Resolution - Innovation in East Somerville — File 25-1362

WHEREAS: Somerville has historically fostered American innovation, from the first usage of the residential phone, to the automobile factories that give name to Assembly Row, to our local hub of green technology companies on the Somernova campus; and WHEREAS: These technologies have helped transform the way we communicate, move through the world, and respond to social inequities; and WHEREAS: One such site is in East Somerville, at 161 Broadway, which the Historical Preservation Commission found in a 2018 report to be historically “‘Significant’ due to an historical association with the development of automobile commercial services and as a large, well-executed and preserved example of the early 20th century private garage; and WHEREAS: 161 Broadway is currently used as a automotive garage and a used car dealer for PJ’s Motorcars Inc; and WHEREAS: 161 Broadway can once again be a site for innovation as the home of Topologic, an autonomous sustainable knitwear manufacturer owned by a Somerville resident; and WHEREAS: Topologic’s autonomous textile manufacturing technology could be used to drastically reduce the millions of tons of textiles that end up in landfills annually due, in part, to overproduction; and WHEREAS: Topologic and PJ’s Motorcars Inc will allow this historic building to be used as a third-space for the community after-hours; and WHEREAS: PJ’s Motorcars Inc will allow Topologic to share the space for the next eight year, if the City Council is willing to continue to renew its current licenses in the interim; and WHEREAS: Somerville has a vested interest in promoting good-paying jobs in our city, supporting innovation, providing additional civic space, and supporting an end to the environmental disaster of clothing waste; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That this City Council urges the continuation of PJ’s Motorcars Inc current licenses, with any and all conditions, while it shares space with Topologic.