After a joint roundtable on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, the Economic Development & University Relations Committee, and the Neighborhood & Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee voted to send the Callender citizen petition, which would restrict lab use in certain districts of Cambridge, voted to send the petition to the full city council with a negative recommendation. This aligns with the Planning Board’s vote on December 20, 2022 to recommend against the petition to the City Council.
The committees also voted positively to create a working group composed of universities, property owners, and business associations – including the KSA – to suggest reasonable restrictions on commercial building and lab size, and the need for more housing, among other things.
View the February 7 meeting agenda and recording.
January 4, 2023
The Ordinance Committee heard from the petitioners and the opposition, including the KSA, and voted to refer the Petition to the Joint Committee for further consideration expected to be held in February 2023.
December 20, 2022
The Planning Board concluded that the Petition wasn’t properly structured to achieve the stated objectives, and voted to recommend against the Petition (6-1). The Planning Board acknowledged the need for affordable housing , and suggested that there be some process whereby continued work can be done between the petitioners, City, and the business community on this topic. Agenda packet here.
On December 7, 2022 the City’s Neighborhood & Long-term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee and the City’s Economic Development and University Relations Committee (the “Joint Committee”) held a hearing on the Policy Order. City staff presented finance and zoning data. The KSA, East Cambridge and Central Square Business Associations, and MIT, opposed the ban and presented testimony which can be viewed here. Several individuals from small and mid-sized labs shared compelling testimony about the value of being in Cambridge and the discoveries and impact they are making.
Background:
The first effort began with Policy Order 2022 #161 submitted by two City Councillors. On December 7, 2022 the City’s Neighborhood & Long-term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee and the City’s Economic Development and University Relations Committee (the “Joint Committee”) held a hearing on the Policy Order. City staff presented finance and zoning data. The KSA, East Cambridge and Central Square Business Associations, and MIT, opposed the ban and presented testimony which can be viewed here. Several individuals from small and mid-sized labs shared compelling testimony about the value of being in Cambridge and the discoveries and impact they are making.
The second effort began with a Citizens’ Petition (Callender 2022) submitted to the Planning Board. On December 20, the Planning Board heard from the petitioners and the opposition, including the KSA, and voted to recommend against the Petition.
The third effort began with a similar Citizens’ Petition (Callender 2022 #53), edited to exempt existing labs and existing lab buildings in the proposed restricted areas, and submitted to Ordinance. On January 4, the Ordinance Committee heard from the petitioners and the opposition, including the KSA, and voted to refer the Petition to the Joint Committee for further consideration on February 7.
Summary of Positions: Petitioners have defined “Labs” broadly in the petition as “any laboratory engaged in research, experimental and testing, including but not limited to the fields of biology, chemistry, electronics, engineering, geology, medicine, and physics, including activities that requires additional air exchanges over and above a regular office use, or requires the use of chemical hoods, biosafety cabinets, regulated chemicals, or dangerous substances.” The definition does not include innovation spaces or maker spaces, though those terms are not defined. Petitioners seek to restrict lab development in the proposed designated areas for several reasons, principally because they believe that intensive biotech/pharma development “outcompetes” housing.
Opponents to the lab ban, including the KSA, MIT, the East Cambridge and Harvard Square Business Associations, and the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce have opposed the petition on numerous grounds, including the following.
- Innovation and housing are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the innovation economy fuels the Cambridge economy, and linkage fees–which just went up 66%–fund affordable housing
- The vast majority of the land in Cambridge is zoned residential, and Cambridge is one of the Massachusetts communities with the highest percentage of affordable housing in Massachusetts.
- The City’s zoning regulations already address any nuisance issues labs may present. Labs, restaurants, and all businesses in Cambridge are governed by regulations such as the placement of mechanicals. Singling out labs is inappropriate and short-sighted.
- The small, independently owned labs that exist today in the proposed restricted areas are the kind of small businesses that contribute to the city’s vibrancy, prosperity, and legacy as home to the world’s most forward-thinking innovators.
- The lab ban threatens the viability of smaller labs and over time would force them out of Cambridge to other emerging innovation hubs in Massachusetts, or worse, around the globe.
- Labs do not blight commercial centers, in fact centers thrive when there is a consistent workforce and resident population to patronize local restaurants and shops. Lab employees contribute to a stable local economy by supporting restaurants and retail before, during, and after their work days ensuring an overall vibrant economy in Cambridge.
- Despite the immense impact this petition would have on how people live, work and play in Cambridge, the language of the amendment is vague and unclear, including in how labs are defined.