Cambridge Council Tables Ahern Field Turf Report, Routes Zoning Fight to Committee

CAMBRIDGE — June 8, 2026 — Cambridge City Council tables Ahern Field turf report 5-3, refers multifamily zoning order to committee. In a meeting that drew 132 public speakers and ran past 11 p.m., the council voted 5-3 to table City Manager Ian Wong's report recommending synthetic turf at Ahern Field in East Cambridge, with Councilors El-Zubi, McGovern, Wheeler, Zussi, and Mayor Siddiqui in the majority; the city manager told the council the project is "very far along" and urged the council to "stay the course," with bid documents targeted for July. Councilor Wheeler called the community engagement process flawed, noting that supportive emails began arriving at the council inbox 90 minutes after she sent a private email to city staff questioning the $7.5 million budget line in May 2025. On housing, the council voted 8-0 to refer Policy Order No. 5 — a Flaherty-Zussi proposal asking the Community Development Department to examine multifamily zoning amendments including height limits, setback increases, and parking minimums — to the housing committee and to a joint housing and neighborhood long-term planning committee meeting scheduled for June 25. A companion citizens zoning petition from Doug Brown was simultaneously referred 8-0 to the ordinance committee and planning board. Policy Order No. 4, which sought to invalidate the prior vote discontinuing ShotSpotter acoustic gunshot detection on procedural grounds, was defeated 6-2. A policy order on one-time stabilization payments to victim services organizations facing federal funding cuts, backed by five nonprofits, and Policy Order No. 2 on post-ShotSpotter neighborhood safety planning were each deferred by charter right.