OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Land Use Committee Meeting Summary - November 21, 2025

Meeting PortalFriday, November 21, 2025
BodySomerville, Massachusetts
SessionMeeting Portal
DateFriday, November 21, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

All right, and now to clear this meeting of the land use committee in order, please note that pursuant to chapter two of the acts of 2025, this meeting of the city council committee will be conducted via remote participation.

0:13

We'll post an audio recording, audio video recording, transcript or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the city assemble website and local cable access government channels.

0:25

Clerk, please call the roll.

0:27

This is roll call, Counselor Davis.

0:29

Here.

0:30

Counselor Said.

0:32

Here.

0:33

Counselor Wilson.

0:34

Present.

0:35

Counselor Ewan Campin?

0:37

Here.

0:38

Councilor McGaughlin.

0:40

Here.

0:41

With all counselors present, we have quorum.

0:43

All right.

0:43

Thank you very much.

0:44

We have a few items on the agenda today.

0:46

We do have a request to take the 90 Washington Street items out of order.

0:50

Mr.

0:50

Demurse has a plan to catch.

0:52

So we'll do that.

0:54

But before that, I'd like to move to approve the minutes.

0:57

Any decor did uh discussion on that?

1:00

Seeing none, please call the roll to approve the minutes.

1:03

And on acceptance of agenda item one, 25-1710, approval of the minutes of the land use committee meeting of November 6, 2025.

1:11

Counselor Davis.

1:12

Yes.

1:13

Counselor Said.

1:15

Yes.

1:16

Counselor Wilson?

1:17

Yes.

1:17

Counselor Ewan Campen?

1:19

Yes.

1:19

Councilor McLaughlin.

1:21

Yes.

1:21

Those are accepted.

1:23

All right.

1:23

I'd like to move to take items seven, eight, and nine out of order.

1:27

Uh seeing no discussion on that, please read those items.

1:32

And that brings us to agenda items seven, eight, and nine, twenty-five-one five nine five requesting approval of an amendment to the memorandum of agreement between the city council and redevelopment authority regarding the redevelopment of 90 Washington.

1:44

25 1596 requesting approval of the development objectives for the redevelopment of 90 Washington Street and 25 1605, executive director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development conveying a summary of the 90 Washington Process Review and Development Pro objectives.

2:00

Excuse me.

2:01

And let's do item six as well.

2:03

Forgot that one.

2:04

In agenda item six, 25-1594 requesting approval of the amended 90 Washington Street Demonstration Project Plan.

2:12

All right.

2:13

So we've got a presentation about this at the last meeting.

2:15

We had a public hearing.

2:17

Mr.

2:17

Demers is here to answer any questions.

2:19

Do anyone does anyone on the council have any questions or comments right now?

2:28

Council Ewan Captain.

2:30

Thank you, Mr.

2:31

Chair.

2:31

True, you uh just wanted to say I don't have any questions.

2:34

I'm in support of these changes.

2:36

I think they make sense based on where we are, and they'll they'll help us move forward.

2:39

All right.

2:40

Any further discussion?

2:44

Seeing none, I agree and would like to make a motion to approve.

2:47

Uh let's see which items.

2:50

I guess we can just approve all four of them.

2:52

If there's no uh objection to that.

2:55

We would mark the um agenda item nine, some for discussion is work completed, but six, seven, and eight can be.

3:01

Very good.

3:02

So I'd like to move to approve items six, seven, eight and mark item nine, work complete.

3:09

Please call the roll.

3:11

And on the app oh.

3:14

Are you gonna say something?

3:16

Sorry, did I just glitch out on you?

3:19

Um, go ahead, finish what you're saying.

3:23

Nope.

3:23

Uh, if you have no comments, please call the roll.

3:30

And on the approval of a agenda items six, seven, and eight.

3:34

Counselor Davis.

3:35

Yes.

3:35

Counselor Say.

3:37

Yes.

3:38

Counselor Wilson?

3:39

Yes.

3:40

Counselor Ewan Campin?

3:41

Yes.

3:42

And Counselor McLaughlin.

3:43

Yes.

3:44

Those items are recommended to be approved.

3:46

All right, thank you.

3:47

Have a nice flight.

3:50

Let's see.

3:51

Let's go back to the regular order business.

3:53

So we have a few items here on the agenda.

3:55

Uh, we had a public hearing.

3:57

Uh a lot of them we cannot vote on just yet because the planning board has not made their recommendations.

4:03

But I'm going to open them up for discussion if anyone had any questions.

4:06

And I do believe in terms of the citizen petition, we might have uh the representative of that citizens petition here for discussion.

