Mid-October News & Calls-To-Action

Land Use! CPA Ballot Question! Zoning Changes!

Author

Jeff Byrnes
October 17, 2024

We’re continuing to work on our next, and hopefully final, draft of our upcoming zoning amendment proposal. Thanks again to everyone who stopped by our table at the various festivals recently, and those who provided additional feedback, especially each of our city councilors, via email or one-on-one meetings.

If you’d like to get involved and join us, please reply to this message to receive access to our message board and Discord chat server.

Calls-To-Action

Land Use

Tonight’s Land Use Committee hearing has items needing our support!

Somerville YIMBY wants you to come and speak in support of the end of parking minimums citywide, and to allow more homes to be built at 501 Mystic Valley Parkway. Register here to attend via Zoom.

#YesOn6!

The upcoming election has a sixth ballot question, unique to Somerville, and we urge you to vote yes! This would increase our Community Preservation Act (CPA) property tax surcharge from 1.5% to 3%, the maximum allowed by law.

This surcharge is specifically set aside for Affordable Housing, Parks & Green Space, and Historic Preservation. To quote Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen from his most recent newsletter:

The funding we raise locally is partially matched by the State, and over the past decade we have raised $35M. Critically, these dollars have been leveraged for many other funding sources: for every $1 spent on affordable housing, we have raised $18 from State, Federal, or other sources. You can read about the many wonderful projects that the CPA has supported, and much more, here.

As an example, if you own a three decker, with a median value of $1.3 million, your tax bill will increase by $136, or about $11 per month. While that’s a small amount, the total revenue would increase to $6 million per year, doubling how much is available for these vital community benefits.

Learn more at www.YesOn6Somerville.com.

Upcoming Events

  • Land Use Committee Hearing, tonight October 17, 6:30pm: A regular meeting of the City Council’s Land Use Committee, with two agenda items of note (full agenda available here):

    • Ordainment of the removal of all minimum parking requirements from Somerville Zoning Ordinance

    • Zoning Map Amendment to change 501 Mystic Valley Parkway to Urban Residents (UR) to allow more homes, including Affordable Homes, to be built there

  • City of Cambridge Central Square Rezoning Block Party, October 19, 1–5pm: Our next-door neighbors in Cambridge are celebrating and sharing the Final Recommendations to Central Square’s zoning, and our friends at A Better Cambridge will be there!

  • Central Somerville Avenue Kick-Off Public Meeting, October 28, 6–8pm: the kickoff to a public discussion of a set of zoning changes inspired by Somernova and #ArtStaysHere.

  • Somerville YIMBY Monthly Social, November 1, 6pm: Our next monthly social, held at Remnant Brewing in Bow Market. Every first Friday!

  • Book Club: We’ll be reading Sacred Civics: Building 7-Generation Cities this quarter. Exact date and location TBA. If buying a copy of this book presents a financial hardship for you, reply to this message and we’ll hook you up.

  • Election Day, November 5: Please vote!

Check out our full calendar for more events, and as always, if you think we’ve missed one, please let us know!

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