Council accept Multi Family Zoning Petition - Part 2, as presented in CMA 2024 #207, as a City Council Zoning Petition

Page 1 of 24 Petition: To amend Articles 5.000, 11.000, 15.000, 17.000, 19.000, and 20.000 of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance as follows with the intent of: (1) revising open space standards to provide greater flexibility by allowing all types of open space to contribute to meeting requirements; (2) revising certain standards of the Affordable Housing Overlay so they are not more restrictive than comparable standards for residences in base zoning; (3) making project review special permit requirements applicable in all zoning districts and applicable to residential development of 75,000 square feet or more; (4) updating advisory development review procedures and introducing a new Planning Board Advisory Consultation for some larger development not subject to a special permit, similar to what is currently required in the Affordable Housing Overlay; and (5) revising other parts of the Zoning Ordinance for internal consistency. Amendments to Article 5.000. Amend Section 5.22 and subsequent subsections to read as follows: 5.22Open Space. Where a new building is constructed on a lot or where the footprint of an existing building is enlarged, the lot shall conform to the Open Space Ratio required in the zoning district. The total Open Space on the lot shall be the sum of all areas that meet the definition and standards for at least one of the following types of There are four types of Open Space: Private, Public, Publicly Beneficial, and Green Area, or. There is also Permeable Open Space, which is a specific type of Green Area Open Space. All five terms are defined in Article 2.000 and additional standards are set forth below. Areas that meet the definition of more than one type of Open Space shall only be counted once when calculating the total Open Space on the lot. The Open Space Ratio on a lot shall be the total Open Space area divided by the lot area, expressed as a percentage. 5.22.1Private Open Space. Private Open Space shall be open and unobstructed to the sky, except that up to fifty (50) percent of the total Private Open Space may be Shaded Area. Trees, plantings, arbors, fences, flagpoles, sculpture, fountains and recreational and drying apparatus and similar objects shall not be considered obstructions when located within a private open space. Objects or structures intended exclusively for bicycle parking, designed and located in accordance with Section 6.100, which may be uncovered, partially covered or fully enclosed, shall not be considered obstructions provided that such objects or structures are not used for motor vehicle parking, general storage or any other use, and further provided that any such structure exceeding six feet (6') in height conforms to the requirements for an accessory building in Section 4.21. Beehives and apiaries conforming to the Standards for Urban Agriculture in Article 23.000 of this Zoning Ordinance shall not be considered obstructions provided that they are no more than six (6) feet in height. Structures or features that are necessary for a building to comply with the Flood Resilience Standards in Section 22.80, such as stairs, ramps, or window wells, shall not be considered obstructions. To the extent permitted in this Ordinance, balconies and roof areas may also be considered as Private Open Space. 5.22.1(a)Private Open Space shall include areas that are shared by all building occupants or available to occupants of separately tenanted areas of a building, such as dwelling units. Private Open Space may include either hardscaped or permeable areas but shall be provided on every lot used for residential purposes except for those in the Cambridge Center MXD District, and shall be a percentage of the lot area as set forth in Section 5.31. An area designated as Private Open Space may not have a slope greater than ten percent (10%). Private Open Space must meet the following other dimensional characteristics: If located at gradeWith the exception of balconies, Private Open Space must have both a width and a length of at least fifteen (15) feet and shall may be accessible to shared by all occupants of a building or