Cambridge Ordinance Committee Recesses Without Vote on Active-Use Zoning for Two Corridors

CAMBRIDGE — June 16, 2026 — Cambridge Ordinance Committee recesses without a vote on two active-use zoning petitions covering North Mass Ave and Cambridge Street. Chair Marc McGovern convened the June 16 hearing on proposals that would require active ground-floor uses in buildings above four stories along North Mass Ave from Cambridge Common to Linear Park, and above three stories along all Cambridge Street districts, with a new Planning Board special-permit track for minor modifications and a formula-business permit requirement on Cambridge Street mirroring a Central Square rule. The Cambridge Redevelopment Authority's Tom Evans and developer Kevin McGuire of Ascent Dev LLC testified that a proposed six-story, 16-unit for-sale project at 2326 Mass Ave — on a parcel under 5,000 square feet — would be rendered infeasible by the requirement; the Planning Board had already recommended keeping that stretch of Mass Ave at its existing eight-story trigger. Council members split among three CDD-offered alternatives for North Mass Ave: follow the Planning Board and make no change, exempt smaller projects by parcel size or gross floor area, or delay the effective date. The committee lost its quorum when Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem departed at 5 p.m. as previously announced, and McGovern said the two petitions will be scheduled as separate future hearings.