Cambridge Proposes Six-Story Limit Citywide to End Multifamily Housing Ban

CAMBRIDGE -- July 17, 2024, Cambridge's Housing Committee heard a sweeping citywide multifamily rezoning plan that would allow buildings of up to six stories in all residential neighborhoods but left unresolved whether the change would actually produce affordable units. Jeff Roberts, Director of Zoning and Development at the Community Development Department, told the committee that eliminating current density limits, the core of the proposal, would also eliminate the density bonus that underpins the city's inclusionary housing program, which requires affordable units in projects of at least 10,000 square feet or 10 units. Public commenters including Lee Farris and Dan Totten argued the shift amounted to an unacknowledged rollback of affordability requirements, with Totten saying, "If you're going in a different direction, you should acknowledge to the public that the proposal has changed." City Manager Yi-An Huang defended the broader strategy, citing more than $100 million in Affordable Housing Trust commitments toward more than 700 fully affordable units. Co-chairs Councillor Burhan Azeem and Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui said CDD would return in August with a more detailed draft, with a zoning petition targeted for introduction in early September.