Cambridge Ordinance Committee Advances Three Parking Flexibility Measures 7-0

CAMBRIDGE — November 21, 2024 — Cambridge Ordinance Committee sends parking flexibility package to full council unanimously. The committee voted 7-0 on all three measures Thursday — a flexible parking corridor zoning amendment, a Parking and Transportation Demand Management ordinance update, and a Commercial Parking Space Permits revision — forwarding each to the full City Council with a favorable recommendation for a second reading. Transportation Commissioner Brooke McKenna and a team from the Community Development Department told the committee the changes would allow private owners along the city's cycling and bus priority corridors to share underused off-street spaces with neighboring businesses and the public without triggering burdensome regulatory filings; staff estimated roughly 2,000 registered spaces in small facilities could gain immediate flexibility, and up to 1,400 additional commercial parking permits remain available under the city's EPA-capped ceiling. Councillors Siddiqui and Sabrina Wheeler were absent for all votes. The earliest the package can take legal effect, after required first and second readings at the full council, is February 3, 2025.