City-Wide Form-Based Cambridge Development Code RFQ
Open State & local contract opportunity Posted
- Solicitation number
- BPM059552
- State
- Maryland
- Responses due
Opportunity facts
- Jurisdictions
- UNSPSC code
Opportunity details come from emma.maryland.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The City of Cambridge, Maryland is soliciting qualifications from professional planning firms to draft a new city-wide, transect-oriented, form-based Cambridge Development Code, with submissions due December 1, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The new code will replace the city's Unified Development Code, adopted December 8, 2014 and effective January 1, 2015, and will implement the recently completed Inspire Cambridge Comprehensive Plan. It must address the plan's seven Future Land Use districts (Downtown, Traditional Neighborhood, Suburban Neighborhood, Highway, Industrial, Natural, and Special Overlay) and two mixed-use nodes, Neighborhood Centers and Neighborhood Crossroads. The code must promote New Urbanism principles, including walkable blocks, mixed-use housing, nearby shopping, and accessible public spaces. Required expertise includes form-based codes, rural-to-urban transects, traditional neighborhood development, light-impact stormwater infrastructure, FEMA floodproofing, missing middle housing, and state and local legal compliance.
Work includes a public workshop or design charrette, meetings with a seven-member steering committee, and multiple review cycles with the Planning Commission and City Council. The completed code must be adopted through the standard zoning text amendment process, including public hearings and City Council approval.
Responses require twelve items, including team expertise, key personnel resumes, references, a project timeline, personnel hours and cost proposal, and comparable project samples. Each team must show individual costs and anticipated overall project costs. Before contract execution, the selected firm must furnish tax compliance documentation and public liability insurance of no less than $1,000,000 per occurrence, naming the city as an additional insured.
A five-member selection committee will evaluate proposals from December 1 through December 16, 2026, and the winning team will be announced December 16, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. Following City Council approval, the contract will commence by January 11, 2027. The city reserves the right to waive irregularities, reject any or all submissions, and negotiate with alternate ranked teams. Contract authority derives from Section 3-27(58) of the City of Cambridge Charter.
Opportunity text
The City of Cambridge, Maryland is issuing a REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) for a team to draft a NEW, CITY-WIDE, TRANSECT-ORIENTED, FORM BASED, CAMBRIDGE DEVELOPMENT CODE. We are seeking an accomplished, professional planning firm to assist City Staff with the following tasks: A. The creation of a NEW FORM-BASED CODE to replace the CITY'S UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE. This existing code was adopted on DECEMBER 8, 2014, and utilized for the first time on JANUARY 1, 2015. B. The City will provide funding appropriate to the scope and needs of the project. C. Each team submitting a response to this RFQ shall convey a breakdown of their INDIVIDUAL COSTS, as well as their anticipated OVERALL COSTS for the project. D. The RFQ IS OPEN UNTIL: DECEMBER 01, 2026, AT 3:00 PM. EASTERN STANDARD TIME. This new code is much needed and will promote the tenants of NEW URBANISM, a planning and development approach that uses many of the same components as conventional planning but assembles them in a more integrated fashion to ensure walkable blocks and streets, mixed-use housing, shopping in close proximity, and accessible public spaces; the way that communities have been built for centuries around the world. This new code will implement the City's recently completed INSPIRE CAMBRIDGE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN; which utilizes a new urbanist approach to issues. The Comprehensive Plan's Future Land Use Map establishes seven districts: (1) Downtown, (2) Traditional Neighborhood, (3) Suburban Neighborhood, (4) Highway, (5) Industrial, (6) Natural, and (7) Special Overlay. The Downtown, Traditional Neighborhood, and Special Overlay districts promote walkable urbanism, while the others are more auto-centric in nature. Two mixed-use nodes of varying intensity and scale are found within these districts. Known as NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS & NEIGHBORHOOD CROSSROADS, these areas promote mixed-use, walkable urbanism.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| RFQ_SUMMARY.pdf | ||
| RFQ_CITY_WIDE FORM_BASED_CAMBRIDGE_DEVELOPMENT_CODE.pdf |
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