Council Updates, Citywide Dance Party, World Cup Action, and More

Multifamily Zoning
A year after passing the Multifamily Housing Ordinance, the Council has been working through the annual review process, which I worked to require in the ordinance. At this point we have had three separate meetings (which you can rewatch here) that included City staff as well as outside experts. Our latest meeting was yesterday afternoon and we reviewed several changes that would add more transparency to the process and hopefully create more functional open space requirements. As I have stated, I fully support allowing multifamily housing in every neighborhood of the city. And I still wish that the council had adopted a very bold and not as extreme proposal. At this point, the City presented some possible amendments that would create just as much housing, while mitigating some of the negative aspects of some proposals. More housing is good, and as we build, we must also preserve public health, ensure stormwater mitigation happens, consider impact to existing solar, and urban design, planning and livability. I hope that we adjust the zoning to continue to build more housing, without extreme projects. One step in analyzing the impacts of the zoning changes is better communicating the actual rules of the new development, which includes much more than zoning – it also includes stormwater regulations, traffic impacts for large buildings, green factor calculations, fossil fuel free regulations, and more. One important part of that is the work I’m doing to update the Urban Forest Master Plan with lessons learned from the last 5 years. Those recommendations will also inform the zoning changes. It’s important for all residents to understand what protections are in place for local neighborhoods and the environment so we can have clear conversations about impact.

Ahern Field Turf Installation
The City announced a decision not to move forward with artificial turf at this time and will instead reconstruct the natural grass field including improvements to drainage and irrigation. I am thrilled that our advocacy led to this decision – and understand that for some in the community the news is heartening and welcome, and for others disappointing. As the parent of two kids who played sports in Cambridge, including with CYS, I fully support youth sports and outdoor athletics and understand the need for good fields. The best option for Ahern is grass. I am glad that many in the community advocated for grass, and that my advocacy along with others led the city to reverse course and make the best decision for the whole community.  My Cambridge Day Op-ed: Ahern Field: Plastics should not be our future summarizes my reasons for supporting a grass field. Notably, at a time when we are more aware of the dangers of plastic, the average artificial field uses 40,000 pounds of plastic. This decision follows a policy order I filed (POR 2026 #77) and a report back (CMA 2026 #174). After reviewing the project and all available data, I determined that this turf project was not in the best interest of the city and would undermine public health. Minimizing reliance on plastics has been a long-time project of mine in Cambridge. As chair of the Health and Environment Committee for several terms, I have worked hard to update our internal policies and ordinances to phase out the use of single use plastics, push us to work more sustainably, and eliminate dangerous materials from our waste streams. Artificial turf, while it allows for more playable hours for organized sports, puts our community at risk with regards to public health and safety.

Alcohol Licensing
Earlier this month, the community and the City Council were made aware of potential changes to the alcohol licensing rules that were published for review by the Licensing Commission. After outcry about the lack of any rationale provided for the draft changes, the License Commission suggested that some changes were to update the rules in line with state law, but no specifics were given. From all I read and heard, the proposed changes are unnecessarily restrictive and would impose significant operational and management changes on licensees. I spoke with bar owners and local businesses and submitted a policy order, with Mayor Siddiqui, Councillors McGovern and Zusy disapproving of the draft changes and the process – and requested an inclusive process for working through any potential changes. Further, the timing of this lapse is directly counter to the goals of the City as we work to make this summer’s events, including the World Cup events, a success for small businesses and the entire community. I also am in full support of considering changes to our overly prescriptive and arcane liquor laws the state needs to consider overhauling.

Zero Waste Master Plan 2.0 Ordinance Updates
I am excited that the ordinance language for the Zero Waste Master Plan 2.0 was passed to a second reading at this week’s Council meeting and is due to be ordained at our summer meeting in the first week of August. This was not an easy path, as there were many critics and skeptical councillors, the sustained advocacy from experts and advocates really helped, as well as a consistent message from City staff about the importance of these changes. I wrote to the entire Council about the specific changes and why they are important here. I look forward to continuing this work and finalizing these ordinance changes at the summer meeting. The bottom line is that these changes will save money for the City and for commercial property owners on expensive trash hauling, control rats by separating food waste, and encourage less trash through waste management plans for large buildings.