City
officials said the rezoning, in the works for three years and often
marked by disagreements between neighbors and the city, would restore
the square's place as a commercial center and better position it to
capitalize on a proposed Green Line station.

"Union Square is
a hidden gem and we need to pay attention to it," Mayor Joseph
Curtatone said at the meeting. "Union Square is going to change."

The
new zoning would create three new areas: a commercial district that
would span Washington Street and Somerville Avenue, a transit district
around the proposed T stop and an arts overlay district that would
encourage artists to take up residence.

Taylor, who stressed
he is not against the rezoning as a whole, proposed an amendment that
would keep building height limits in an area between Warren Avenue and
Stone Avenue at 44 feet instead of the proposed 55 feet, roughly six
stories. He also asked that below-ground development be reserved for
parking and storage.

In explaining the requests, Taylor, whose
ward includes Union Square, expressed concern that laws allowing taller
buildings would leave the square's "quaint charm" endangered. "I don't
want Manhattan," he said. "I want a Greenwich Village."

"My fear is, decades to come our children's children will say, 'Who made this decision?'" Taylor added.

Monica
Lamboy, executive director of the Office of Strategic Planning and
Community Development, countered that buildings in Union Square were
once taller than they stand now, and that reducing the height limit
wasn't possible.

"I think we wouldn't agree to (the amendment)
because it wouldn't be consistent with what was there before," Lamboy
said. She also rebuffed Taylor's underground use amendment by saying it
would be a mistake to restrict possible uses that could develop in the
future.

Both amendments were rejected.

Aside from
concerns about the changing density, an ongoing criticism of the
proposal was that the property value increase could price many
residents out of the neighborhood. Save Our Somerville, a community
organization that promotes affordable housing, has lobbied the city to
make the rezoning more inclusive.

After the April 23 hearing,
Save Our Somerville member Adam Rich said city officials should make
more of an effort to keep Union Square and the city at-large
affordable. The rezoning proposal approved by the Aldermen would
increase the affordable housing percentage from 12.5 percent to between
15 and 17 percent depending on the area.

"Most people are
resigned to the fact that Somerville is going to be more expensive, and
there's going to be a lot of displacement," Rich said. "As a city, we
have to take on these issues in a comprehensive and serious way."