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Dear Members of the Somerville City Council:

Soon, the SRA plans to submit for your approval their recommendations for the redevelopment of 90 Washington Street. We respectfully ask that you consider Cobble Hill’s community priorities as part of your evaluation and approval process.

To be certain, the residents of Cobble Hill support redevelopment of the site. We know better than anyone that 90 Washington Street presents a rare opportunity to deliver to East Somerville new market-rate and affordable housing units while fully advantaging a transit-oriented MBTA location. We anticipate an expansion of neighborhood amenities and when the financials are made public, we hope there are public benefit returns for the City of Somerville’s investment.

Indeed, over the past seven years, we have closely followed this project and greatly appreciate the extensive effort undertaken by the 90 Washington Street Civic Advisory Committee (CAC), as well as City staff, elected officials, and the two competing development teams that have participated in the RFP selection process.

Most notably, we were particularly encouraged by the Civic Advisory Committee’s thoughtful discussions in pursuit of housing production, green space preservation, environmental sustainability, neighborhood compatibility, and public accessibility proving that these priorities are not only important to Cobble Hill residents but are consistent with the broader interests of East Somerville and the City as a whole.

Upon review of the Civic Advisory Committee’s deliberations on April 4 and May 5, we still find a lack of clarity on issues that are most meaningful to Cobble Hill Apartments, Somerville’s most impacted Environmental Justice (EJ) community. We respectfully request that the following priorities be incorporated into the Best and Final Offer process and ultimately reflected in any Land Development Agreement governing the site. Although the CAC generally shared our concerns, the outcomes we seek are not codified in anything we have read.

1. Preserve and Enhance the Existing Berm and Green Buffer
The existing berm and tree buffer separating 90 Washington Street from Cobble Hill Apartments provides an important environmental, visual, and neighborhood transition between the two properties.

This landscape feature contributes to:
• Tree canopy preservation;
• Urban heat island mitigation;
• Stormwater management;
• Visual buffering;
• Resident quality of life; and
• Maintaining 40+ years of Neighborhood character.

We respectfully request that the City require the preservation and enhancement of the berm to the greatest extent feasible and establish a permanent landscaped buffer along the Cobble Hill property line.

2. Protect Meaningful Public Green Space
Both SRA and City Council are keenly aware East Somerville has a deficit of tree canopy and faces increasing challenges associated with urban heat island effects and climate change. The redevelopment of 90 Washington Street presents a unique opportunity to preserve meaningful green infrastructure that holds the line on furthering this deficit.

We encourage the City to require:
• Permanently protected open space;
• Significant tree planting and canopy expansion;
• Native landscaping and pollinator habitat;
• Publicly accessible gathering space; and
• Long-term maintenance commitments.
Public open space should be clearly welcoming, visible, and accessible to residents of all surrounding neighborhoods. The success of these spaces will depend not only on their size but also on whether they are designed to function as genuine public amenities.

3. Preserve Emergency and Service Access Behind 84 Washington Street
Maintaining reliable emergency access behind 84 Washington Street is a life-safety issue and remains critically important to the welfare of Cobble Hill residents.

The existing access route supports:
• Emergency vehicle access;
• Ambulance access;
• Fire response operations;
• Refuse collection;
• Building maintenance activities; and
• General property operations.

The ability of emergency responders to quickly reach residents should not be left unresolved during later stages of project design. We need to know today how this access will be preserved.

We respectfully request that City Council ensure any redevelopment plan permanently preserves equivalent or improved access through recorded easements, site design commitments, and construction-phase protections.

Protecting emergency access is not simply a matter of convenience. It is a public safety requirement that affects the well-being of existing residents and the ability of emergency personnel to effectively respond when needed.

4. Ensure Public Open Space Functions as Public Space
Several Civic Advisory Committee members appropriately raised questions regarding how proposed open spaces will function in practice.

We encourage the City to require that any proposed green space include:
• Visible public entrances;
• Multiple access points;
• Clear wayfinding and signage;
• Ground-floor uses that activate adjacent open space;
• Safe daytime and evening use; and
• Opportunities for community programming and gatherings.
Open space should not merely be visible. It should be welcoming, accessible, and actively used
by residents and visitors alike.

5. Encourage Housing Production While Maintaining Community Benefits
Many members of the Civic Advisory Committee expressed support for maximizing housing production at the Washington Street MBTA transit-oriented location. Similarly, Cobble Hill residents support the creation of additional housing at 90 Washington Street, including significant affordable housing opportunities.

We encourage the City and the selected development team to continue exploring opportunities to maximize housing production while maintaining:
• Meaningful open space;
• Neighborhood compatibility;
• Environmental sustainability;
• Public accessibility; and
• High-quality urban design.

We share the CAC’s vision that housing production and green space preservation should not be competing adversaries. We trust that thoughtful planning design can be aligned with zoning changes to successfully accomplish both.

The redevelopment of 90 Washington Street should serve as a model for climate-conscious urban development. The City owns this land and they should lead by example.

We encourage the City to prioritize:
• Expanded tree canopy;
• Sustainable building design;
• Stormwater management improvements;
• Heat island mitigation measures;
• Native landscaping; and
• High-performance building standards.

Investments in climate resilience today will benefit future residents and help strengthen the environmental health of East Somerville for decades to come.

Conclusion
The redevelopment of 90 Washington Street represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a project that reflects Somerville’s values of sustainability, inclusion, housing opportunity, affordability, environmental stewardship, and neighborhood livability.

We are encouraged by the prospect of significant new housing, including a substantial affordable housing component, at one of the City’s most important transit-oriented development sites.

Frankly the 120-unit affordable housing commitment from one development proposal is impressive as it represents approximately 17% of all Inclusionary and Subsidized units built in Somerville over the past ten years. At an average cost of $500,000+, that is an affordable housing commitment of over $60,000,000 which far exceeds the public funds the city hoped to recover.

We are equally excited about the ability for 90 Washington Street to introduce new neighborhood-serving retail, services, public amenities, and open space.

Let’s agree that no one is asking the City to choose between housing and open space. We believe both objectives can and should be achieved at 90 Washington Street. The Civic Advisory Committee repeatedly demonstrated that residents support additional housing at this location while also valuing meaningful green space, climate resilience, public safety, and compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods.

We respectfully request that these priorities be incorporated into the BAFO process and ultimately reflected in any development agreement governing the site.

Thank you for your consideration as we work together to get this right. If you have any questions about our considerations, we invite you to join us to discuss at our weekly Thursday morning “coffee hour” or at a time that is more convenient for you.

Respectfully submitted,
The Cobble Hill Community
Somerville, Massachusetts