Joint meeting of the Land Use Committee and Planning Board this Thursday, 6:00 p.m.
Union Square Neighborhood Council
Hello neighbors and friends,
We’d like to let you know about an important meeting coming up: the April 16 joint Land Use Committee and Planning Board meeting. You can find information on the city’s website here:
https://www.somervillema.gov/events/2026/04/16/land-use-committee-joint-session-planning-board
For Union Square, the most important agenda item is a petition to rezone 2 and 9 Union Square and 286, 290, and 298 Somerville Avenue, better known as the D6 Development Block, which currently contains everything from Dunkin Donuts to Urban Axes. It’s currently zoned Commercial Core 5, which allows 5 story commercial buildings. The owners want to change that to Mid-rise 6, which would allow 6 story residential, commercial, or mixed-use buildings. Ultimately, they hope to build apartments and ground-floor retail on the site. This hearing is a very early step in that process — site plan approval and variances would surely follow.
Though this parcel is slated for redevelopment as part of the Union Square Neighborhood Plan, there are no current plans under existing zoning. We encourage our members to attend this public hearing and listen carefully to the arguments for and against the new zoning being proposed by the owners, The Hamilton Company. You can make a public comment at the meeting, or via email to: publicc...@somervillema.gov.
Other items on the agenda include a proposal from Somerville YIMBY that intends to simplify the construction of dormers (those pointy things with windows that stick out of angled roofs), and a proposal from former City Councilors Denise Provost and Bill White that will make it harder to divide lots and build backyard cottages.
We look forward to discussing these issues over the coming weeks.
Additional information:
The Hamilton Company presented their plan for their parcel, also known as ‘D6’ to the Union Square Neighborhood Council on October 6, 2025 and you can view the presentation here. For background, you can read about the intent for the D6 parcel in the original neighborhood plan.