Zoning Change to Allow New Harvard Apartments

The long-awaited general amendment to the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance, including provisions that allow for the construction of high-rise apartments on University-held Observatory Hill property, passed the City Council last night.

Despite last-ditch efforts by Councilors Pearl K. Wise and Alfred E. Vellucci, and attorney Phillip Cronin '53, the Council voted not to amend the plan and thus to downgrade the controversial area from residence A-2 to residence C-1 and C-2. The former category allows only for one single family home per lot, while the latter embraces multi-family dwellings up to 85 feet high.

Recalling the so-called land swap meeting between the University and the City earlier this month, Mrs. Wise introduced the amendment to retain the area in A-2. She asked that the land remain under present going until negotiations might allow the city to take over the University-owned eastern half of the Hill, now a playground for neighborhood children.

In support of the Wise amendment, Vellucci declared, "It's about time that all the Fellows and the ambassador from Harvard, Mr. Whitlock, got together to give Observatory Hill to the citizens as a gift. It's about time that Harvard puts something into the City of Cambridge."

Vellucci Asks for 'Gift'

"We're asking for a gift so that they can show us that they really love us," Vellucci asserted.

Speaking for 252 residents of the Hill area, attorney Cronin stressed that they are not opposed to Harvard, but rather to the downgrading of "the last open area in Cambridge."

Cronin emphasized that zoning has perpetuated the park land and that the University, legally exempt from zoning, needs no special consideration. By not changing the ordinances for the Hill area, the city might avoid illegality, trial in court, and the lowering of property values, he observed.

"You can see children by the hundreds sledding and skling down that Hill," Cronin noted.