Politics

Cambridge eliminates single-family zoning in historic move

The zoning reform, championed by Councilors Burhan Azeem and Sumbul Siddiqui, is one of the most ambitious changes to any city’s zoning in decades.

Cambridge City Councilors Burhan Azeem, left, and Sumbul Siddiqui pause for a portrait while walking along Kirkland Street in Cambridge, Mass. Erin Clark/Globe Staff

By Molly Farrar

February 11, 2025

2 minutes to read

Cambridge’s City Council voted to end exclusionary single-family zoning, a historic rezoning that will allow up to six-story residential buildings to be permitted and built in each of Cambridge’s neighborhoods.

The zoning reform, championed by Councilors Burhan Azeem and Sumbul Siddiqui, is one of the most ambitious changes to any city’s zoning in decades, according to Azeem, who is also a board member of Abundant Housing Massachusetts.

Jesse Kanson-Benanav, the executive director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts, said the rezoning makes Cambridge one of the only cities in the state to eliminate exclusionary zoning, or zoning that only allows single-family housing in a neighborhood.

Previous estimates projected that there would be 350 new units with the previous zoning in Cambridge by 2040. The proposed zoning of up to six stories could create more than 4,800 units, according to the city’s Community Development Department.

The reform, which passed 8-1 Monday evening, removed dozens of barriers for developers to building housing, including requirements around lot size, number of units, floor-by-area ratios, special permits for buildings under 75,000 square feet, and no parking minimums, according to Azeem. (Cambridge already removed minimum parking requirements for new buildings in the city.)

Initially, the proposal allowed that some multifamily buildings could be built up to six stories high, which was changed to four stories through some minor amendments. The approved rezoning allows all four-story residential buildings to be approved by right, meaning the development won’t need special permits or permissions, with an option to add two additional stories with some caveats. Five- and six-story buildings are required to have a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet and for 20 percent of the units to be affordable. Buildings with 10 or more units, no matter how high, are also required to have 1 in 5 units be affordable.

Councilor Catherine Zusy was the lone vote against the ordinance, echoing sentiments from public comment that the proposal could produce luxury apartments and homes, The Boston Globe reported.

“I believe this proposal will produce mostly luxury units, raise real estate values, taxes, and rents, displace residents and raise both physical and psychological havoc in our neighborhoods,” Zusy said, according to the Globe. “It is not a recipe for urban planning. It is a recipe for random development at the whim of developers.”

Kanson-Benanav said Cambridge has been a leader in supporting affordable housing, but the goal of this rezoning simply increases the housing stock, which in turn increases affordability.

Right now, Cambridge is the most expensive community for renters in the state, with a median rent of a one-bedroom apartment sitting at $2,900.

“Cambridge does absolutely have a housing affordability crisis, and it needs so many tools to address the crisis,” Kanson-Benanav said. “We’re adding more housing, even if not all of it is subsidized, and even if it is market rate housing, it does help reduce the cost of housing for everyone, even the lowest income folks.”

In a Google document available to the public, Azeem noted that 85 percent of neighborhoods already don’t comply with the city’s restrictive zoning.

“I’m hopeful Cambridge’s bold move will inspire other cities to act,” Azeem said on X. “Our national housing crisis demands serious solutions, and local governments and cities have real power. This is a real solution for people facing high prices and good governance.”