Heritage district expansion plan dropped by Cambridge council

Tuesday night was a busy one for Cambridge City Council.

Amid the usual business, several delegations were on hand to talk about the proposed expansion of the Galt Heritage Conservation District (GHCD).

The plan would see the current GHCD greatly expanded to encompass more area to the east of the downtown. The goal is to protect more of the heritage buildings that make Galt such a unique place. The worry is that the character of the downtown could be lost to overzealous development.

But opponents also worry that expanding the area could impede development on lands were no heritage buildings exist or make it harder for residents to make renovations to their homes or businesses.

One of the groups opposed to the expansion is the Cambridge Core Planning Advisory Committee (CCPAC). It’s a group made up of local businesses owners, residents and stakeholders who had concerns over the how the city makes planning decisions.

Patrick Simmons is a retired architect and longtime Cambridge resident. He founded CCPAC and was one of the delegates Tuesday night.

He was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show and said what the downtown needs is people. His concern is the expanded GHCD would make creating housing in the core increasingly difficult.

“We haven’t had any developers interested in building housing downtown for years. I’m not talking about glass skyscrapers or concrete high-rises, I’m just talking about sensible housing in the core area. We have to attract these people into the core area.”

He said the expanded zone would create another significant layer of regulation, another hurdle for developers.

Simmons wanted to make it clear that he fully supports the idea of conserving the heritage buildings, in fact, he’s not opposed to expanding the GHCD, just not as large and more focused than the area proposed to council.

“We already have a little bit of a heritage conservation district on the south side of lower Main St. Maybe take it across the street another block or so to the north or south. But, let’s be judicious about it. Rather than taking the whole downtown and saying nobody can do anything without working with heritage planners. And, that’s not an easy process.”

Simmons also mentioned that the city has a history of developments that have embraced and incorporated` heritage buildings into new developments.

“City Hall is a great example of working within that quadrant,” said Simmons.

“The old post office on the waterfront, again great modern architecture combined with heritage buildings, fantastic work. The Cambridge Mill, a wonderful long time business, and a great restaurant by the way, also added to their building very thoughtfully, very sensitively. Nobody wants to tear down these old buildings. They want to work with them because they know the value.”

After lengthy debate, Cambridge council voted to reject the boundary expansion by a 6-3 margin.