4:15

Um, I'll just let's just go through the agenda.

4:18

Could you read item number two?

4:21

Agenda item two 25-1554 requesting ordainment of an amendment to multiple sections of the zoning ordinance to make pre-submital meeting meetings optional for most permits and to improve clarity and consistency.

4:35

All right, does anyone on the council have any questions or comments about this item?

4:43

See no counselor and campan.

4:46

Mr.

4:46

Chair, just a procedural note.

4:50

Um, and I know you're aware of this, but um, for things that the planning board hasn't yet, but we anticipate will soon offer something.

5:00

Something we've done in the past is we recommend them out of committee and then they're just before the council.

5:02

That way we don't have to come back to committee to do it.

5:04

You can also just discharge them.

5:06

I'm in support of this and the next one.

5:09

Yeah, I think we could do it either way.

5:11

I was thinking to just uh liaison, Yasmin.

5:16

Uh thank you, Mr.

5:17

Chair for the record.

5:18

Yasmin Rodassi legislative liaison with IGA.

5:21

Um my understanding is that because at the public hearing, um, the committee opted to keep public comment open until the 21st, which is tomorrow, that we cannot take action and the clerks can correct me if I'm wrong, but we cannot take any action to recommend approval or any action until the public comment period has closed, because technically the public hearing is still open.

5:41

Please, if anyone wants to correct me, um, that was my understanding though.

5:47

I think that's correct.

5:48

And the other thing I was gonna say is if we approve it tonight, it'll come on the uh next city council meeting, and we won't be able to really vote on it until the December 11th meeting.

5:58

Uh so I would just leave it in committee and then we can discharge it out at the December 11th full council meeting.

6:04

Uh, but if no one has any uh questions, uh I'm gonna leave this one in committee.

6:12

How about item number three?

6:13

Does anyone have any questions or comments?

6:15

So do you people anticipate voting in favor of that?

6:22

Leave that one in committee.

6:25

Item number four, please read that one.

6:27

And that brings us to agenda item four, 25-1539.

6:31

12 registered voters requesting a zoning map amendment to change the zoning district of 363 Highland Av from mid-rise four to midrise five, and from MR4 to mid-rise six and one tello, excuse me, one ten Willow Avenue MR4 to MR6.

6:52

Council Davis is raising his hand to recuse himself.

6:54

I'm recusing this item as I uh butter to the uh Highland Av properties.

6:59

All right.

7:00

We have uh Mr.

7:01

Adam Dash in attendance in the audience.

7:03

If we could uh upgrade him to a panelist, uh if anyone has any questions or comments about this item.

7:11

Council you and Cameron.

7:14

Thank you, Mr.

7:14

Chair.

7:15

Um, through you, I I was interested um if the city staff has any feedback on this, any context, um any thoughts.

7:25

Yes, thank you.

7:26

Uh Mr.

7:26

Bartman is in attendance.

7:28

Uh, do you have any does the planning department have any comments on this item?

7:32

Yes, Mr.

7:32

Chair.

7:33

Thank you, Dan, for the record.

7:34

Dan Bartman, uh, the planning director of PPC.

7:37

Um uh we do support the map change.

7:39

We've also met with the applicant and talked about some urban design goals for the future development that might come from uh changing the zoning on these parcels.

7:48

Um so generally speaking, we support the the map amendment.

7:51

We are in contact with Eversource, the property owner of 110 Willow and are waiting feedback uh from their real estate department to uh find out if they would like to have their property up zoned or not.

8:05

And Mr.

8:05

Chair, through you, if I may.

8:07

Um obviously we're in a you know the the ward counselor's recused, so I'm just kind of have basic questions here, but um I know that there's been a ton of work on a Davis Square overall plan.

8:19

Um I think we were also told at the public hearing that the incipient neighborhood council is supportive of this and that there have been a number of neighborhood meetings.

8:28

Um I don't know, does planning staff have any kind of um uh context on the on those conversations, or is that just been between the developer and the neighborhood council.

8:41

Uh through you, Mr.

8:42

Chair, that that that's to my knowledge, that's been between the neighborhood council and the developer at this point.

8:47

We have not met uh with the neighborhood council yet ourselves.

8:51

Um but we know generally that there's been support for the map change.

8:55

Uh and this is kind of like on the edge of the you know commercial core.

8:59

Um while some decisions are still pending related to the you know plan that we've been working on for some time now.

9:07

Um so uh that I would say the fate of the core is still a decision to be made in the in the near future, hopefully.

9:16

Okay, thank you, Mr.

9:17

Chair.

9:18

I mean, uh I'll just say um we have not received any negative public feedback uh on this.

