Council Cuts Affordable Housing Requirement to 10%

City Council · Meeting of October 27, 2026

MALDEN — The Malden City Council voted 9-1 to cut the city's inclusionary zoning requirement from 15 percent to 10 percent, then unanimously approved a companion package of parking and height incentives for affordable housing developments. Councilor Carey McDonald argued the old rule produced no units at all, saying "15% of zero is still zero." Councilor Jadeane Sica cast the lone dissenting vote on the inclusionary zoning paper, citing unaddressed concerns from the city's building commissioner and city planner and parking congestion in her ward. The incentives package, amended on the floor by Councilor Peg Crowe, sets parking at 1.1 spaces per market-rate unit and 0.7 spaces per affordable unit.

Councilor Ryan O'Malley voted for the base rezoning but said affordability percentages were not the real barrier to housing, citing moratoriums, height caps and parking rules instead. The council also approved a National Grid pole petition after relocating a disputed pole near 6 Blaine Street, and referred an $800,000 DPW budget reduction to the Finance Committee.

In the full story:

• Appointments and National Grid Pole Petitions
• Hotel Height Limits Referred to Committee
• Animal Control Officer Moved to Health Department
• DPW Snow and Ice Budget Reduction Referred to Finance
• Zoning Use Table and Salary Schedule Ordinances
• Inclusionary Zoning: Reduction to 10 Percent and Incentive Package
• Finance Committee Reports: Retroactive Salary Transfers
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,769 words

Source: the City Council meeting of October 27, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.