Image courtesy of Bruner/Cott Architects

Despite being a city that prides itself as a bastion of liberal values, Cambridge is in peril of flunking a test of basic human decency next month. 

All over a measly three stories. 

Showing how they really know how to pick their battles, city zoning officials have thrown down the gauntlet over the height of a proposed apartment project in Porter Square. 

And the height, you ask? 

Well, if you are thinking “skyscraper,” or even “mid-rise,” you’ll be more than a bit disappointed. 

“Small-rise” would be more like it, for the apartment building proposed by Cornerstone Communities is all of 9 stories tall. 

But surely this must be another one of these grossly–overpriced, cookie cutter “luxury” apartment boxes, you say? After all, we’ve had enough of those. 

Far from it, actually. All of the nearly 50 units at the new, slated for 2072 Massachusetts Ave., where the 1-story Darul Kabab restaurant now stands, would be rented out at below–market rates to middle– and working–class families. 

Many would be two–bedroom, family-sized apartments of the type hard to come by in a market flooded with luxury, one-bedroom units pitched at young professionals. 

Zoning Board Pushes for Less Height 

To any reasonable person who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past 20 years, what we are talking about here are desperately needed units in a city where the average rent until recently was over $3,000 a month and where the median home price crossed the seven-figure mark years ago and has kept on rising. 

But that broad category apparently doesn’t include a majority of the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeal, who see just another, stereotypical, “greedy” developer trying to push the envelope. 

Unable to see the forest from the trees, the board has effectively given the developers until Jan. 7 – when the hearing on the project is slated to resume – to shave as many as three stories and more than a dozen units from the project, the Cambridge Day reports. 

City Councilor Dennis Carlone, an urban planner and architect, said he was concerned about precedent, citing talk of another round of upzoning in Central Square, where maximum building heights were raised to 85 feet not too long ago. 

But Jim Monteverde, one of the zoning board members, took the cake, declaring: “I’m willing to sacrifice” the number of units in the building to achieve a lower height. 

A heroic gesture, it was definitely not. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that it’s not just Capstone Communities who’s being asked to “sacrifice,” but 14 middle and working-class families and other renters who would otherwise have found an affordable, decent place to live. 

Mayor Supports Project 

There’s good news here, though. 

First, roughly two-thirds of the letters and other comments sent to city officials reviewing the project have been in favor, according to the Cambridge Day, a strong showing of support in a vocal city. 

And city Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui backs moving ahead with the project as–is, even arguing for the project a recent, strongly-worded op-ed in the Cambridge Chronicle. 

She points out, among other things, that there is an 8 1/2-story building a block away. 

“This is a project that meets all the city’s major goals, and it should be applauded, not dissected,” she wrote. 

Some Zoning Board members also went on record in support of the project during a contentious, hours-long hearing on Dec. 10, with Tom Sieniewicz citing the “urgent need for affordable housing” and calling it a “question of social justice.” 

So, what’s really driving this push by some city officials to give a haircut to this desperately needed affordable apartment building? 

Well, it’s the neighbors, of course.  

They are up in arms over what they say is a dearth of parking for the project, saying it would be “too dangerous” – in the words of the Cambridge Day – to add another 200 residents to already–congested Porter Square. 

While the building has just three parking spaces, is also within a short walk from the Porter Square MBTA station. After all, isn’t that what transit-oriented development is all about? 

Scott Van Voorhis

I’d imagine that even if half those residents had cars, it would be a drop in the bucket, if that, in terms of the overall volume of traffic that passes through Porter Square each day, to visit its shops and restaurants, or just to pass through. 

And, of course, the neighbors definitely don’t like the height, with one letter writer warning the 9-story building would “tower” over adjacent buildings. 

I’d bet there would be hundreds if not thousands of families of working-class and middle-class families who would be willing to risk the dangers of living in Porter Square – who knew?  – in exchange for a decent, affordable place to live. 

It’s time for Cambridge to end this farce and do the right thing. 

Scott Van Voorhis is Banker & Tradesman’s columnist; opinions expressed are his own. He may be reached at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com.