9:24

Um it's been represented to us by the developer that there's neighborhood support, which you know, take with a grain of salt.

9:30

It's coming from the applicant, but I I presume that that is accurately reflects the meetings they've had with the with the neighborhood council.

9:38

Um so that all being said, I'm interested to hear what my colleagues have to say and await a recommendation from the planning board.

9:45

Any further questions or comments from the committee?

9:50

Mr.

9:50

Council Wilson.

9:52

Yeah, thanks, Chair.

9:53

Um yeah, this one seems like the sort of development that we generally hear from constituents we want to see near transit.

10:01

Seems like a much better use of land than what we currently have there.

10:04

I particularly appreciated what we heard in terms of a willingness to maintain maintain, also improve upon the access to the community path that we've seen in that site.

10:16

That's been something I've heard a lot from constituents.

10:19

So yeah, it to me it seems like uh this is the sort of development that people want to see uh in the city.

10:29

Any other comments.

10:34

I'll just add that um this is a plot of land that I've passed by most of my life.

10:42

Uh, and it's been the same thing for many years.

10:46

And what's being proposed now is definitely better than what it's been for the majority of my life.

10:51

Uh so I'd be willing to support it.

10:53

Uh I would like to wait for the planning board recommendation as well and might as well keep this in committee, and we can discharge it at the uh December 11th meeting.

11:04

If there's no further discussion, uh Council Say.

11:09

Uh, through the chair.

11:11

Uh, I was just gonna add that it'll be in support of this as well.

11:14

And uh we'll be waiting for the planning board's recommendation.

11:19

Uh, I just had I guess this one thing that was mentioned is that the willow avener.

11:32

We have not yet heard from them.

11:35

If they're interested in upzoning, is that what Director Barman just said?

11:41

I believe so, but I'll let him clarify.

11:44

Yeah, if you could clarify that, like how does that yeah?

11:47

Like what's the process from here?

11:50

Mr.

11:50

Barman.

11:51

Uh through you, Mr.

11:52

Chair.

11:53

I've uh we make we are in regular contact with Eversource.

11:56

We actually have monthly meetings with them uh in the engineering division.

11:59

So I reached out to their that contact um and uh explained the proposal to them and what the timeline was uh and uh what it meant for them and what their land use was.

12:12

Uh and they took that information and are now meeting with their um legal and real estate department.

12:19

Um, they know that um uh there's a deadline for voting uh after closing the public hearing, and I expect to hear feedback from them in short order.

12:29

Uh next week is Thanksgiving, so um it might be the following week, but um, but I expect to hear back from them.

12:38

Yeah, thank you for adding that uh director through the chair.

12:41

Uh yeah, this is helpful just to make sure no votes uh are taken until we hear back from them.

12:48

Thank you.

12:50

Thank you.

12:51

Seeing no further discussion, this item will be left in committee.

12:57

Um next item.

12:58

Brings us to agenda item five, 25-0085 at the director of planning, preservation, and zoning draft amendment to the zoning ordinances for transit-oriented height and density bonuses for additional affordable housing and other enumerated community benefits.

13:13

Madam Clark, this is the last item on the agenda, right?

13:16

Correct.

13:17

Okay.

13:18

Uh we have Samantha Carr, uh land use analyst present.

13:22

Um, Ms.

13:23

Carr, did you have any updates for us?

13:27

Thank you, Chair.

13:28

Um, just had a couple of quick updates to the maps we shared at the last land use committee meeting based on uh feedback they received from a few committee members.

13:38

All right, take it away.

13:43

Hi everyone.

13:44

Um, hope you're doing well this evening.

13:46

Just had a quick presentation and to go through a couple of map updates since our last discussion here.

13:52

Next slide, please.

13:55

So, in terms of points of feedback we heard at the last land use committee session, kind of two pieces were being teased out.

14:01

One was talking about adding some urban residential parcels to contextually buffer or transition between existing neighborhood residential properties and parcels that are being proposed for mid-rise upzoning, primarily off of the core streets of Medford and Pearl Street, as well as looking to expand the small business district overlay in the core of Gilman Square to ensure the area has a variety of sizes of commercial spaces to support small and independent businesses and enhance the pedestrian experience through the streetscape.

14:34

Um I did have one slide here and talking about small business district overlay, um, just to provide a bit of additional context in terms of when that tool comes into activation.

14:46

So the small business district overlay can be placed over any zoning district.

14:50

Um, however, its impact will be felt differently based on whether that parcel is designated neighborhood or urban residential versus mid-rise in the neighborhood and urban residential district.

15:00

In the neighborhood and urban residential district, what this overlay district allows is it permits commercial spaces for small businesses, but it does not require them.

