Mass. Ave. Rezoned by City Council

Change is inevitable, but City Council members have ensured that the stretch of Mass. Ave. between Harvard and Central Squares will retain its residential character.

At the July 27 meeting, council members, with only Michael A. Sullivan dissenting, voted to adopt many of the recommendations in the Anderson Petition.

The petition, which sought to limit commercial development of the area and protect existing residences, had hundreds of supporters in the Cambridge community.

"Our primary concern was to protect the existing stock of housing in this stretch of Mass. Ave. and in the abutting neighborhoods," said Marilyn Z. Wellons, co-author of the Anderson Petition.

The petition was named after Leo F. Anderson, the lead signor. Anderson, a septegenarian who has lived on Hancock Street since childhood, said another main concern was the volume of traffic large buildings create.

Mellons said the Anderson Petition was a response to the proposal for re-zoning Mass. Ave. which the Cambridge Planning Board introduced last September.

As a result of the council's decision to adopt the petition's recommendations, all future construction between Harvard and Central Squares--with Dana Street and Bay Square as endpoints--must not exceed 45 feet, or four stories. The previous height limit was 120 feet.

Contractors will be prohibited from building below ground in setbacks, and half of the entire area around buildings must be planted.

Wellons said these parameters were modeled after the height and setback area of The Inn at Harvard.

In addition, council members voted to ban commercial parking garages and maintain a previous ordinance which prohibits expansion of retail space.

Although the petition passed with strong support, co-author Robert J. La Tremouille said its success was not certain beforehand.

"We were absolutely flabbergasted...no commitments were made...[even though] we had people calling, people writing, people e-mailing," La Tremouille said.

While the main goals of the Anderson petition have now been achieved, city council members did not adopt its recommendations regarding affordable housing policies.

The petition sought to limit an inclusionary housing measure which allowed builders to increase the number of units they construct by 30 percent as long as half of those units were used to create affordable housing. La Tremouille said Anderson Petition supporters believed this measure encouraged the eviction of current tenants.

On the whole, however, supporters of the Anderson Petition feel they have won a victory which may help preserve the status quo in other parts of the city.

La Tremouille said he hoped the petition "could become a model for the city."

"This would be highly appropriate for many parts of Mass. Ave. and East Cambridge and North Cambridge in particular," he said.