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.
Activating two major corridors
Ordinance Committee, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday. This committee run by city councillors Marc McGovern and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler continue discussion from March 11 revisiting rules around activating the streetscape of Cambridge Street and Massachusetts Avenue, major traffic corridors that are the focus of recently adopted zoning. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Future of city-owned properties
City Council, 3 to 5 p.m. Monday. A roundtable discusses the best future uses of city-owned properties and what redevelopment processes will look like to make it happen. The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Ellery Street multifamily plan
Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission, 6 to 8 p.m. Monday. A developer returns with plans for 88 Ellery St., where the existing two-story, single-family 1873 home of 4,006 square feet would get a partial demolition and a rear addition of six stories and 47,692 square feet – not needing a special permit, because the project falls under the multifamily zoning enacted Feb. 10, 2025. The developer describes the goal as building “to the limit” to create 32 to 36 “much-needed homes, primarily offering two-bedroom units specifically tailored to accommodate young and growing families.” It would be next door to another six-story multifamily development at 84-86 Ellery St., a block north of a six-story project at 60 Ellery St. and around the corner from a six-story project at 406 Broadway. Watchable via Zoom videoconferencing.
Tracking interactions with ICE
Public Safety Committee, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday. This committee run by city councillor Ayah Al-Zubi looks at the Cambridge Police Department’s federal immigration enforcement tracker, which finds a department interacting very little with federal agents: There’s been only one contact this year, from Jan. 4, and police supplied the federal agent calling with no information. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Multifamily housing zoning
Joint Housing and Neighborhood and Long Term Planning Committee, 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday. Outside experts such as a realtor, developer and professors of urban planning, landscape architecture, housing and transportation policy look at results of multifamily housing zoning passed Feb. 10, 2025, by the City Council. The meeting is expected to include recommendations for improvements and ideas for more ways to accomplish the goal of adding housing. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Elevating school councils
School Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. Members move toward adding a School Council Subcommittee, ostensibly helping to heal one of the school community wounds of the past few years. The group would start by meeting at least quarterly between May 15 and June 2027. Also, a roundtable is asked for the fall to discuss the results of a Youth Risk Behavior Survey. A pause on nonessential screen use in the pre-K to second grades remains as unfinished business. The committee meets in the Dr. Henrietta S. Attles Meeting Room at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Transit in Healthpeak project
Transit Advisory Committee, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. A look at the application coming to the Planning Board from the life sciences developer Healthpeak, which foresees turning a largely industrial Alewife Quadrangle area in the Cambridge Highlands into a new neighborhood of 20 buildings, including 2,076 homes in buildings of up to 12 stories, retail and a pedestrian and bike bridge over rail tracks that brings residents near the Alewife red line T stop. Many want a commuter rail stop nearby too. Committee members will also hear progress updates from an MBTA Bus Network Redesign and get a chance to ask questions of city staff about any city or state project. At City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Report on basic income venture
Human Services & Veterans Committee, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city city councillors Ayah Al-Zubi and Marc McGovern review and talk about a final report on Rise Up Cambridge, which gave $500 a month for a year and a half starting in July 2023 to about 6,400 people in 1,923 families with kids 21 or younger and income of up to 250 percent of the federal poverty line. “Participants reported experiencing less stress,” and higher-income families were on a stronger financial footing during and after the program, the report says. “There were few long-term changes to participants’ financial circumstances.” The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Engagement on special education
School Committee Special Education and Student Services Subcommittee, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. This meeting chaired by member Luisa DePaula Santos discusses family engagement in special education. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Setting budget priorities
Finance Committee, 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday. This committee run by city councillors Ayah Al-Zubi and Patty Nolan continue a discussion from Feb. 25 on setting budget priorities. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Appeal on 60 Ellery St. homes
Historical Commission, 6 to 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Members consider a Feb. 20 appeal against a development at 60 Ellery St. for 28 units in a six-story, approximately 24,000-square-foot building, with 20 percent of that – four or five units – to become affordable housing. It’s one of a few such projects proposed for a small area since City Council passage of multifamily housing zoning on Feb. 10, 2025. A group called the Ellery Square Owners Association objects to removal of a 1923 home in “excellent condition” for the project, which, among other complaints, it calls “incongruous to the historic aspects, architectural significance or the distinctive character of the neighborhood.” Finding that the commission did no wrong when approving the project Aug. 4, and that members judged the case with sufficient evidence, commission executive director Charles Sullivan recommends that the appeal be rejected. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
About The Author