15:09

So this provides a bit more flexibility for the owners of the parcel to consider using their residential spaces to have small businesses, including home-based ACE uses for arts and creative enterprise, as well as some small scale commercial spaces and fresh food services.

15:28

When we think about the other zoning districts, this can be applied to in terms of mid-rise and outside the context of Gilman Square, but high-rise and commercial district as well.

15:38

Once the overlay district is placed on any of these parcels, commercial spaces for small businesses will be required when any new principal building is constructed, with the exception of the apartment building type, which is designated to not have any commercial uses within its typology.

15:58

Once we get into this category, there's kind of two permutations of paths.

16:04

So one is if the building width is less than 100 feet, only one ground floor commercial space to a maximum of 35 feet of that width is permitted.

16:14

So in terms of activating the overlay district, this comes into effect for buildings greater than 100 feet in width.

16:21

And after this threshold, 50% of the commercial spaces must be 20 feet or less to break up the commercial spaces on the streetscape and provide smaller spaces for local and independent businesses to frequent.

16:35

So I just wanted to highlight this for folks.

16:38

We have updated the maps to include the overlay district at a larger scale across the core of the Gilman Square.

16:46

But wanted to add this as a point of clarification that it will be for buildings that are greater than that hundred foot width threshold where it will be activated to start having these smaller commercial spaces come online.

17:01

Council Davis had a question.

17:03

Thank you, Mr.

17:04

Chair.

17:05

And thank you to Ms.

17:07

Carr for this.

17:08

I actually just wanted to add in a little historical context and only because this question has come up to me from constituents.

17:18

And so to the extent that might help clarify and avoid uh confusion if folks are watching this thinking about it.

17:24

The um the small business overlay for folks who may be familiar with our old zoning or at least sort of the way things have always been.

17:33

Um, it was it was primarily sort of created to um to account for the loss of what used to be called the neighborhood business zone, um, which was like you know think of three quarters speed of ward six up Highland Abb, up college from Davis Square to to uh Potterhouse, where there's lots of dentists' offices, right?

17:55

Or a real estate office.

17:57

Um it was uh it was, you know, when we got rid of the neighborhood business zone and those all became residential, um, it was a way to still allow those types of you know, in-how in-home businesses or small businesses along those, along you know, wherever where we um we created.

18:12

So that's why it first came into place.

18:14

It wasn't um expanding, you know, the it wasn't really intended to expand commercial use or anything like that.

18:19

It was just to sort of you know reflect what had had always previously been allowed.

18:23

And um, with uh Director Bartman's uh suggestion, we then also used it as Ms.

18:27

Gar just noted to um to require the you know the the variety of you know smaller or small and medium-sized commercial spaces in sort of the you know in core areas if we were to um to put it in place there.

18:40

So that's the the sort of the history behind the you know the the two aspects of it.

18:45

Um the the one was just to map what had already been there, and then the second was it was the most convenient and effective tool to ensure that when uh when we have a new building in our in our urban cores, we don't have a big giant, you know, um commercial space that takes up the entire thing and you know closes off the pedestrian experience.

19:03

Um I look forward to here in folks' house.

19:09

Thank you.

19:10

Uh please proceed.

19:13

Thank you, Chair.

19:15

Um, if we could advance to the next slide.

19:24

Um just wanted to share the four upzoning scenarios with a few updated features here on the maps.

19:30

And I have included the four maps seen previously at our last meeting in the appendix for a point of reference for folks, um, and did just want to reiterate that these are not formal proposals.

19:41

Um, these are being used as tools to catalyze conversation within the committee at this point in time.

19:47

Next slide, please.

19:50

So scenario one remains unchanged from last week.

19:53

Um, this is the scenario closest based to feedback received from the Gilman Square Neighborhood Council during initial conversations around an upzoning in Gilman Square.

20:02

So this is really looking at a concentrated upzoning of mid-rise mixed use development along the core streets at Medford and Pearl Street, directly adjacent to the train station.

20:13

So no substantive updates have been made here on this scenario since the last conversation to preserve kind of existing conditions as closely as possible to the Gilman Square Neighborhood Council's proposal.

20:30

So scenario two here is building upon that framework and is also starting to take into consideration urban residential parcels within the quarter mile walkshed.

20:40

So you can extend, see those extending on the west side of Medford Street, as well as along the Marshall and School Street corridors within the quarter mile zone.

20:50

The two changes that have been made here are expanding the small business district overlay in the central portion of Gilman Square.

