SomerWiki A source-grounded wiki about Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville: active threads

Updated September 26, 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 — three SZO changes ordained; the five-amendment mayoral package, ground-story repeal included, gets a joint hearing Oct 1; the eight-story affordable overlay is still unused
  • Backyard cottages, ADUs and lot splits — the state-ADU alignment amendment is filed at last; Oct 1 hearing unblocks the held petitions; 26 addresses pulled cottage permits in three weeks
  • Housing tax-break zone — UCH-TIF zone approved 10-0 Sept 10; now with the state, then a first project deal
  • Tenant protections — notice-of-sale ordinance takes effect Oct 14; the early-leasing petition still has no State House docket
  • Rental registry — the administration refuses to discuss it, September passed without Scott's promised push, and Scott leaves Dec 31
  • 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; the rodenticide petition is next out the door; the delegation turns over in January

Development

  • 90 Washington Street — designation agreement signed Sept 2; draft LDA due at the SRA Sept 30 and the Council Oct 8; Cobble Hill objects
  • Teele Square hotel — an eight-story hotel at the Pit needs ten ZBA variances; hearing Sept 30
  • Davis Square Neighborhood Plan — survey closes Sept 27; with Copper Mill's 500-unit tower withdrawn Aug 31, Wilson asks how much residential height the square will take
  • Davis Square Neighborhood Council — recommended 5-0 for recognition Sept 15; needs two-thirds of the full Council, next meeting Sept 24
  • Union Square — US2's plan a quarter built with its labs empty; Hamilton's Sept 9 meeting passed without a filing; the MBTA may route a frequent Route 96 here after 2028
  • Assembly Square — TransMedics' fit-out is in the permit record; the 19-story spec lab hasn't reappeared on an agenda; the TIF zone is approved
  • 299 Broadway — the Star Market site under construction: 319 homes, 136 affordable, opening 2027–28
  • The lab glut and the tax base — new growth collapsed from $17.7M to about $5M; Asana's frozen Davis Square lab plan keeps Elm Street dark

City Hall and money

  • Three Council seats turn over — Ewen-Campen, Scott and Mbah resign Dec 31; Walles takes the at-large seat; Wards 2 and 3 go to a special election with Rice and Taylor already in; nobody is raising money against Wilson for 2027
  • Wilson's reorganization — nine cabinet departments and 23 fewer FTEs; the salary ordinance behind it cleared committee 5-0, the Council still hasn't voted on the structure
  • Equity reorganization — Racial and Social Justice cut from nine positions to four; the Human Rights Commission now holds 83 hate-bias complaints, half about Jews, Muslims, Israel or Palestine
  • City workers' union — about 220 staff organizing with AFSCME 93; still unrecognized while firefighters and custodians get contracts
  • Charter buildout — the vacancy clause gets its first test; the boards review reports in December; Tuesday meetings and the administrative code still stuck
  • Capital plan — due Nov 1; no $28.3M Cummings renovation, $3M for Edgerly's power, four fire rigs on order; water and sewer rates already up 15%
  • Rodenticide ban — city-property ban and home-rule petition recommended 5-0 Sept 15; full Council next
  • Tufts PILOT and labor — still no PILOT talks in public; facilities workers won a tentative contract Sept 11 after a strike vote; librarians organizing

Police, public safety, civil rights

  • Civilian police oversight — first real timeline: update Sept 24, committee Sept 29, hearing in October; Davis says civil service law has the last word
  • Surveillance and police technology — body cameras approved 7-4 July 27 but the revised policy has no hearing date; the CrimeTracer report is stuck in committee after ICE learned of five Somerville arrests
  • Immigration protections — sanctuary ordinance expanded 11-0 in May; $350,000 more for legal services goes to Finance Sept 22
  • Divestment and ethical procurement — 50 speakers, no vote Sept 8; the Oct 9 charter clock runs while its lead sponsor and committee chair leave Dec 31
  • The Cummings warming center — one more winter at Cummings, then somewhere else; after-action report to committee Sept 30 after a Strezo-Ewen-Campen clash

Schools

  • The new school at 115 Sycamore — 925-seat Perkins Eastman design is with the MSBA; Davis was the lone no; geothermal decision around February
  • School buildings — Cummings teen center dead at $28.3M; Argenziano balcony stays; Edgerly needs a $3M transformer

Streets and transit

  • Mobility projects — Tufts Street done, ribbon cutting Oct 6; the Council is fighting the MBTA's plan to drop Route 80; Clingan targets street contracts
  • McGrath Boulevard — the $130M boulevard bids in late 2027 for 2028 construction; PTAC is drafting its Squires Bridge comment letter
  • Traffic calming — four years without a pedestrian or cyclist death; $255,045 Vision Zero money in Finance Sept 22; Rawson's priority list still unpublished

Water and sewer

  • Combined sewer overflows — first hearing held Sept 17; a 7.4M-gallon Assembly Square tank is now sketched; 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 — official totals confirm Uyterhoeven, Ewen-Campen and Mbah; all four Somerville nominees are unopposed Nov 3; Wilson is one of two mayors against Question 3, and Question 8 would end retail cannabis

Culture

  • Arts and culture — Armory leases went to Finance Sept 22; Cultural Trust is a home-rule petition; Diamond Factory pop-up opens Oct 17

Dates that matter

Recently concluded

  • 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