Somerville: active threads

Updated October 12, 2026

SomerWiki follows the questions Somerville city government hasn't settled yet: zoning changes, development projects, Council fights, the budget, schools, streets and more. Each page covers one of them and says what's happening now, how it got here, and what comes next, with links to the sources.

The pages are grouped by topic below, housing and zoning first, followed by upcoming meetings and deadlines. Who's who identifies the people, Recently in Somerville lists decisions by date, and About the sources explains where the information comes from and how current it is.

Housing and zoning

Zoning amendments tracker — mayor's five in Land Use to Oct 30; four citizen petitions and a Boynton Yards amendment join Oct 8
Backyard cottages, ADUs and lot splits — Ewen-Campen calls state ADU rules "bizarre" and the 1,750 sq ft cap too big; two new petitions
Housing tax-break zone — UCH-TIF zone approved 10-0 Sept 10; now with the state, then a first project deal
Tenant protections — from Oct 14 landlords must tell tenants within 48 hours of listing, with the price; early-leasing petition still undocketed
Rental registry — registry still frozen; Council moves on short-term rentals instead with an Oct 8 residency crackdown
Rental assistance — the $2.1M aid pool is projected to run dry this fall despite $1.13M in June transfers
Somerville's bills on Beacon Hill — eight pending, none passed, three dead; Council backs the "Yes in God's Backyard" bill; delegation turns over in January

Development

90 Washington Street — the land deal missed its Oct 8 Council target; zoning must finish by December or restart
Teele Square hotel — ZBA continued the eight-story Pit hotel to Nov 5; the owners' burned building across the street is out a year
Davis Square Neighborhood Plan — survey closed Sept 27; feedback report and draft recommendations in the coming months
Union Square — US2's plan a quarter built with its labs empty; Hamilton has filed nothing new; a frequent Route 96 may come after 2028
Assembly Square — MGB leases 100,000 sq ft of labs at 74M; Planning Board members questioned the 19-story spec lab
299 Broadway — the Star Market site under construction: 319 homes, 136 affordable, opening 2027–28
The lab glut and the tax base — new growth fell from $17.7M to about $5M; the Council asks about a bankruptcy behind empty 808 Windsor

City Hall and money

Three Council seats turn over — Ward 2 and 3 special: papers Nov 16, preliminary Feb 2, final Wednesday March 24
Wilson's reorganization — nine cabinet departments and 23 fewer FTEs; the Council still hasn't voted on the structure
Equity reorganization — Racial and Social Justice cut from nine positions to four; Human Rights Commission holds 83 hate-bias complaints
City workers' union — about 220 staff still unrecognized as SMEU Unit A, superior officers and custodians get funded Oct 8
Charter buildout — boards review reports in December; first recodification of the ordinances since 1963 begins
Capital plan — due Nov 1 with a fire-fleet plan; $2.08M truck bond passed 10-0; Poplar Street orders at Finance
Rodenticide ban — city-property ban and home-rule petition went to the full Council Sept 24 (result not yet in); DPW weighs latched barrels
Tufts PILOT and labor — still no PILOT talks in public; facilities contract awaits ratification; RA union bargains

Police, public safety, civil rights

Civilian police oversight — first public hearing Oct 13 at Legislative Matters; no ordinance yet; board targeted for January
Surveillance and police technology — revised body-camera policy has no hearing date; UASI school grant approved; drone request coming
Immigration protections — Council urges Healey to end the state's 287(g) deal with ICE; $350,000 legal-aid vote not yet reported
Divestment and ethical procurement — 50 speakers, no vote Sept 8; charter clock ran out Oct 9; sponsor and chair leave Dec 31
The Cummings warming center — one more winter at Cummings; committee review postponed by the Teele Square fire

Schools

The new school at 115 Sycamore — 925 seats cleared MSBA subcommittee; full board votes Oct 28; debt-exclusion timing undecided
School buildings — high school tiles failing again, contractor pays; Winter Hill bathrooms held in committee; arts "cut" was an enrollment gap

