Cambridge Approves Massive Rezoning

The City Council barely passed a comprehensive rezoning plan for a large section of Cambridge last night, aimed at stimulating housing development and reducing traffic.

"This is the most significant piece of rezoning for many, many decades," said Vice Mayor David P. Maher, one of seven councillors who voted for the initiative--an amended version of the original Planning Board proposal--which he submitted along with Councillor Kathleen L. Born on Friday.

Citing their support for the Planning Board proposal, Councillors Henrietta Davis and Jim Braude voted against the petition, which provides for the creation of six new residential districts, Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) reductions across the city, restrictions on the density of new building projects, the introduction of parking garages to FAR regulations and a design review process for new building projects.

The revised proposal did not include the original plan's specific zoning restrictions on a section of the Alewife area in North Cambridge and, most controversially, East Cambridge.

"Sometimes compromise is necessary," Born said. "I have seen too many petitions before this council go down in flames. I made a commitment that I wasn't going to be an outsider on this process."

East Cambridge is currently governed by the Larkin Petition, an 18-month moratorium on development in the neighborhood that was approved by the council in Jan. 2000.

After last night's vote, the council unanimously passed a motion put forth by Councillor Timothy P. Toomey Jr. which requests that the city clerk refile the parts of the Planning Study plan that govern East Cambridge when the Larkin Petition expires in July.

Though East Cambridge--which currently has the most land available for development in the city--was not covered by last night's zoning plan, the council promised that it would reconsider a thorough rezoning plan for the neighborhood in the coming months.

"We recognize the frustration of the people of East Cambridge," Born said. "We will rezone East Cambridge before the end of the moratorium."

According to Maher, most zoning proposals before the council require the votes of six out of the nine councillors. But because of the written dissent of landowners who own about one-fifth of the property in the city, including Harvard and MIT--which together own about 15 percent of Cambridge--last night's proposal required a seven-councillor majority, he said.

Councillor Marjorie C. Decker, a frequent critic of the University, promptly upbraided Harvard and MIT.

"MIT and Harvard, you made it more difficult for us," Decker said.

Few of the more than 60 people who spoke before the council last night were in favor of the revised plan.

Business leaders--including representatives from Cambridge's burgeoning biotechnology industry--said the guidelines of the revised petition, despite being fewer in number than in the original plan, were too strict, while neighborhood activists offered impassioned pleas for the passing or refiling of the original plan.

"East Cambridge has been overwhelmed by development. If East Cambridge or Alewife are excluded, the whole city will suffer," said Jon Baring-Gould, an East Cambridge resident.

"Any place that you exclude [from zoning], business will take over," Baring-Gould added to substantial applause. "Business is taking over."

Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio closed the council's discussion of the matter by reminding the audience that the city is in the midst of a boom period and that a balanced approach on the regulation of development could prove beneficial in leaner times.

"We have to be mindful that these good times should not be taken for granted," he said.

But though there was little agreement at last night's meeting, Toomey said he regarded the widespread disenchantment with the revised plan as a signal that an adequate compromise had been made.

"If everyone is not happy, we will have accomplished something," Toomey said, adding that the theme of the night was the Rolling Stones' song "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

--Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.