100%-Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay

This page is no longer being updated.  Click here for information on the implementation of the 100%-Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO), including information on individual AHO developments and other current activity.

The idea for an 100%-Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay grew out of discussions with the City Council and Housing Committee to consider policy changes to address the housing crisis. The goal of the 100%-Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay is to help affordable housing developers, using public funds, create new affordable units more quickly, more cost effectively, and in areas where there are fewer affordable housing options for residents.

Affordable housing developers often cannot compete with market-rate developers who can afford to pay more for land and buildings. There are also areas of the city where current zoning makes the creation of new affordable housing infeasible. Allowing affordable housing providers to build more densely than market-rate developers will create opportunities in these neighborhoods. Affordable housing developers have also faced long and costly permitting challenges delaying their ability to complete new affordable units. Streamlining the approval process for new 100%-affordable housing will help reduce development costs and allow affordable housing providers to create new affordable units more quickly while using public funding more effectively.

The idea was advanced during the Envision Cambridge city-wide planning process. The Envision Cambridge Housing Working Group recommended it as one of their proposed strategies to expand affordable housing opportunities across the city.

The City Council’s Housing Committee expressed interest in considering this idea further. In late 2018 and early 2019, Community Development staff worked to develop the concept so that detailed discussions with the City Council and community could take place.

Throughout the first half of 2019, a series of public hearings and community meetings were convened to discuss and consider the proposed 100%-Affordable Housing Overlay.  This included meetings of the Housing Committee, Planning Board, and Affordable Housing Trust (see below for links to meeting notes and materials).

In addition, Community Development staff hosted a series of open houses on the 100%-Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay proposal. Staff from the Community Development Department were available at these drop-in sessions to answer questions and discuss the proposal.

At the request of the Housing Committee, CDD prepared a zoning amendment for consideration by the City Council.  The zoning petition was discussed at several meetings by the Ordinance Committee, and amended to incorporate changes made by the Ordinance Committee and to reflect recommendations put forth by the Planning Board.  Both the Ordinance Committee and the Planning Board voted to forward the amended petition to the City Council for consideration. The first zoning petition expired on September 30, 2019. 

In early 2020 a second zoning petition was filed to establish an 100%-Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay.  Both the Ordinance Committee and Planning Board held public meetings in July and August 2020 as each considered the petition and recommended that the City Council adopt the ordinance. The City Council adopted the ordinance on October 5, 2020.  Click here to read the adopted ordinance. Click here to read the applicable design guidelines.

Meetings Held in 2020

Ordinance Committee – July 8, 2020

Ordinance Committee – July 22, 2020 (Meeting cancelled)

Planning Board – August 4, 2020

Ordinance Committee – August 19, 2020 

Additional Information

For information from past meetings and materials related to the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay proposal and zoning petition, please see below.  More information on the 2019 and 2020 zoning petition can be found here.