20:58

So you'll see the black overlay district on the maps here is extending from the west side of Medford Street to the east side of Pearl Street up to the point where MR6 parcels have been recommended, as well as a urban residential transition band of parcels have been added on any lots that are falling between proposed mid-rise properties and existing neighborhood residential parcels.

21:24

And for the purposes of allowing this to create viability for new development, and those are often seen in blocks of two or three parcels together.

21:32

So for example, if you see here on Pearl Street on the east side of Pearl Street, we've got five parcels proposed for MR6 upzoning.

21:42

The backing parcels of those.

22:11

So scenario three is building off scenario two is extending the UR parcel designation slightly beyond the quarter mile walkshed up to the Broadway corridor along Marshall and School Street, as well as slightly further on the east side of Pearl Street and the west side of Medford Street.

22:30

Otherwise, um the points of feedback received from the committee last session have been incorporated here in terms of expanding the small business district overlay on those two main corridor streets, as well as ensuring that any parcels that are designated as mid-rise have those UR transition parcels backing behind them on the lots.

22:52

And the last slide here for scenario four.

22:56

The key difference here is the mid-rise zone is extended slightly along Medford and Pearl Streets.

23:04

So for example, on the west side of Medford Street, you'll see continuation of MR6 and then a few parcels of a MR4 transition before we go back towards the UR parcel designation.

23:17

This is also including the full scale of UR upzoning along school and marshall streets up to the Broadway corridor.

23:26

And otherwise, same principles as scenarios two and three.

23:29

Small business district overlay has been expanded on any parcels that are being considered for upzoning along Medford and Pearl Street.

23:37

And we are also preserving the principle of keeping that UR transition band of properties between proposed mid-rise parcels and existing neighborhood residential parcels.

23:49

So just wanted to share a quick update on those maps with folks.

23:53

And I'm cognizant that we introduced these for the first time to folks during the last session as well.

23:58

So happy to answer any questions folks have or hear about, you know, if there's a particular scenario you're interested in exploring further.

24:10

Thank you very much for the presentation.

24:12

Do we have any questions or comments from the council.

24:21

Seeing none, I am just curious.

24:24

I know we've got a few people's time constraints tonight.

24:28

I'm not sure if we're going to have another land use committee meeting this year.

24:34

So I would like to, and I may or may not be the chair of this committee next year.

24:39

I'd like to leave Ms.

24:40

Carl with a little bit of guidance.

24:42

If anyone had any just general thoughts about the proposal before us, I'll just say that I appreciate all four scenarios.

24:52

I would say I like any scenario that the Gilman Square Neighborhood Council will get support for because that means we're more likely to get community support.

25:01

And then I also think scenario three uh takes that proposal and then also talks a little bit about what uh Calto Wilson's been talking about with you our districts.

25:12

So I just want to put that out there.

25:14

Uh it's not my ward anymore.

25:15

So I definitely want to make sure that the people whose ward it still is get some input.

25:25

And no one has to speak either.

25:27

So all right.

25:29

No one wants to come cover sorry, counselor Davis, then counselor Ewan Camper.

25:35

Thank you, Mr.

25:36

Chair.

25:36

I I paused for a moment.

25:37

Uh I thought long enough to allow a uh a ward counselor or close to ward counselor to speak up.

25:42

So I'm happy to defer to Councillor Ewan Campan first if uh if you'd like to go.

25:45

Counselor Ewan.

25:46

Okay, well, Counselor Davis, everyone's being generous tonight.

25:49

Fair enough.

25:50

Uh my comment is more sort of uh a general um thought, and I actually can't remember if I'd mentioned this at the um at the last meeting or if I was talking to Ms.

26:00

Garr about this um directly.

26:02

Um but I this is great.

26:04

I I and and I share your gratitude um for uh for pulling all this together.

26:09

Um you know my my my current thinking, I was gonna say my preference, my current thinking, um, and I'm always willing to be convinced otherwise, um, as with anything, but my current thought is that you know, I I think I I would love to see um sort of the next step be or or one of the very you know near steps, uh next steps to be um, you know, taking um taking these concepts, uh maybe not all of them, but you know, you know, pick one or two um or or or you know, whatever makes sense to do um and applying them to the other transit nodes.

26:50

Um my thought is that it is that it makes more sense for us to do this um sort of city rock citywide rather than piecemeal one square at a time, um, if for no other reason that it's just gonna take forever um to get through you know all the public processes and everything else.

27:10

Um and and but also because you know, I I think it's helpful to think of this as sort of a a collective effort um throughout the city to you know to move forward with upzoning around our transit nodes.

27:23

Um I could be wrong, but I I I feel like that may, you know, shift the conversation a bit um as we sort of go through the process.

