A Zoning Petition Has been received from Douglas Brown regarding Amending Article 4, 5 and 8 incrementally modernizing residential zoning

2023 JAN -4 AMII: 37 CITY OF CAMBRIDGE CAMBRIDGE CITY HALL, 795 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE Y CLERK PMASSACHUSETTS CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE: Brown hereby petitions the City Council of the City of Douglas Cambridge to amend the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Cambridge, as amended, as follows • Amend the Zoning Map in the area(s) set forth in the attached text description(s) and map(s) by to a • changing the base Zoning District(s) from _ new zoning designation(s) of • creating a new Overlay Zoning District(s) entitled • deleting or amending the boundaries of the current Overlay Zoning District (s) entitled W Amend the text of the Zoning Ordinance as set forth in the attached text by inserting a new Articles) and/or section(s) numbered and entitled deleting the current Article(s) and/or section(s) numbered and entitled amending the current Articles) and/or sections) numbered and entitled Articles 4,5, and 8 with the intent of Incrementally modernizing residential zoning standards Contact Person: _ Douglas Brown Street Address: 35 Standish Street [phone removed] Telephone Number: _ E-mail Address: [email removed] N/A Attach the following materials: • Signatures of 10 or more Cambridge residents registered to vote in Cambridge (if applicable - see attached page template • Map Amendments: a map and text description describing the exact boundaries of the area to be rezoned À Text Amendments: a document providing the exact wording of all inserted, deleted, or amended sections (also provide in a word processing format to cityclerk@cambridgema.gov) FOR CITY CLERK USE ONLY - Zoning Petition Number: Submission Date:

1. _ of 1 Submission Date: Page. 1/4/2023 Petition to Amend the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Cambridge with the intent of: Incrementally modernizing residential zoning standards Date Address Name Signature 35 Standish St. 12/16/22 Douglas P Brown 2 3 4 5 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 FOR CITY CLERK USE ONLY - Zoning Petition Number:

A Plan for the Incremental Modernization of Residential Zoning WHEREAS Cambridge continues to struggle with housing availability and affordability; and WHEREAS the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance contains many legacy issues that artificially limit residents' ability to make basic upgrades to their homes or add new housing units without a special permit or variance, even when additional floor area is available to them as-of-right; and WHEREAS the current FAR restriction in the Residential B zoning district does not accurately reflect the average FAR of this district, and therefore has created an extremely large number of non-conforming properties; and WHEREAS an incremental approach to modernizing the Zoning Ordinance will allow more residents to make small but important improvements to their homes, or to add new dwelling units as they see fit; and WHEREAS such incremental changes have the potential to unluck thousands of new dwelling units, all of which are located within existing neighborhoods that are already well provided with transit connections, retail opportunities, and public parks and open space; and WHEREAS such an incremental approach avoids the extreme unpredictability associated with large increases in height or density, or large decreases in open space, setbacks, and parking requirements, within existing residential neighborhoods; NOW THEREFORE 1, the Undersigned individual owning land to be affected by said changes or adoption, respectfully petition the honorable City Council of the City of Cambridge to amend the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance in the following ways, as italicized and highlighted in red below: 1) ARTICLE 4- Modify the Table of Uses to allow all residential uses in all residential districts and eliminate the footnotes prohibiting exterior changes in Res A districts: Busin Indust Indust Indust Busin T Indust Reside Offi Busin Busin Reside Reside Op rial B rial B- ess A- rial A rial A- ess C ce ess B, ess A, nce B nce C, en nce A A-4 B-1, 182 Spa C-1, C- 1, A-2 1, B-2 1, A- 1, B-2 ce 2A, 1A, 2, 2, A-3 2A, 2, 3, 2B, 3, ЗА ЗА, ЗВ 4. Residential Uses 3 PB PB Yes PB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Detache dwelling occupied

by not more than one family b. Two PB PB PB Ne Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes family dwelling Existing one- family detache d Yes? PB PB PB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No dwelling converte d for two families 15,16 d. Townho No Yes No Yes Yes 3 Yes 3 PB 3 PB 3 use Yes Yes PB 3 Yes Yes 3 Yes develop ment e. Elderly Yes PB PB oriented PB5 PB S PB 5 Yes No Yes Yes Yes 5 Yes S 5 YesS Yes congrega te housing f. Existing dwelling converte d for PB Yes PB PB Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes elderly oriented congreg ate housing 17 8. Ne No Multifa PB5 PB 5 Yes Yes No Yes PB5 Yes Yes 5 Yes 5 Yes YesS mily dwelling h. Existing dwelling converte PB PB PB d for Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Ne Yes more than two families 16

