City Council - Regular Meeting

whoever he wants, carte blanche, It's been almost two years since this happened, and the promise of bringing the community in and engaging with us and meeting with us has never come to fruition. And I would really value an opportunity to have that... Discussion respectfully and with Mr. Simmons regardless of how this turns out. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Ian Simmons, followed by Jerry Puccillo, then Marilyn Frankenstein. Ian, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi, this is Ian Simmons. Thanks for allowing us to speak tonight. I am president of the Foundation for Civic Leadership, a small nonprofit that created the Democracy Center at 45 Mount Auburn Street more than 20 years ago. I'm here tonight to respectfully reaffirm our opposition to landmarking 45 Mount Auburn. We appreciate the work of the Cambridge Door Commission and want to thank Charlie Sullivan and the staff that said three key points remain. First, the property is already appropriately protected within the historic Harvard Square Conservation District. where changes already require a certificate of appropriateness. The city's current framework already provides the right kind of oversight. Second, while the 19th century Greek revival facade is notable, it already has adequate protection and the history of 45 Mount Auburn does not meet the threshold for historic landmark designation when compared to other landmarks across the city. Finally, I've always been deeply committed to improving 45 Mount Auburn as a civic hub.

A landmark designation creates undue burdens and unneeded risks for the nonprofit civic project going forward and would limit the amount of civics, our ability to continue to expand civic space on site. We would strongly encourage the council to keep our ability to maximize the expansion of civic space and help us improve civic, Cambridge civic and community life. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Thank you. And I'm just going to call on Council Member McGovern. He's been here for a while for his roll call.

Council Member McGovern? Present.

Next speaker is Jerry Puccillo, followed by Marilyn Frankenstein, then Neil Miller. Jerry, you have the floor. Please go ahead. Two minutes.

Thank you. My name is Jerry Pachillo and I'm a consultant to the Foundation for Civic Leadership. I'll keep my comments very brief since you just heard from Ian. I have had decades of real estate development experience, including for 15 years a position as the Director of Housing Development for the Archdiocese of Boston. In that role and others I've acquired extensive experience in the rehab of existing historic assets and I deeply appreciate the value of preserving such assets. It's partially due to that experience that the foundation has asked me to assist in the redevelopment of the property at 45 Mount Auburn Street. Much of my work has been focused on building low and moderate income housing. For people with disabilities as well as repositioning these assets to serve ongoing strategic goals of nonprofit organizations such as the Foundation for Civic Leadership.

I accepted this specific assignment from the foundation because I believe they have demonstrated that they are aligned with the city's goals and have worked for decades to provide civic space to enrich and build community at this location. As you've heard from Ian, they hope to only deepen this commitment going forward and it would limit their resolve if you were to add further constraints on their ability to do so. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Marilyn Frankenstein, followed by Neil Miller, then David Halperin. Marilyn, you have the floor. Two minutes. Please go ahead.

Sorry, am I unmuted? You are. Please go ahead. Sorry, I couldn't see the sign. Marilyn Frankenstein, 40-plus-year resident of West Cambridge. I'm here to support landmark designation for 45 Mount Auburn Street, the Nathaniel Stickney House. Due to its 200-year historical significance for Cambridge, and a building that was home to the Democracy Center for a quarter of a century. I've always been interested in the value of our architectural surroundings, particularly how they ground us in our history. and this building recognized on the National Register of Historic Places is one I hope Cambridge will value by designating it a landmark. Beyond that historical concern is also that building's more current quarter of a century history is the democracy center. A comfortable and safe space for a variety of social justice organizations to meet and host events.

I'm a community coalition member of HART, Cambridge's Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team, which developed their model for unarmed crisis response in this space. and which also hosted a number of community gatherings at the Democracy Center. I've been to other organizations' educational events there and art builds in that same building. It was an important space not just for each individual organization, but for the natural significant collaborations among social justice organizations. This is also an important part of the history of 45 Mount Auburn Street that I urge you to consider in voting yes to approve its landmark designation.