27:33

Um it it you know, it it may prolong it in terms of you know, uh it's gonna take longer to to pass something that affects all of the transit nodes than it would for you know the first one or the second one.

27:46

Um, but I think overall it would be faster to get everything upzoned.

27:49

I I think you know, we'd we'd probably we'd likely avoid sort of missing opportunities, where you know, like as I mentioned at the last meeting, I have a couple in Davis Square that are you know fairly modest um developments based on the current zoning that in my opinion, you know, could have could have been something more.

28:07

Um and so I just want to throw that out there sort of for for as a thought.

28:11

Um, you know, get get folks input, and then you know, if if it does make sense to do that, maybe um and to be clear, you know, Ms.

28:19

Carr, I I don't think I'm asking for you know four different options for every square that that feels like a lot, but maybe you know, we we can think about or I'd certainly value your input on like what what's the best sort of jumping off point from here, like to start mapping these to the other squares as a as a starting point for the discussion.

28:36

Um, you know, I think it also it's likely that you know a different a different neighborhood might uh you know, one of these scenario two versus scenario three or three versus four, it you know, might be appropriate for for this square, but not that one.

28:50

And and so there might be some some variation there, but um, I don't know.

28:54

That's sort of all of the all of the various thoughts bouncing around in my head.

28:57

So I'll I'll leave it at that, um, just sort of for for discussion in terms of you know, as the chair mentioned, the you know, uh kind of guidance or or thoughts on next steps going forward into next year.

29:08

And if I could just address that, counselor Davis.

29:11

So the reason we decided to focus on Gilman Square is because uh the city is already doing the Broadway corridor, which is gonna cover several of the transit nodes.

29:21

Uh so my logic was at least go for the one square that there's been a lot of public interest and upzoning while the city focuses on the Broadway corridor, and then finally we'll have Davis Square and a few other blocks left, but after that, we'll be uh have all the transit areas.

29:38

So I was hoping to get further into it than we have been, unfortunately, and that's just the way the process works sometimes.

29:45

Uh, but I would like to leave something for you know the next term.

29:48

We're gonna have a new mayor, we're gonna have new city council.

29:51

It'd be great to have something to discuss right off the bat next year.

29:55

Um, but I see counselor ew and campen has a comment.

30:01

Thank you, Mr.

30:02

Sher.

30:02

Um I really appreciate both of those perspectives.

30:05

I I think from my point of view, I absolutely want to continue these conversations.

30:11

Um, you know, I think I think it would make a lot of sense for Councillor Klingon and I to meet with the Gilman Square neighborhood council and kind of talk through these.

30:21

I I I for one find no matter how many zoning maps I look at, like I still sometimes kind of feel like it's unreality and really just go going kind of walking the streets, figuring out what what we're really talking about with all these, what's currently there.

30:34

Um, that that's really helpful for me.

30:35

So it's you know, I don't want this for my perspective to be like a purely kind of um formula-based, you know, if you're this far from a transit, it has to be this, as much as kind of, you know what the planning department does, right?

30:50

Like thinking about the the nuance of all this.

30:53

And I think what we're seeing is that it's both straightforward and really complicated, right?

30:58

Like it's it's very easy to look at these and see uh good things and challenges about every single one of these scenarios for me.

31:06

Um, you know, that said, I think the the way it is now is kind of illogical to me, right?

31:14

Like we have we have a T-St there, we should be zoned for more density, period.

31:19

Um, and then kind of actually landing on what is the one that we want to put all our weight behind and really, you know, uh push for that still has not quite clicked for me.

31:29

Um, but this is extremely helpful material to kind of get me closer.

31:34

And I'm more than happy early next year to get together with Councilor Kling and the Gilman Square Neighborhood uh association to talk through this in some more detail.

31:41

And obviously, you know, for anyone in the public listening, uh at 7 p.m.

31:46

on a Thursday, I'm I really welcome any kind of feedback on this.

31:52

See, Mr.

31:52

Bartman raises hand.

31:56

Mr.

31:57

Chair, I wanted to share that the planning division shares councillor Ewan Campins' interest in engaging the broader Gilman Square uh community, including the neighborhood council uh in the new year.

32:08

And um uh we and we were just about actually to reach out to both of them to discuss um that very uh notion.

32:15

So it's encouraging to hear that too, because we we think they that the public deserves to take a look at the maps and have the and be able to like look closely and talk about that nuance that um that he had referenced, and that's all.

32:27

Okay, so I shouldn't just vote to approve scenario four then.

32:32

We can't do that anyways.

32:34

Um Ms.

32:35

Carr.

32:37

Thank you, Chair.

