with a family-friendly-style unit mix,” attorney James Rafferty said. “This represents not only an affordable-housing opportunity, but also a significant achievement under historical preservation.”
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