Cambridge Zoning Board Approves Corcoran Park Curb Cuts, Otis Street Variance 5-0

Zoning Board · Meeting of July 30, 2026

Cambridge's zoning board approved a curb-cut permit for the Cambridge Housing Authority's Corcoran Park redevelopment and a residential variance on Otis Street, both 5-0, at its July 30 meeting. Chair Stephen Ng led both unanimous voice votes. The CHA, represented by Deputy Executive Director Margaret Moran and Project Manager Joe Bednar, sought a special permit to align two Thingvala Avenue driveways with existing cross-street intersections, a layout backed in letters from the city's Departments of Transportation and Public Works and Housing Chief Christopher Cotter, who noted the CHA has committed more than $14 million to Phase 1 of the project.

MIT economics professor Nathan Hendren, whose family abuts Phase 1, argued in written and oral testimony that the board "should not give blanket special approvals to a project site unseen" given that over 90 percent of Corcoran Park households had previously objected to earlier designs. In the second case, attorney Sarah Radigan of Trilogy Law won a variance for owners Elad and Shelly Shushan to add a nine-foot rear extension at 162 Otis Street, explicitly invoking a new Massachusetts "practical difficulty" variance standard signed into law July 9 and retroactive to July 1 — the first such application before the board.

In the full story:

• Background and stakes
• The question before the board
• Substantive content
• The deliberation
• Procedural outcome
• Implications and next steps
• The complete report — 2,640 words

Source: the Zoning Board meeting of July 30, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.