Medford Conservation Commission Approves Housing Authority Stormwater Redesign, Malden River Path

MEDFORD — February 15, 2023 — Medford Conservation Commission unanimously approves housing project amendment and regional trail segment. The five-member commission voted 5-0 on both substantive agenda items at its February 15 remote meeting. On the first, the Medford Housing Authority's modernization of the Salt and Stahl Apartments at 121 Riverside Avenue received an amended order of conditions after a dispute over MassDOT land rights forced a redesign of the stormwater system; consultant Tom Hughes of Hughes Environmental Consulting told the commission the authority faced a rolling funding deadline and risked "losing the funding source for the project" without an approved alternative design. The commission conditioned the approval on a reversion to the original plans if MassDOT rights are obtained, and on replacement of any vegetation disturbed by the new outfall with native plantings. On the second item, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Phase 4 pedestrian walkway along the Malden River near Wellington Station — described by the applicant as the last missing link in the regional Bike to the Sea trail — was approved with conditions requiring a post-clearing site walk, commission approval of a planting plan before construction, flagging of trees slated for removal, and resolution of stormwater standard eight requirements; the project involves approximately 420 square feet of total fill in bordering land subject to flooding, offset by compensatory flood storage in the same reach.