Apologies. I just wanted to make a quick announcement. Some folks are having some issues with the stream. We're working on that, but this meeting is being recorded, so we'll have a video of it up immediately after. Our next speaker is Neal Miller, followed by David Halperin, then Kelsey Kelter. Neil, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi, Neil Miller, 425 Mass Ave. First, I wanted to just give a note of appreciation. Big thank you to all the folks at DPW living on Mass Ave. I could see and hear people working through the night. Thank you so much for everything that they do. I'm calling in in support of passing tonight the Cambridge Street Zoning Petition. given the I'm especially excited that the sites on Webster Street and Windsor Street going towards Union Square will Now be encouraged and incentivized to turn into homes that we really need near jobs and near transit.

I am disappointed that it seems like there is a push to move the zoning or the allowable heights on the rest of Cambridge Street down. and many more. long-time plan to for more homes in our squares and corridors. And with the amendments, it does not do that, but I support passing the plan for the Webster, Windsor Street sub-district to allow housing there. But before the amendments are voted on, I would encourage us to ask city staff whether the changes on Cambridge Street will make rents higher or lower.

for people struggling to stay in Cambridge whether it will provide more opportunities for small businesses or fewer whether it will make Cambridge Street more or less Friendly to other forms of transportation. I think these are important questions to ask as we're making these decisions. Thank you. Have a good night.

Thank you. Our next speaker is David Halperin, followed by Kelsey Kelter, then Ethan Frank. David, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Good evening, David Hauptmann, 14 Valentine Street, Unit 3. I'm also calling in to express my support for passing the Cambridge Street zoning petition and not letting it expire. Back during the multi-family housing process, we were shown how under any scenario we're not going to hit our housing production goals and you know the multi-family housing would be one component of getting us back on track towards something more reasonable. But the majority of our housing was projected to still be built on our squares and corridors. So, you know, and, you know, during all these processes, we're always told, you know, well, the place that we should really be able to have is the Squareson Corridor. So, you know, so much resistance to this. Now that we're finally doing it is really disappointing and continuing to water it down.

If we're going to have most of Cambridge Street be the same height as the neighborhoods, then it's... How is most of our housing going to be on our corridors? It doesn't make sense. I'm very consistent with what people have said they wanted in the past. I hope we can really, you know, like, move forward with the best compromise that we can tonight. But, you know, but yeah, like, we and we continue under every scenario we are falling behind on our housing goals and we need to take that seriously and we need to you know continue to to find new strategies to move that forward and to get the housing.

We built both market rate and affordable as inclusionary and every tool in the toolbox. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Kelsey Kelter, followed by Ethan Frank, then Dana Bullister. Kelsey, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Excellent. Distinguished City Councillors, thank you for pivoting to a virtual setting amid the New England snowfall. My name is Kelsey Kelter and I am a resident of 71 Thorndike Street in Cambridge. I'm here to share my strong support for Policy Order 2 regarding the incorporation of plant-based solutions into the Sustainable Cambridge Initiative, which aligns with the Plant-Based Treaty. In a professional capacity, I am a dedicated environmentalist and sustainability consultant specializing in enterprise-wide corporate decarbonization. As a volunteer, I co-lead the Sierra Clubs of Massachusetts Energy Justice Team, and I am a nine-year vegan for the planet, going back to my undergrad at Boston College. At the nexus of sustainability, environmentalism, and equitable justice sits the plant-based treaty. My fellow campaigners will share more detail of the campaign in due course.

but I am here to speak on the environmental effects of plant-based defaults, which can be included in the city's plant-based food strategy for events. DEFONTS make plant-based options the standard no-action choice, with meat and dairy available upon request. Studies have shown that serving plant-based food as the default option decreases meat consumption by up to 87%, thus reducing food's GHG emissions by an average of 40% and the water footprint therein by 24%. This behavioral nudging technique increases sustainable, healthier eating while preserving freedom of choice. Thus, serving meals that work for all dietary restrictions reduces overhead and food waste within our boundaries. Cambridge can use plant-based defaults and is an effective tool at the events to meet our carbon reduction goals while saving on food costs and improving health and inclusivity in the community.

This will help Cambridge reach its net zero GHG emissions by 2050. I ask this council to formally adopt Podency Order 2 and I thank you to the councillors thus forward who have endorsed this petition and for the whole council for considering the adoption of the plant-based treaty for Cambridge.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Ethan Frank, followed by Dana Bullister, then Jason Alves. Ethan, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hello. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can. Please go ahead.

