Cambridge, Mass., Zoning Ordinance art. 4.000, § 4.60 (2025) § 4.50

4.51 Legal Authority . In accordance with Chapter 565 of the 1979 General Court, and as amended by Chapter 387 of the Acts of 1980, the use of land for institutional purposes in residentially zoned districts which require a lot of one thousand two hundred (1,200) square feet or more per dwelling unit shall be governed by the provisions of this Section 4.50 .
4.52 Purpose . It is the purpose of this Section 4.50 to protect lower density residential neighborhoods from unlimited expansion of institutional activities, to reduce pressures for conversion of the existing housing stock to nonresidential uses, to minimize the development of activities which are different from and incompatible with activity patterns customarily found in lower density residential neighborhoods and to provide a framework for allowing those institutions which are compatible with residential neighborhoods to locate and expand there. This Section 4.50 is intended to accomplish these purposes in a manner consistent with the findings and objectives of the Community Development Department's Cambridge Institutional Growth Management Plan (1981).
4.53 Approach . This Section 4.50 establishes special use regulations for institutional activities in the Residence C-1 zoning districts. These regulations encompass the full range of institutional uses. Each use is regulated based on its expected physical impacts on nearby residences, on the existing or recent use of the lot or structure proposed for such use, and on the location of the lot either within or outside of an area in which there has already been extensive institutional development.
4.54 Institutional Overlay District . The designation Institutional Overlay District is hereby established on the Zoning Map as provided for in Subsection 3.12. An Institutional Overlay District delimits an area where there has been extensive contiguous development of institutional use types subject to regulation under this Section 4.50 . Institutional Overlay Districts are defined in order to identify areas where prior development patterns create a precedent for more flexible institutional use regulation than in areas where non institutional uses predominate. The conditions regarding development of new or expanded institutional uses under Subsections 4.55 and 4.56 are determined in part by whether a lot is located inside or outside an Institutional Overlay District. The boundaries of these districts are drawn based on several physical factors; consequently, for purposes of definitional clarity, they encompass areas both inside and outside zoning districts subject to use regulation under this Section 4.50 . Regardless of the location of an Institutional Overlay District boundary, the special institutional use regulations of this Section 4.50 shall only apply within the Residence C-1 districts. The following Institutional Overlay Districts are hereby established on the Zoning Map.
4.54.1 The Harvard, Radcliffe, Lesley District.
4.54.2 The Episcopal Divinity School District.
4.54.3 The Observatory Hill District.
4.54.4 The Mount Auburn Hospital District.
4.54.5 The Shady Hill School, and Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols School District.
4.54.6 The Matignon School District.
4.54.7 The Cambridge Street Health Center District.
4.54.8 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology District.
4.55 Existing Lot Status . The institutional use of land or structures for each category of institutional activity in a Residence C-1 district shall be governed by the Table of Institutional Use Regulations in Subsection 4.56. The institutional use regulation in the table shall be the same in the aforementioned zoning district, but shall differ according to: (1) the applicable use category, (2) the location of the lot in relation to the Institutional Overlay Districts, and (3) the status of the lot in relation to its existing or recent use. If two or more of the lot status types listed below would pertain to the proposed development of an institutional use, then the more restrictive designation among the types of lot status for the use would apply. The column heading in Subsection 4.56 refers to the types of lot status listed in Subsection 4.55.1 and applies to institutional development whether by conversion of an existing structure or lot or by new construction or new use of a lot.
4.55.1 The Existing Lot Status pertaining to the proposed institutional development shall be defined according to one of the following three types:
(1) A lot which contains a residential use listed in Subsection 4.31, or which is vacant and which within the twenty-four (24) month period prior to the date of permit application, but subsequent to March 23, 1980, contained such residential use;
(2) A lot which contains any use other than those residential and institutional uses listed in Subsection 4.31 or 4.33, or which is vacant and did not within the twenty-four (24) month period prior to the date of permit application, but subsequent to March 23, 1980, contain a use listed in Subsection 4.31 or 4.33; or
(3) A lot which contains an institutional use listed in Subsection 4.33, or which is vacant and which within the twenty-four (24) month period prior to the date of permit application, but subsequently to March 23, 1980, contained such institutional use.