32:38

I did just want to follow up um quickly on a point counselor Ewan Campin was mentioning um around kind of the on-the-ground context of the parcels.

32:48

Um I did want to highlight in particular scenario two um was thinking about some of the existing conditions um when thinking about the upzoning here.

32:59

So for example, on the west side of Medford Street, kind of trying to find the sweet spot of where there's already an established commercial mixed-use corridor there.

33:08

Um and so where the proposal um here tapered that off was on top of uh the street right before the church lots there, um, where is that big conglomeration of UR parcels on the west side of Medford Street?

33:22

Um and where that boundary was cutting off on School Street and Marshall Street of the UR parcels being expanded.

33:30

Um the consideration was they were following within the quarter mile lock shed, but also trying to kind of take uh consideration of um building like for like parcels up on either side of the street um and see where there was already some existing uh density that might um kind of help transition that within the fabric of the neighborhood.

33:51

So those are just two examples of kind of looking at the existing streetscape and how some of that was baked into the proposals here.

33:58

Um the other that comes to mind is a little bit further south on school street, um directly to the west side of the train station.

34:07

Um, you know, that's on a naturally high grade.

34:10

Um and there is kind of a sense of transition within the streetscape of moving outside the main um central core corridor of Gilman Square as you proceed up the hill.

34:21

Um so a couple of parcels um were considered in the last scenario for mid-rise there that are kind of the corner lots just starting to go up that grade.

34:30

Uh the others were zoned or proposed to be zoned for UR to take those existing conditions into mind um and to be thoughtful about thinking about whether businesses could proliferate on that kind of streetscape.

34:44

Um so I did just want to highlight a couple of those things that were taken into consideration around the parcels um and also very much appreciate um the value of going in person to see the sites and what's kind of the existing conditions there.

34:59

Thank you.

35:00

Do we have any other questions or comments from the council?

35:07

Seeing none, this item will be left in committee.

35:10

And seeing no further discussion, Councilor Ewan Campen moves to adjourn.

35:15

So all these items will be left in committee.

35:17

We did vote to approve the 90 Washington items, which we'll take up Tuesday.

35:23

And everything else will remain in committee.

35:28

And on adjournment, Counselor Davis.

35:31

Yes.

35:32

Counselor Said.

35:34

Yes.

35:35

Counselor Wilson.

35:40

Councillor Ewan Campin?

35:42

Yes.

35:43

Councilor McLaughlin.

35:45

Yes.

35:46

We are adjourned.

35:47

All right.

35:47

Good night, everyone.

35:48

Thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning Regulations█████████████████████████████████████████████70%
Procedural████████████18%
Public Engagement█████7%
Community Engagement2%
Affordable Housing2%
Historic Preservation1%
Summary of Proceedings

Land Use Committee Meeting Summary - November 21, 2025

The Land Use Committee convened via remote participation on November 21, 2025, to approve minutes, process amendments regarding the 90 Washington Street redevelopment, and discuss several zoning map amendments currently pending Planning Board recommendations. While unanimous approval was secured for the 90 Washington Street items, the committee chose to retain all other agenda items in committee to await final public comment closures and Planning Board inputs before discharge to the full City Council.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of the minutes from the Land Use Committee meeting held on November 6, 2025 (Ordinance 25-1710) was approved unanimously following a roll call vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Yasmin Rodassi (Legislative Liaison, IGA): Expressed a procedural stance that the committee cannot take action on Agenda Item 2 (zoning amendment for optional pre-submittal meetings) until the public comment period, which runs until November 22, 2025, officially closes. She recommended retaining the item in committee to discharge it to the full Council at the December 11th meeting once the hearing is closed.
  • Councillor Wilson: Highlighted constituent feedback supporting transit-oriented development at the Highland Avenue/Willow Avenue location (Agenda Item 4) and expressed support for maintaining/improving access to the community path. He indicated a position of support for the project pending Planning Board recommendations.
  • Councillor McLaughlin: Expressed support for the Highland Avenue project, noting the significant improvement over the site's history, while requesting the item remain in committee to await Planning Board input.