Streets and transit

Mobility projects — Path speed strips now, police enforcement talk in November; Mossland dead-ends Oct 15; Route 80 fight
McGrath Boulevard — the $130M boulevard bids in late 2027 for 2028 construction
Traffic calming — no traffic death since 2022; 2030 bike deadline will slip; Link sours on the police road-safety grant

Water and sewer

Combined sewer overflows — cost-sharing fight brews; Cambridge rejects a fenced-off Magazine Beach tank; comment closes Oct 30
Flooding and stormwater — $315,000 more for Morrison Ave design approved Sept 10; the stormwater fee slips to 2027

Elections

State primary — all four Somerville nominees unopposed Nov 3; register by Oct 24, early voting Oct 17–30; nine questions

Culture

Arts and culture — Armory anchor lease approved 11-0 Oct 8, but 20%+ sits empty with no plan; Diamond Factory opens Oct 17

Dates that matter

Oct 13 — Legislative Matters public hearing on civilian oversight, 6 p.m. · Urban Design Commission on the 20-unit 84 Broadway addition (Before the boards)
Oct 14 — the notice-of-sale ordinance takes effect · ZBA (Target expansion) · Traffic and Parking on construction parking permits · Arts Council board on the director search
Oct 15 — PTAC on snow clearing and the Community Path; Mossland Street becomes a dead end at Elm (Mobility projects) · Local Cultural Council grants due
Oct 17–30 — early voting at City Hall; Oct 24 voter registration deadline; Oct 27 vote-by-mail applications due by 5 p.m. (State primary)
Oct 28 — the MSBA board votes on the 925-seat school · CSO hearing at Somerville City Hall, 6–8 p.m. · Oct 29 written comment on the Teele Square hotel closes
Oct 30 — written comment closes at noon on the zoning package, and for the CSO plan; ZBA vacancy applications due
Nov 1 — the charter-required capital improvement plan is due from the mayor; the Council must act by Dec 1
Nov 3 — state general election: 12 offices and nine questions; Question 7 would allow single-family homes by right on 5,000 sq ft lots statewide (State primary)
Nov 5 — the ZBA's continued hearing on the Teele Square hotel under the new "practical difficulty" standard
Nov 16 — nomination papers out for the Ward 2 and 3 special election
November — the FY27 tax classification hearing puts the commercial collapse on residential bills · Traffic and Parking on Community Path enforcement · the high school tiles back in committee
December — the boards-and-commissions review reports; the $50M Morrison Ave and $65M Mystic/Foss sewer projects go to bid; 90 Washington zoning must finish or restart; ARPA money expires Dec 31
Dec 31 — Ewen-Campen, Scott and Mbah leave the Council; Marianne Walles takes the at-large seat (Three Council seats turn over)
January 2027 — the stormwater fee target; the oversight board target; MBTA results on the Route 80 cut; Jan 4–5 reporting deadlines end the session for Somerville's bills
Feb 2 and March 24, 2027 — Ward 2 and 3 preliminary and final (Three Council seats turn over) · about February geothermal go/no-go for the new school

Recently concluded

Davis Square Neighborhood Council — recognized unanimously Sept 24; Davis promises "broad leeway" but an ordinance review
Homeless shelter zoning — ordained 10-0 Sept 10: shelters by right in most districts, by special permit in Neighborhood Residence
The FY27 budget — the $394M budget passed 9-2 on June 25 after 13 layoffs; FY28 pressure is already building

Reference

Before the boards — rolling docket of the Planning Board, ZBA, SRA, condo, design and preservation boards, licensing, and Council committees
Recently in Somerville — dated log of notable decisions and news, newest first
Who's who — the mayor's cabinet, eleven councilors and their committees, and a delegation in flux
About the sources — what feeds the wiki and how far the record reaches