4.56 TABLE OF INSTITUTIONAL USE REGULATIONS
Use Categories | Inside Institutional Overlay Districts Existing Lot Status | Outside Institutional Overlay Districts Existing Lot Status
(1) | (2) | (3) | (1) | (2) | (3)
_____
a. Religious Purposes
1. Place or Worship | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | SP | Yes
2. Rectory, parsonage | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | SP | Yes
3. Convent, monastery | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | SP | Yes
4. Social or recreational center | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
5. Other use with religious purposes | SP | Yes | Yes | No | SP | Yes
b. Use of Land or Structure for Educational Purposes on Land Owned or Leased by the Commonwealth or any of its Agencies, Subdivisions or Bodies Politic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
c. Use of Land or Structure for Educational Purposes on Land Owned or Leased by Entities not included in Subsection 4.56b
1. Pre-school, day care center or kindergarten | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | SP | Yes
2. Primary School | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
3. Secondary School | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No
4. College or university athletic facility, auditorium, theater or similar facility, any of which is customarily accessible to the general public on a paid admission fee or other basis | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No 6
5. College or university laboratory or research facility customarily involving radioactive materials and other controlled substances, high Intensity electromagnetic radiation or chemical or biological processes potentially entailing a high level of danger to the public health and safety | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No
6. Other College or university facility 1 | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | No | No 6
7. Vocational or other schools | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
8. Dormitory, resident fraternity or sorority | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No 6
d. Non-Commercial Research Facilities
1. Laboratory or other research facility customarily involving research with radioactive materials, controlled substances, high intensity electromagnetic radiation or chemical or biological processes potentially entailing a high level of danger to the public health and safety | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No
2. Private library, study center or other research facility | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
e. Health Care Facilities
1. Hospital | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No
2. Infirmary | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
3. Nursing or Convalescent home | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
4. Clinic not affiliated with any other institution | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
5. Clinic affiliated with a hospital or an accredited university medical school | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No 6
6. Clinic connected to a community center | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
7. Other health care facility | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
f. Social Service Facilities
1. Social service center | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
2. Community Center | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No 6
g. Local Government 2
1. Administrative office | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No 6
2. Fire or police station | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
3. Museum | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
4. Municipal service facility | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | No | No
5. Public park, playground, or public recreation building | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | SP 4 | Yes | Yes
6. Municipal Library | Yes 8 | Yes 8 | Yes 8 | Yes 8 | Yes 8 | Yes 8
h. Other Governmental Facility | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
i. Other Institutional Uses
1. Club, lodge, or other fraternal or sororal meeting facility | SP 4 | SP | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
2. Museum or noncommercial gallery 3 | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | SP | SP 5
3. Cemetery | SP 4 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes
4. Institutional use not listed in any other category | SP 4 | SP | SP | No | SP | SP 5
FOOTNOTES TO TABLE OF INSTITUTIONAL REGULATIONS 1.
Other college or university facility shall include administrative offices, faculty and staff offices, teaching and research facilities not included in Subsection 4.56c(4) or c(5), libraries, museums, dining halls and service facilities including facilities listed in Subsection 4.56c(4) which are not accessible to the general public.
2. Local government shall include all nonresidential facilities and activities of the City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Housing Authority, Cambridge Redevelopment Authority and their component agencies, but shall not include public schools.
3. This use designation shall include facilities for cultural and ethnic heritage appreciation.
4. The Board of Zoning Appeal shall grant a special permit for this use only if the applicant demonstrates that he will act to replace indefinitely the dwelling units removed from the lot or converted to institutional use with an equivalent number of units, not previously on the housing market, at another location or locations within the City of Cambridge, before the units are removed or converted, and only if the applicant adequately provides at his own expense for the relocation of the occupants of the existing units to comparable units within the City of Cambridge. In every case, this replacement housing shall include units suitable for and available to low and moderate income households in an amount equal to ten (10) percent of the total number of units to be replaced. The remaining replacement units shall be comparable to the units removed. Comparability shall be determined by dwelling unit mix in terms of number of bedrooms, special facilities (such as handicapped access or common areas), amenities, including those existing in the surrounding neighborhood and range of price/rent levels. The Board of Zoning Appeal may require that the applicant submit whatever evidence it deems necessary to determine that the replacement units will be comparable and the applicant is bound to provide such units. Otherwise the special permit will not be issued. Replacement units shall be available for occupancy before the existing dwelling units are removed or converted and shall remain available as low and moderate income and comparable units unless otherwise authorized by the Board of Zoning Appeal. No building or demolition permit for the proposed institutional development shall be issued until the replacement units are available for occupancy and the occupants of the existing units have been relocated.
5. This use is allowed as of right if the pre-existing institutional use of the lot is in the same use table category in Subsection 4.56, otherwise a special permit from the Board of Zoning Appeal shall be required. Such special permit shall be granted only if the Board determines that the use will have fewer adverse impacts on the neighborhood than the pre-existing institutional use. In making this determination, the Board shall consider and comment on the physical attributes of the use, including those evaluated in the Cambridge Institutional Growth Management Plan. The Board may require the applicant to submit whatever documentation it deems necessary, to assist it in making said determination.
