Residence One Zoning Petition on Height Setbacks and Parking

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and numbers may be misheard.

What: a zoning petition to amend height, setback, open space, stepback, building depth and width and minimum off-street parking requirements for residential uses in Residence One districts, including the Affordable Housing Overlay, and to lower the special permit review threshold from 75,000 to 20,000 square feet. Related: Multi-Family Housing Ordinance Amendments.
Where it stands: the Planning Board gave a negative recommendation; on July 21, 2026 the Ordinance Committee voted 7-2 to send the petition to the full City Council with a negative recommendation.
Next: City Council action; the outcome is not known from the record.

Staff said the petition would bring back parking minimums eliminated in 2022 and make affordable and inclusionary projects harder.
Affordable housing developers and the housing authority opposed it; other commenters supported parts of it, citing demolitions and loss of naturally affordable homes.
The city solicitor advised that a negative vote bars substantially similar petitions for two years.

Hearing; committee voted 7-2 to forward the petition to the City Council with a negative recommendation.