2) ARTICLE 4- Eliminate the Accessory Dwelling Unit requirement that a building containing an accessory apartment be built prior to 2/1/2019: 4.22.1 In all districts the Board of Zoning Appeal may grant a special permit for the alteration of an existing single-family detached dwelling, two-family dwelling, or accessory building on the same lot as a single-family or two-family dwelling to provide one accessory apartment if the following conditions are met: 1. The building containing the accessory apartment has been in existence since on or before February 1, 2019. 3) ARTICLE 5- Modify the Table of Dimensional Requirements to reduce the Minimum Lot Size, Lot Area per Dwelling Unit, and Minimum Lot Width requirements in Residence A-1 & A-2 districts to match the Residence B district: (4) (5) Minimum Yard in (3) Min. (7) Min. (6) (2) (1) Max. Feet Ratio of Minimum Lot Area Minimum Ratio of Maximum Lot for Each Private Op. Height in Lot Size Floor Area Width in Rear D.U. in Sq. Sp. to Lot Front Side Feet to Lot Area in Sq. Ft. Area Feet Ft. 15 (sum 8,000 6,000 1125 Res. 35 50% 0.5 8050 25 (c) of 35) 2500 A-1 5,000 10 (sum 25 Res. 4,500 6,000 50% 35 6550 20 0.5 (c) 2500 A-2 of 25) 5,000 4) ARTICLE 5- Modify the Table of Dimensional Requirements to increase the Res B FAR limit and decrease the Lot Area per Dwelling Unit requirement. Eliminate the footnote introduced in 1996 that unnecessarily restricts FAR and Minimum Lot Area for lots larger than 5000 square feet: (4) (5) Minimum Yard in (7) Min. (3) Min. (2) (6) (1) Max. Lot Area Feet Minimum Ratio of Maximum Ratio of Minimum Lot for Each Private Op. Height in Floor Area Lot Size Rear Width in Front Side Sp. to Lot D.U. in Sq. Feet to Lot Area in Sq. Ft. Area Feet Ft. 7'6" 25 Res. 50 15 35 40% 0.6# (sum of 5,000 (c) 2,500 ti B 20) 2. Footnotes: (i) Applicable to the first five thousand (5,000) square feet of lot area. For these portions of any lot exceeding five thousand (5,000) square feet, the applicable Maximum Ratio of Floor Area to Lot Area shall be 0,35 for all permitted residential uses and the

Minimum Lot Area for Each Dwelling Unit shall be four thousand (4,000) square feet. However, for any let in existence as of June 30, 1995 that is subsequently subdivided into two or mere lots, the total amount of gross area and number of units on the subdivided lots, in total, shall at no time exceed that permitted by this footnote (i on the lot before the subdivision occurred, Unless otherwise permitted by special permit from the Board of Zoning Appeal, the gross floor area and dwelling units permitted on each subdivided lot shall be in the same ratio as that lot's area is to the area of the unsubdivided lot. Nothing in this footnote (i) shall prohibit the subdivision of a Townhouse Development conforming at the time of its construction, as permitted in Section 11,10, 5) ARTICLE 8-_Eliminate the rules that limit new additions to a small percentage of the existing area or volume, even in situations where an addition is otherwise conforming: 8.22.1 The following alterations, reconstructions, extensions, and/or enlargements of nonconforming structures, which do not result in a use for a substantially different purpose or for the same purpose in a substantially different manner or to a substantially greater extent than the existing use, or which are undertaken to accommodate a new conforming use, shall be permitted after the issuance of a building permit by the Superintendent of Buildings. Any change, extension or alteration of a nonconforming use shall be subject to the provisions of Subsection 8.22.2. f. Conforming additions, under Article 5.000, to a structure not conforming to the requirements of Article 5.000 provided that no nonconforming element or aspect of the nonconforming structure is extended or increased and further provided that the nonconforming structure is not thereby increased in area or volume by more than ten (10) percent since the structure first became nonconforming. 8.22.2 The following changes, extensions, or alterations of a pre-existing nonconforming structure or use may be granted in the following cases after the issuance of a special permit. Such a permit shall be granted only if the permit granting authority specified below finds that such change, extension, or alteration will not be substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood than the existing nonconforming use. c. In a Residence District the Board of Zoning Appeal may grant a special permit for the alteration or enlargement of a nonconforming structure, not otherwise permitted in Section 8.22.1 above, but not the alteration or enlargement of a nonconforming use, provided any enlargement or alteration of such nonconforming structure is not further in violation of the dimensional requirements of Article 5.000 or the off street parking and loading requirements in Article 6.000 for the district in which such structure is located and provided such nonconforming structure will net be increased in area or velume by more them -five (25) percent since it first began to be nonconforming.