Framingham's 'Scarlet M' Finalized By City Council

FRAMINGHAM, MA — After months of discussions and a multiple votes, the Framingham City Council has delivered an apartment moratorium.

On Tuesday night, the Council voted unanimously to overturn Mayor Yvonne Spicer's August veto of the moratorium. In one final pitch to Council, Spicer asked them to let her veto stand, calling the moratorium the "scarlet 'M' painted on the city of Framingham."

"This is akin to using a sledgehammer when a mallet would suffice," Spicer said.

District 1 Councilor Christine Long brought the moratorium legislation to Council back in March. The moratorium, which will effectively be a zoning change, will halt multifamily development for nine months. The city during that time is supposed to study whether apartments are having a negative impact on traffic and the school system.

On Tuesday, Long cast an emphatic vote to overturn Spicer's veto. To underscore the need for a moratorium, she highlighted that apartments "seem to be spreading virus," referring to Board of Health data showing that 76 percent of new coronavirus cases over the last 14 days are in people who live in multifamily units.

The City Council approved the legislation in two separate votes in July and August. Both votes were 10 to 1, with Council Chair George King standing alone in opposition. He addressed his opposition on Tuesday, saying that he doesn't think Framingham needs new apartments. But the moratorium might send a "shaky" message to the business community.

"I'm not convinced this is the right thing to do, but I respect the decision of this group," he said before casting his vote to overturn the veto.

And the business community did oppose the moratorium. Prominent business owners like Jack Hendler of Jack's Abby, Downtown Framingham Inc. and the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce spoke out against the legislation. On the government side, the Framingham Economic Development Industrial Corporation Board and the Planning Board both voted against the moratorium.

Spicer came out publicly against the moratorium only in late July, which some on City Council criticized on Tuesday. Spicer issued her veto — only the second one of her first term — on Aug. 25 following the Council's second vote to approve.

Only two Framingham residents spoke about the moratorium on Tuesday. Francis Kemegue, who lives in a condo along McLaughlin Street, opposed it, saying he would feel pressure to move.

"There is pressure in units like mine to be bought out by a developer and changed," he said. "When it is not possible to build new units downtown or at other places, what happens is all the pressure is on units like mine and owners like me."