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March 22 GAC Update
The City Council met this week and approved new water and sewer rates. Council members filed two orders requesting changes to the zoning code and the Council received a citizen petition changing the zoning along Concord Avenue in response to a proposal to develop housing at the site currently occupied by Cambridge Self Storage. The Ordinance Committee met last Wednesday on two proposed changes to the zoning code.
Please remember to register by 5 p.m. on Friday March 24 for the March 28 GAC meeting and luncheon presentation on the Concord-Alewife planning process and the recently re-filed rezoning petition. The Planning Board has put the re-filed Concord-Alewife rezoning petition on its agenda for April 4 and the City Council has scheduled an Ordinance Committee meeting on this petition for April 26.
The State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance (SOMWBA) will hold a free certification workshop on Tuesday, April 11th, 2006, from 10 a.m. to 1 pm., at the City Hall Annex, Large Conference Room, 344 Broadway, Floor 2, Cambridge.
March 20, 2006 City Council Meeting
Cambridge City Council meetings are now available live on the web and archived to view at your convenience at http://www.cambridgema.gov/webcast-splash.cfm.
Water and Sewer Rate
The City Manager presented the Council with recommendations for changes in the block rates for water and sewer service beginning April 1, 2006. The recommendation calls for a 3.9% increase in water rates and an 8.1% increase in sewer rates. Consumers will see an overall increase of 8.1%. Water rate increases are due to salary and benefit increases for Water Department employees and increased energy costs. Sewer rate increases are the result of Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) assessment increases and debt service costs.
In the Council discussion the Manger was asked about energy conservation opportunities to address increasing energy costs. Assistant City Manager Rossi responded that equipment in the plant, which was only recently completed, is energy efficient for the time of construction and that the City is currently doing a study of energy use and identifying additional opportunities to increase energy efficiency at the plant.
The City Manager’s recommendation is available at http://www.cambridgema.gov/cityclerk/cmLetter.cfm?item_id=7031
Zoning Changes Proposed
The Council received a citizens’ petition to rezone an area along Concord Avenue near Fresh Pond and Council members submitted two orders requesting changes in the code. The petition, titled the Danehy-Tobin Petition, was submitted in response to a public meeting held by a potential developer of the site. It should be noted that in the City-wide rezoning process completed in 2001 rezoned this area from Industrial A-1 to residential C-1A for the purpose of encouraging housing development. The proposal is to further down-zone the site to residential C-1.
The Council filed two orders regarding changes to the Zoning Ordinance. The first asks the City Manager to direct appropriate staff to draft an amendment to the zoning ordinance to amend the inclusionary zoning to provide units appropriately sized for families with children. The second order asks that that the Zoning Ordinance be amended to change the language "useable open space" to "private open space" throughout the Zoning Ordinance.
The second proposed change came from the Ordinance Committee hearing last week when several Councillors expressed concern that the term “Usable Open Space” in the ordinance is confusing. The ordinance currently defines Open Space, Usable as:
The part or parts of a lot or structure which are reserved for the use of occupants of a building which is used wholly, or in part, for residential purposes. This space shall have minimum dimensions as prescribed in the Ordinance, shall exclude parking areas, driveways and walkways, and shall be open and unobstructed to the sky. Trees, plantings, arbors, fences, flagpoles, sculpture, fountains and recreational and drying apparatus and similar objects shall not be considered obstructions when located within a usable open space. To the extent permitted in this Ordinance, balconies and roof areas may also be considered as usable open space.
The confusion apparently comes from some interpreting Usable Open Space as meaning space open for the use of the public rather than the use, as stated in the definition, of occupants. In the discussion at both the Ordinance Committee and Monday’s meeting some Councillors questioned how balconies and roof decks (which you will note are specifically mentioned as allowable in the definition) can be considered usable open space with one Councillor suggesting that dimensional requirements be changed to require that more of the usable open space be at ground level. The conflict here appears to be between open spaces used by occupants of a property, as defined in the Ordinance, versus the taking of private property for public use.
March 15, 2006 Ordinance Committee Hearings
The Ordinance Committee held two hearings on March 15. The first hearing was on changes to the zoning ordinance drafted in response to the proposed development at the former Blessed Sacrament Church site on Pearl Street. The proposed changes would be to several sections of article 5.28 Special Dimensional Standards Applicable to Dwellings and to Article 6.12 (d) of the ordinance. Specific issues addressed in the proposed changes are privacy of abutters, use of balconies and decks as allowable open space, and parking requirements. The issues of the definition of usable open space, discussed above, came from this hearing.
During the hearing Mayor Reeves commented that the Cambridge’s zoning code may not be addressing the City’s goals and parts of the code may be in conflict with each other and with those goals. He suggested that it may be useful to have a discussion on this issue with members of the Council, the development community, and other parties.
The second hearing was in regards to changing the zoning of the Marino restaurant site on Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge. The restaurant is currently on the market for sale.
Free SOMWBA Workshop in Cambridge
The State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance (SOMWBA) will hold a free certification workshop on Tuesday, April 11, 2006, from 10 a.m. to 1 pm., at the City Hall Annex, Large Conference Room, 344 Broadway, Floor 2, Cambridge.
This workshop will present the requirements for state certification of minority (MBE) and woman business enterprises (WBE), as well as for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (US DOT) disadvantaged businesses enterprise (DBE) program.
State agencies purchase millions of dollars worth of products and services from MBE-, WBE-, and DBE-certified businesses. If your business has a product or service which state agencies purchase, you could profit from certification.
Professional staff will provide instruction on completing the certification applications and information on competing in public markets. All applicants must attend one workshop. Registration is required. For information call (617) 973-8692 or log onto the SOMWBA website at http://www.somwba.state.ma.us to register online. Registrations must be received by 12 noon on April 10th, 2006.
