A group of Cambridgeport residents yesterday petitioned the City Council to save the last remaining major tract of undeveloped land in the city from virtually unrestricted use.
Both residents and some city officials agree that if the council does not pass a rezoning ordinance within the next few months, a significant portion of the Cambridgeport Industrial Area--which for more than two years has been the subject of sharp debate--will be developed without reflecting the concern of the neighborhood.
Developers generally favor building white collar office space in the area, while the residents would like to see blue collar interests such as manufacturing and low-income housing represented.
The current zoning laws allow no housing in the area, but place virtually no restrictions on other types of development.
The petition submitted yesterday is similar to two previous petitions drawn up by the resident's group, neither of which won city council approval. A rezoning of the area must be approved by the city planning board and seven of the nine city councilors.
In previous debate on the issue, the city council has tended to mirror the sharp division that exists within Cambridgeport between MIT, the principal landowner, and the neighborhood group, which calls itself the Simplex Steering Committee. None of the four zoning petitions brought before the council in the last two years has even reached the stage of a final vote.
Steering committee members yesterday acknowledged that their petition stands little chance of gaining approval, but said that they hope it will lead to a compromise. "If all parties would agree to take (the petition) as the common starting point, there may be a better chance for working out a petition that can gain city council support," the petition states.
MIT has previously refused to negotiate on the basis of similar petitions.
Five city councilors, including Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci, have expressed varying degrees of support for additional zoning restrictions. City Councilor David Sullivan, who fully supports the neighborhood plan--officially known as the Quinton Petition--said in an interview earlier this week that he is willing to support a compromise He added that he hopes the neighborhood plan will "serve as a vehicle" for such a solution.
An agreement on zoning the area is now urgent, committee members say, because MIT will soon select a developer for 27 acres land that it owns in Cambridgeport called the Simplex Development Area. Current zoning laws would allow MIT to build virtually whatever it wants on the property, and the neighborhood group is pushing for more restrictive zoning.
Should the council not pass a rezoning ordinance before MIT's developer obtains building permits, the Simplex area would be free from any subsequent changes to the zoning of Cambridgeport.
"If the city wants some say on how this area will look--and not only how it will look but what kind of businesses will locate there--they better speak now or forever hold their peace," said Bill Cavellini a member of the steering committee "It's do or die.
Committee members and other advocates of more restrictive zoning contend that developers have threatened the neighborhood's existence by bringing white collar firms and luxury housing into the blue collar neighborhoods of Cambridge.
"A city with fixed boundaries cannot continue to allow unbridled office development, with all its upscale baggage," the petition says It continues. For older neighborhoods like Cambridgeport the price is gentrification pressure on homeowners and tenants to sell or move."
MIT spokesmen have said that the university has no set plans for the area, but they have clearly stated that the university is developing the site strictly as an investment, and will not use any of the property for university related activities.
The university has not denied, however, that it is interested in having research and consulting firms locate on the site Under current market conditions, such office uses would bring the highest return on MIT's investment.
The neighborhood petition, like its previous zoning efforts, calls for MIT to provide space on the site for manufacturing, low in come housing, and a public park. Some office use would be allowed.
The area in question is bounded by Mass Ave on the north. Memorial Drive on the south, the Boston and Albany railroad tracks on the east and Bookline Street on the west.
MIT acquired its major portion of the property--the Simplex area--from the old Simplex cable and Wire Company in 1970. It did not acquire the full 27-acre site until 1980, however, and it began seeking a developer last spring
