By David Taber

Two citizens groups filed petitions to amend a proposal for new zoning in Union Square at the Board of Aldermen’s meeting last Thursday, and a third sent the board a letter describing other concerns.

These concerns have inspired Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone to dump his original proposal, which was submitted last October, and draw up a new one that will take some of them into account.

Overall, Curtatone said this rezoning process has, so far, been the one of the least acrimonious he has ever participated in.  ‚ÄúThis has not been too bad,‚Äù he said.  And he hopes to have his new proposal before the board, which has final say in any rezoning, by April, he said.

But community members are concerned about gentrification, abutters rights, and even the way the zoning map was drawn, and there is at least one potential fight looming as the rezoning is reworked —- affordable housing.

The proposal would have allowed for construction up to 12 stories on lots over 25,000 square feet, but would require half of the gross floor area of the ground floor of any new development to be dedicated to commercial, industrial, institutional recreational or other non-residential use. It also required that a minimum of five percent of total floor space be dedicated to artist housing, gallery space, theater space, art studios or a craft-related retail store.

It called for the standard 12.5 percent of residential units to be set aside for affordable housing, but for 50 percent of the affordable housing to be set aside specifically for artists.  Explaining the rationale for the zoning, Curtatone said Somerville has the second highest number of artists, per capita, of any city in the U.S., with a particular concentration around Union Square.

“The creative economy is part of our economic engine,” he said. The goal, he said, is to preserve and expand on the creative culture that exists in Union Square, create a sense of place, and to make sure that artists do not get priced out of the city.

Representatives from the abutter’s group, Union Square Neighbors, and citywide affordable housing advocates, the Affordable Housing Organizing Committee (AHOC), both said they agree with the rationale for the rezoning and support its basic principles.

But representatives from AHOC said they want to see more done to protect affordable housing in the square. To this end they submitted amendment language to the Board of Aldermen that would raise the percentage of affordable units to 15 percent and reduce the set-aside for artists to 25 percent.

Ellen Shacter, a housing lawyer with Cambridge/Somerville legal services and an AHOC member, said that even with the higher percentages, there is likely to be a great deal of displacement as the square gets developed.  And while the group has not come out against having space set-aside for artists, there are some in the group who completely oppose the idea, Shacter said.

“The set-aside allows for artists to skip to the top of the list, some people think the old-timers should get to go to the top,” but not the overall increase in affordable housing to 15 percent. And AHOC is determined to do everything they can to make their case.

‚ÄúWhen the Red Line came into Davis Square we saw a lot of people being priced out who had lived there for a long time,‚Äùsaid Nancy Bacci, co-chair of AHOC.  ‚ÄúOur hope is to do some small piece to mitigate against low and middle income displacement,‚Äù she said.

‚ÄúIt‚Äôs very important for developers to give back a small part of their potential profit for affordable housing,‚Äù said AHOC‚Äôs other co-chair, Matan Benyishay.  The group commissioned a study from housing analysts LDS Consulting Group, which they say shows the increase to 15 percent would have a minimal effect on profits.

‚ÄúThe impact on profits would be so low, it would be less than one percent,‚Äù Benyishay said.  But city hall spokesman Thomas Champion said Somerville‚Äôs inclusionary zoning is already high compared to surrounding cities. Boston and Newton each require only 10 percent of new residential units be made affordable, he said. And, he said, the cities new zoning plan is already requiring a lot of developers.

“If you say, ‘ here is a set-aside that is a pretty healthy set-aside, and you want five percent set-aside for art uses and 50 percent required landscaped area to be designed for usable open space,’ you are asking a lot,” he said. “If you say, ‘okay, we are going to up the affordable housing commitment,’ you would have to recalibrate all the other criteria.”

AHOC turned out over 100 people to comment on the zoning at a public hearing in December, Benyishay said, and a number of members of the Board of Aldermen have expressed support for their position.

‚ÄúI don‚Äôt think they are on board with any proposition as yet,‚Äù he said.  In addition to AHOC, another group, Union Square Neighbors, submitted amendment language at the BOA meeting which would, among other things, reduce the maximum allowed height for new development from 140 feet to between 60 and 70 feet, and reduce the maximum allowed ratio of floor area to lot area.

Union Square Neighbors also proposed the percentage of affordable housing set-aside for artists to be reduced to 25 percent.  And Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston said she met with another group of residents on the south side of Somerville Avenue on the east side of the square, who are concerned with the way the zoning map was drawn.

‚ÄúThis group of people wanted to know why they were left out,‚ÄùHeuston said.  The amendments proposed by AHOC and Union Square Neighbors have no legal standing because they sought to amend a proposal and not a standing ordinance, but Heuston said the board will still consider them, along with other community recommendations when the board‚Äôs land use committee meets next week.

“We have a lot to sift through,” Heuston said.