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CMA 2018-64

The Manager's report back on a timeline for the next Incentive Zoning Study

How it started
Mar 19, 2018 · Submitted by Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager: his response to the Council’s order about a timeline for the next Incentive Zoning Study (AR 18-25).
What happened
Mar 19, 2018 · 📨 Response received. The City Manager's report came back and was entered into the record. (Placed on file)
What’s next
🚪 End of the line: the request is closed.
Placed on fileMar 19, 2018
Referred for reportAR 2018-25Mar 5, 2018
Administration answeredCMA 2018-64Mar 19, 2018 · answered in 14 days

The item's path through the council, every recorded step. How the request pipeline works

The document memo · 2 pages
C I T Y · O F · C A M B R I D G E · Community Development Department · MEMORANDUM
ToLouis A. DePasquale, City Manager
FromIram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development
DateMarch 13, 2018
RePolicy Order O-18 dated February 26, 2018 regarding a timeline for the next Incentive Zoning Study

In response to the above-mentioned policy order, we provide the following information.

BACKGROUND On September 28, 2015, the City Council voted to adopt an amendment to the City’s Incentive Zoning Ordinance which significantly expanded the list of non- residential uses subject to the Incentive provisions and increased the Housing Contribution Rate to $12.00 per square foot of non-residential floor area, with three annual increases and annual CPI adjustment.

The Housing Contribution Rate is now $14.95 per square foot, with provision for a final $1.00 annual increase scheduled in September 2018 and continued annual CPI adjustment.

The 2015 amendment allows for a reevaluation of the Housing Contribution Rate three years from the time the rate was last amended by the City Council.

TIMELINE AND NEXT STEPS Community Development Department Housing staff are now preparing to revisit the Incentive Zoning Nexus Study beginning in fall 2018, as allowed by the 2015 amendment. Funding for this study will be included in the City Manager's FY2019 budget submission.

If the FY2019 funding is approved, we will initiate the procurement process to select a consultant for the Nexus Study in summer 2018, with a goal of initiating the study in fall 2018.

We anticipate that the Nexus Study will take six to eight months, consistent with the duration of the 2015 study. A more specific schedule to complete the IRAM FAROOQ Assistant City Manager for Community Development SANDRA CLARKE Deputy Director Chief of Administration study will be detailed in coordination with the study consultant, once they are selected.

For the 2018 Nexus Study we plan to follow a methodology similar to that used in the 2015 study, which reviewed economic factors, housing trends, and the nexus between new non-residential development and the demand for affordable housing. We would be pleased to discuss the approach prior to issuing an RFP for the study to be sure that it is consistent with the City Council's goals.

🗓 The meeting where this was taken up: Mar 19, 2018

↩ Answers awaiting report: Awaiting report 2018 · #25