Cambridge Committee Votes 7-2 to Forward Brown Zoning Petition With Negative Recommendation

CAMBRIDGE -- July 21, 2026, Cambridge Ordinance Committee recommends against Brown zoning petition 7-2. The committee voted Monday to forward to the full City Council a citizen petition by Douglas P. Brown, with a negative recommendation, after affordable housing developers testified the proposal would cripple the city's Affordable Housing Overlay. Cambridge Housing Authority Deputy Executive Director Margaret Donnelly Moran said 116 Norfolk Street, a 62-unit project completed in early 2025, would have been cut to 26 units under the petition's height, setback, and parking provisions, a 58 percent reduction, and that seven additional CHA projects would be significantly impaired. Just-A-Start Executive Director Carl Nagy-Kershland called the overlay "an unqualified success" and said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem moved the negative referral, saying the petition "crosses a line" by touching the overlay; Councillors Quinton Flaherty and Burhan Cathie Zusy voted no. City Solicitor Nancy Bayer told the committee that a subsequent CDD-sponsored petition differing in essential character, particularly on parking minimums, would not be barred by the two-year repetitive-petition rule triggered if the full council votes the Brown petition down. The petition expires October 19, 2026.