Cambridge Committee Hears Zoning Overhaul Could Add 20,000 Units by 2040

CAMBRIDGE -- October 31, 2024, Cambridge committee scrutinizes sweeping multifamily zoning proposal amid sharp public pushback. The Economic Development and University Relations Committee, chaired by Councillor Paul Toner, held a public hearing October 31 on the economic impacts of a proposed citywide rezoning that would permit multifamily housing in all residential districts. City staff presented build-out projections showing the proposal could yield more than 9,000 new units by 2030 and more than 20,000 by 2040, still short of the Envision Cambridge goal of 12,500 units by 2030. Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development, described the proposals as aimed at ending "exclusionary zoning" and reducing development barriers, while Melissa Peters, Chief of Planning Strategy, cautioned that the numbers are "our best guess" and not a prediction. Nine public speakers, mostly skeptical, raised concerns including investor speculation, tree canopy loss, infrastructure strain, displacement, and the fiscal cost of tilting the tax base toward residential use. Resident Robert Winters, a former Envision Cambridge housing working group participant, directly challenged the 12,500-unit goal as analytically unsupported, contending it was "plucked out of thin air" from scenarios involving a super-inclusionary affordability tier that was never adopted.