Homeless shelter zoning

Updated September 29, 2026

What's happening

This thread is over: on September 10 the City Council ordained the homeless-shelter zoning amendment 10-0, with At-large Councilor Kristen Strezo not answering the roll call, and Mayor Jake Wilson approved it September 15 as enactment 221213 (Sept 10 digest). Shelters are now allowed by right, with a required neighborhood meeting, in Urban Residence, Mid-Rise 3 through 6, High-Rise and the Powder House School and Assembly Square Mixed-Use districts. In Neighborhood Residence, which holds 74 percent of the city's zoned parcels, they need a special permit, a compromise the Land Use Committee made on September 3 (Sept 3 digest).

The story

The amendment grew out of the Somerville Homeless Coalition's move between two churches on College Avenue, which exposed that standalone shelters depended on the Dover Amendment's religious-use exemption and that the shelter definition had been dropped from the zoning ordinance during the MBTA Communities changes. Council President Lance Davis wanted the zoning "crystal clear." Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, the Land Use chair, said the Cummings warming center convinced him Neighborhood Residence needed a special permit, so that "site-specific conversations" happen in public before a permit-granting authority; At-large Councilor Jon Link called more shelter capacity "part of being a welcoming community" (Somerville Times, Sept 25). Domestic-violence shelters, sober living and supportive housing stay outside the item.

What's next

• The first shelter application, by right with its neighborhood meeting or by special permit in Neighborhood Residence, is the test; watch Before the boards.
• Davis flagged a possible follow-up adding family housing stabilization and youth shelters as distinct use categories. Context: zoning tracker.