Medford Square rezoning discussion back on track

“Hurry up” was the sentiment uttered by many during the recent reboot of the Medford Square rezoning project.

“We really have a few things that are all really growing in the same direction, and we need to get this rezoning done quickly, as quickly as is reasonable for the process that we have in front of us,” said Tainter Street resident Nick Uhlig. “And yes, it’s nice to get things perfect, but as other people have pointed out, if you can get part of the way there and then revise as you go, surely that’s better than not accomplishing anything.”

Late last year, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn sought to slow down the massive city-wide rezoning project being tackled by the City Council and Community Development Board (CDB) and at one point cut off its funding. But the Medford Square project was back on the table during a joint City Council and CDB meeting held Jan. 21. 

Timeline of zoning events

• 2020-2022: City Council with help from Innes Associates (now Innes Land Strategy Group) reformatted the city’s 50-year-old zoning codes.
• 2022: City officials began work on the first city-wide comprehensive plan.
• 2023: City officials publish the plan, which is a 30-year vision of what they want Medford to look like. It includes amending the city’s zoning ordinances, which has not been done in decades.
• 2024: Council secured funding to start the zoning updates
• 2024-2025: Council, CDB, and the planning staff hold hundreds of hours of discussions, public meetings, and community forums and come up with about 10 proposed zoning changes. The result is the passage of three zoning amendments:
  •  Mystic Avenue corridor district 
  • The Salem Street neighborhood corridor district
  • Green Scores, a program that provides developers with requirements and incentives to meet environmental standards in building projects 
• July 2025: The four-year project is derailed when City Council and mayor clash over a Salem Street neighborhood amendment.
• Dec. 2025: Clash resolved and mayor agrees to restart funding for the project through May 2026, but in February and March will solicit new requests for proposals for work on zoning updates between May 2026 and June 2028.

Where they’re at

When it comes to rezoning Medford Square the footprint has shifted.

Emily Innes, of Innes Land Strategies Group, said where they left off last April included proposed urban residential and neighborhood residential districts, but those are no longer on the table.

Innes said they also removed two small areas from the original rezoning boundaries, one between Forest and Ashland streets and another bordered by Governors Avenue and Turell Road, because they were both residential areas.

What remains includes Winthrop to High Street, Forest and Salem streets, Bradlee Road, City Hall Square, Clippership Drive, and Mystic Valley Parkway. And in those areas are proposals for varying levels of mixed use, housing and retail, with varying levels of building height, 4-story to 8-story depending on the area.

CDB Chairman Doug Carr said he was on board with the rezoning of Medford Square and the new map and calling it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to set the Square up for the next 30 years.

He said zoning could be a useful way to keep historic buildings and buildings that are significant but aren’t on the National Registry from being demolished. 

Kit Nichols, who lives on nearby Governors Avenue and serves on Medford’s Historical District, said that of the city’s 36 historic buildings, eight are in Medford Square and when it comes right down to it, the commission has little power to actually preserve the structures. She said if there is any real concern about saving history, officials should figure out how before they pass the zoning.

Councilor Matt Leming agreed history should be saved but said, “The thing that I care about the most, personally, is being able to build more housing within the area and come up with incentives to add more affordable housing, which I think would be a pretty big component of revitalizing the Square as well.” 

City Council President Zac Bears said he would like to see the boundaries expanded a bit to include an area just south of the Route 16 overpass.

“It was not always a post-industrial auto repair-centric wasteland,” he said. “It was actually a really vibrant and connected part of Medford Square before 16 years ago.” 

CDB member Dina Caloggero, however, wondered about parking. The parking question triggered a lengthy discussion that ended with City Planner Danielle Evans saying the group might want to consider a side discussion on allowing parking garages.

What the people say

But parking was not high on the residents’ lists of wants. One Newbern Avenue resident called it a neighborhood killer.

“If we want to have a vibrant, thriving community, including for our seniors, including for everybody in our community, we need to have less space dedicated to parking,” she said. “It is the least useful, least productive way to use our limited space.”

David Shank agreed.

“Parking is not human,” he said. 

Uhlig liked the idea of a parking garage because it would eliminate on-street parking while still providing space for people who needed to drive to the area.

Urgency was also a word that came up more than once.

“I support getting this through as quickly as possible,” said Shank. “There has not been a significant [zoning] overhaul in 50 years and we are in a housing crisis … we desperately need more units.”

Another resident echoed Uhlig when she said the project need not be perfect and urged city officials not to get bogged down in the details. She said she’d like to see the rezoning approved quickly so she and others in the area can have “exciting new developments” and “a walkable community that will help us survive into the future.”

City Council and the CDB will hold another hearing on the rezoning effort on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m.