City Council Honors Ferraro, OKs Network to Aid Homeless

The City Council bogged down in an acrimonious debate over building code violations by an out-of-town developer, then voted to honor former Vice Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro and to cooperate with neighboring towns to shelter the homeless.

The developer, KRM Associates Realty Trust, installed bay windows illegally overhanging the street when it renovated a fire-damaged apartment building at 99-105 Magazine St. KMR attorney Andrew E. Bram testified to the Council that his company had not known the windows were illegally placed.

Several members of the pro-rent control Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) noted that the building contained ten rent-controlled units before the fire. They said KMR had gutted and rebuilt the inside of the structure to create condominiums that would sell for many times the value of the old apartments--and only then had applied for permission to remove the building from rent control.

Other Councillors tried to separate the issue of the bay windows, which the Council was to decide, from the building's rent control status, which is awaiting a decision by the city Rent Control Board.

The nine-member Council concluded its discussion by retroactively approving the bay windows, with the four CCA members dissenting. One of the latter, Councillor David E. Sullivan, said the decision "encourages disrespect for the law" and said developers would decide in the future that "we'll do the work first and ask questions later."

In other business, the Council approved a resolution praising Ferraro as "an outstanding member of Congress," a distinguished former candidate and a role model for women.

The Council also approved a non-binding order asking "those or that government agency which is responsible for homeless matters" to create a formula for the amount of shelter Cambridge should provide to homeless people. The order also set minimum standards for rooms that the city provides for the homeless. Finally, it endorsed plans to involve other Boston-area towns in a "network" of shelters to even out the burden on towns with overcrowded facilities.