My name is Ethan. I live at 632 Mass Ave. And the MBTA's cancellation of their ALY free development plan reminds me why it's so important that we use all of the space we have available as efficiently as possible, which is just one of the many reasons we should upzone Cambridge Street tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Dana Bullister. Dana has not joined. We will go to Jason Alves, followed by Jim Monteverde, then Taylor Cross. Jason, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi, this is Jason Alves, Executive Director of the East Cambridge Business Association, 544 Cambridge Street. I wanted to speak on the Cambridge Street zoning and the communication tonight. So just to... Thanks to Councilor Nolan and Mayor Siddiqui for recommending what I think is some good changes and makes for a nice compromise on the Cambridge Street zoning petition. I think for us, it's important that the WebSERAB intersection, it's something that we've been advocating for close to a decade now. I think there was some missed opportunities because of some previous zoning, but I think getting that up zoned there as a transition into the Boynton Yards area of Somerville and Union Square can really help create some good transit-oriented housing development. That doesn't really cause much displacement.

I think the reduction along Cambridge Street to six stories is a nice compromise. I think it gets in line with some of the recommendations of the R. Cambridge Street study. Cambridge Street basically has been upzoned recently to six stories and this kind of refines that zoning to make it more manageable for the neighborhood. So I think that that's a nice compromise and I think we're supportive of all this knowing that you will be revisiting the ground floor commercial requirements and a subsequent petition that is very very important to the district and something that we want to see happen and I guess quickly so Hope you can pass this tonight. Again, I think it's a good compromise that can hopefully make a lot of different parties that have concerns and hopes for Cambridge Street and bring everybody in line.

So thank you all very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Jim Monteverde, followed by Taylor Cross, then Anatoly Borisov. Jim, you have two minutes. Please go ahead. Jim Monteverde, if you can unmute yourself, you have the floor, two minutes.

Sorry, thank you. Good evening, I'm Jim Monteverde of 12 Oak Street in Mid Square. I ask that you let the Cambridge Street zoning petition expire and require that it be revised with the benefit of a robust open public review process. I support the Nolan-Siddiqui amendment to change the height limit in the new district C.A.M. 8 to 6 stories and asked that that same limit applied to the new district C.A.M. 10 in the heart of Inman Square. I suggest that the proposed design review thresholds of 75,000 square feet for residential projects be reduced so that most, if not all, of new development along Cambridge Street require review by the planning board to foster design competence. The zoning proposal should also be revised to allow existing retail uses to continue in any new construction to maintain the retail character and vibrancy of the street.

Please let the zoning petition expire so that it can be improved to reflect the public's vision for Cambridge Street through public review and comment. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Taylor Cross, followed by Anatoly Borisov, then Hannah Roach. Taylor, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Good evening, my name is Taylor Cross and my address is 1315 Harvard Yard Mail Center, Cambridge. And I'm here in strong support of Cambridge endorsing the Plant-Based Treaty and Policy Order Number Two. I'm a lifelong classical ballet dancer and a first-year pre-med student at Harvard planning to pursue cardiovascular surgery. Through years of intensive ballet training and internships with vascular surgeons, I became deeply interested in the intersection of nutrition, chronic disease, and preventative medicine. That journey led me to study whole foods plant-based nutrition and to see firsthand how powerful it can be for long-term health. We are living in a chronic disease epidemic. Heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers are now the leading causes of death and disability in the US. These are largely preventable conditions. Yet our healthcare system spends trillions of dollars treating symptoms rather than addressing root causes.

One of the most effective evidence-based tools we have is also one of the simplest, food. A whole foods plant-based diet has been shown to prevent, treat, and in many cases reverse chronic disease. Leading physicians and researchers, including many within the Cambridge and Harvard Medical Community, have demonstrated that plant-based diets can lower cholesterol, improve insulin sensitivity and significantly reduce cardiovascular risk. What I find especially meaningful about the plant-based treaty is that it recognizes the interconnectedness of human health, environmental sustainability, and food systems. Cities like Cambridge are uniquely positioned to lead by example by endorsing policies that support healthier, more sustainable food environments for everyone.