6. This use may be allowed upon issuance of a special permit by the Board of Zoning Appeal if the pre-existing institutional use of the lot is in the same use table category in Subsection 4.56 or if the Board determines that the use will have fewer adverse impacts on the neighborhood than the pre-existing institutional use. In making this determination, the Board shall consider and comment on the physical attributes of the use, including those evaluated in the Cambridge Institutional Growth Management Plan. The Board may require the applicant to submit whatever documentation it deems necessary to assist it in making said determination.
7. Subject to the provision of Section 11.20 .
8. Any dimensional or other relief from the provisions of this Ordinance required to construct or locate a municipal library use shall be permitted by grant of a special permit from the Planning Board. In granting such a special permit, where the library is proposed to be located within an Open Space zoning district, the Planning Board shall, in addition to the criteria set forth in Section 10.43, find that there will be no substantial reduction in the recreational and/or open space use, excluding parking areas and roadways. Where the Board does find there will be a substantial reduction in the recreational and/or open space use the special permit shall be granted upon assurance by the City Manager that he will offset such reduction by increased recreational and/or open space uses at another location, subject to necessary appropriations.
4.57 Special Permit Criteria . The Board of Zoning Appeal shall grant a special permit for a use in Subsection 4.56 only if it determines that the benefits of the proposed use at that location will outweigh it detriments. In addition to any particular determinations which must be made under footnotes 4, 5, or 6 of said Subsection and Subsection 10.43, "Special Permit Criteria", the Board shall consider and address the following factors as appropriate:
Benefits:
1. The building design or site plan would be compatible with the neighborhood.
2. The institution would be accessible to or primarily oriented toward neighborhood residents.
3. The institution would fulfill an identified neighborhood need.
4. The institution would fulfill an identified citywide need.
5. Institutional use would be particularly appropriate on the lot given previous use of the lot.
6. Institutional use would be particularly appropriate on the lot given institutional use of adjacent or nearby lots.
7. Residential development would not be feasible or reasonably practical on the site.
8. The proposed institutional use would create a stronger buffer or a more gentle transition between residential and nonresidential areas.
9. The proposed institutional use would result in a net improvement to the neighborhood by being more compatible than the previous use of the lot.
Detriments:
1. Development of the institutional use would substantially contravene the objectives of the Cambridge Institutional Growth Management Plan.
2. The intensity of the institutional use would be substantially greater than the use intensity of residences in the neighborhood, including traffic, building bulk, parking demands, etc.
3. The activity patterns, including pedestrian and vehicle travel to and from the institution would differ from existing neighborhood activity patterns so as to adversely impact the neighborhood.
4. Development of an institutional use would eliminate existing dwelling units.
5. Development of an institutional use would eliminate nonresidential services or activities which are beneficial to the neighborhood.
4.58 Special Permit Procedures . Applications for a special permit from the Board of Zoning Appeal under Subsection 4.56 shall be subject to the general procedural requirements specified in Article 19.000 .
4.58.1 Applications shall include all of the following and shall be submitted in triplicate.
1. A completed Special Permit Application form.
2. A completed Property Ownership Certificate.
3. An accurately scaled map showing existing conditions on the lot(s) on which the institutional development is proposed. Said map shall indicate property lines, existing structures and major landscaped features including trees in excess of three inch caliper, parking areas and driveways.
4. A description of the current use of said lot(s) or of the use within the previous twenty-four (24) months if the lot or structures are vacant.
5. A written description of the proposed use of the lot including the intensity of use, expected activity patterns, and probable users.
6. A statement of how the anticipated physical attributes of the use will be similar to or different from those predicted for that category of use generally in the Cambridge Institutional Growth Management Plan.
7. If germane to the proposal, a plan for replacing dwelling units to be displaced by the institutional use as required by footnote 4 of Subsection 4.56.
8. A list of any zoning violations which would customarily necessitate variances from the requirements of this Ordinance.
4.58.2 No application shall be accepted by the Board of Zoning Appeal until all of the information required in this Subsection 4.57 is submitted. Any changes in the application following submittal, other than those requested by the Board of Zoning Appeal, or its agent, shall require resubmittal of an application for a special permit. During the course of the special permit application, the Board of Zoning Appeal may require the applicant to provide any additional information which it deems is necessary and reasonable to determine that criteria of Subsection 4.57 will be satisfied.