City Council refer proposed changes to Cambridge Zoning Article 5.000.Rainwater & Flat Roof Zoning to the Ordinance Committee and the Planning Board for hearing and report

carries proposed ordinance language: lawmaking starts here, but only ordination makes it law

How it started

Jun 25, 2018 · Proposed by Councillors Kelley, McGovern, and Zondervan: a formal request from the Council to the administration.

What happened

Jun 25, 2018 · ✅ Adopted, and also sent to a committee for further work (Order adopted and referred)

Present and voting at this meeting (9)

Alanna Mallon
Craig A. Kelley
Dennis Carlone
E. Denise Simmons
Jan Devereux
Marc McGovern
Quinton Zondervan
Sumbul Siddiqui
Timothy J. Toomey

Adopted by voice vote. A voice vote records the outcome, not individual positions. No member's yes or no is on the record (though a member can ask to be recorded in the negative in the minutes). Showing the members who cast recorded votes at this meeting. Rule 6 requires a roll call for spending over $50 or on any member's request; state law requires one for every vote when a member participates remotely. · photos: City of Cambridge

The document Agenda item attachment · 1 page

🏛 This item on the city's site 📄 Download original PDF

5.55 In an effort to enhance the City’s commitment to mitigating environmental impacts of certain older types of residential buildings, namely so-called “triple-deckers”, while improving the City’s storm-water management, modifications to the applicable dimensional requirements of this Article 5.000, in particular regarding FAR and height limitations, may be authorized under the following circumstances: Residential buildings with a flat (concave) roof which may have poor upper-level thermal insulation and/or contribute to important heat island effects, or may suffer from the secondary effects of over- insulation, and on which a drain pipe collects water from the roof and combines it with household waste-water, discharging into a single outflow pipe to the municipal sewer line Provided that the resulting construction will: significantly increase the thermal efficiency of the building entirely eliminate rain water entry from the concerned roof into the sewer system, and that said rain water is harvested on the property at the rate of 1/8 gallon per square foot of roof area, with the remainder dispersed at the ground to follow its natural path without direct encumbrance onto abutting properties, the construction of a partial structure relieved from the applicable FAR and height limit may be permitted within the following limits: Additional height not to exceed 10 ft. above the existing roof line of the building Footprint to be no closer than 3 feet from either long edge or rear side of the building, no less than 6 feet from front/street-side of building, and Additional FAR not to exceed 20% of the existing FAR of the building.

Furthermore, in enhancing alternative energy sources (Article 22), additional positive consideration will be given to projects that improve the: installation of solar panels (impractical on residential flat roofs) use of passive solar heating, convective cooling, seasonal shading with natural plants, using rainwater at the roof level or floors below, planting flowering bushes and vegetation attractive to pollinating insects at the roof level, and harmonization of the new roof profile with the neighborhood architecture.

🗓 The meeting where this was taken up: Jun 25, 2018