A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to technical corrections that should be made to the Floodplain Zoning text

Melissa Peters | Acting Assistant City Manager for Community Development Sandra Clarke | Chief of Administration & Operations 344 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02139 [phone removed] cddat344@cambridgema.gov www.cambridgema.gov/CDD To: Yi-An Huang, City Manager From: Melissa Peters, Acting Assistant City Manager for Community Development Megan Bayer, City Solicitor Date: May 7, 2025 Subject: Floodplain Zoning Amendments The Floodplain Zoning Petition (Petition) completed the public hearing process with positive recommendations from the Planning Board and Ordinance Committee. During the hearing process, staff identified some technical corrections that should be made to the zoning text. These corrections include: • Changing the reference dates of the applicable FEMA flood hazard maps and data from June 8, 2023 (the date of a prior version of the maps and data) to July 8, 2025, which is the official effective date for the maps and data. • Changing the term “flood plain” where it is used in the Zoning Ordinance to “floodplain,” to be consistent with the terminology used in the model ordinance and other contexts. These changes are made in Section 5.25.3.42, to one reference in Article 11.000 (which was not cited in the original petition), in the title of Section 20.70, and in some other instances in Section 20.70. Before voting to pass the Petition for a second reading, we recommend that the City Council amend the Petition by substitution with the attached revised zoning text.