Discussion Items

  • 90 Washington Street Redevelopment (Items 6-9): The committee approved the amended demonstration project plan (Item 6), the amendment to the MOA with the Redevelopment Authority (Item 7), and the development objectives (Item 8), marking Item 9 as work complete. Councilor Ewan Campen expressed full support for these changes as a logical next step.
  • Zoning Ordinance Amendments (Item 2): Councillor Ewan Campen recommended discharging items where Planning Board recommendations are anticipated soon, though the legislative liaison advised retaining the item until the public hearing closes. The committee agreed to leave the item in committee.
  • Map Amendment for 363 Highland Ave & 110 Willow Ave (Item 4): Councilor Davis recused himself due to ownership of properties on Highland Ave.
    • Planning Director Dan Bartman: Stated support for the map change and is awaiting feedback from Eversource (owner of 110 Willow Ave) regarding their interest in upzoning. He noted contact with the neighborhood council but confirmed no direct meeting has occurred between staff and the council.
    • Councillor Ewan Campen: Expressed interest in understanding city staff feedback and context regarding the Neighborhood Council's support, noting the proposal is on the edge of the commercial core while finalizing the Davis Square overall plan.
  • Transit-Oriented Height and Density Bonuses (Item 5): Land Use Analyst Samantha Carr presented four upzoning scenarios for Gilman Square.
    • Councilor Davis: Expressed appreciation for the scenarios and noted that the small business district overlay was historically intended to preserve home-based/small businesses lost when the "neighborhood business zone" was removed, rather than to expand commercial usage broadly. He prefers any scenario supported by the Gilman Square Neighborhood Council.
    • Councilor Ewan Campen: Expressed a preference for applying these concepts citywide to all transit nodes simultaneously rather than piecemeal to avoid prolonged processes, though acknowledged different scenarios might suit different neighborhoods. He emphasized the need to engage the community on the ground to understand nuances.
    • Samantha Carr (City Staff): Clarified that Gilman Square was prioritized because the city is concurrently working on the Broadway corridor; she confirmed plans to engage the Neighborhood Council and the public in the new year.
    • Councilor McLaughlin: Expressed a position that upzoning near a T-Stop is logical, though the specific scenario choice remains unclear; she requested to walk the streets to better understand the context before finalizing a preference.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved Unanimously (Roll Call: 6-0):
    • Item 6: 25-1594 (Amended 90 Washington Street Demonstration Project Plan).
    • Item 7: 25-1595 (Amendment to MOA regarding 90 Washington Street).
    • Item 8: 25-1596 (Development Objectives for 90 Washington Street).
  • Items Left in Committee:
    • Item 2: 25-1554 (Zoning Ordinance Amendment for Pre-submittal Meetings).
    • Item 4: 25-1539 (Zoning Map Amendment for 363 Highland Ave and 110 Willow Ave).
    • Item 5: 25-0085 (Transit-Oriented Height/Density Bonuses for Gilman Square).
  • Next Steps:
    • The approved 90 Washington Street items will be taken up at the Tuesday (November 25) City Council meeting.
    • All remaining items remain in Land Use Committee pending Planning Board recommendations and/or the closure of the public comment period, likely for discharge to the Full Council meeting on December 11, 2025.
  • Recusal: Councilor Davis recused himself from Item 4 due to property ownership in the area.

Meeting Transcript

All right, and now to clear this meeting of the land use committee in order, please note that pursuant to chapter two of the acts of 2025, this meeting of the city council committee will be conducted via remote participation. We'll post an audio recording, audio video recording, transcript or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the city assemble website and local cable access government channels. Clerk, please call the roll. This is roll call, Counselor Davis. Here. Counselor Said. Here. Counselor Wilson. Present. Counselor Ewan Campin? Here. Councilor McGaughlin. Here. With all counselors present, we have quorum. All right. Thank you very much. We have a few items on the agenda today. We do have a request to take the 90 Washington Street items out of order. Mr. Demurse has a plan to catch. So we'll do that. But before that, I'd like to move to approve the minutes. Any decor did uh discussion on that? Seeing none, please call the roll to approve the minutes. And on acceptance of agenda item one, 25-1710, approval of the minutes of the land use committee meeting of November 6, 2025. Counselor Davis. Yes. Counselor Said. Yes. Counselor Wilson? Yes. Counselor Ewan Campen? Yes. Councilor McLaughlin. Yes. Those are accepted. All right. I'd like to move to take items seven, eight, and nine out of order. Uh seeing no discussion on that, please read those items. And that brings us to agenda items seven, eight, and nine, twenty-five-one five nine five requesting approval of an amendment to the memorandum of agreement between the city council and redevelopment authority regarding the redevelopment of 90 Washington. 25 1596 requesting approval of the development objectives for the redevelopment of 90 Washington Street and 25 1605, executive director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development conveying a summary of the 90 Washington Process Review and Development Pro objectives. Excuse me. And let's do item six as well. Forgot that one. In agenda item six, 25-1594 requesting approval of the amended 90 Washington Street Demonstration Project Plan. All right. So we've got a presentation about this at the last meeting. We had a public hearing. Mr. Demers is here to answer any questions.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com