Medford Conservation Commission Unanimously Approves Five Items at Packed August Meeting

MEDFORD -- August 16, 2023, Medford Conservation Commission cleared five agenda items unanimously at its August 16 meeting, including a major mixed-use development and a long-sought bicycle path extension near the Mystic River. Chair Heidi Davis led the commission in approving an order of conditions for Mill Creek Residential's two-building redevelopment at 4000 Mystic Valley Parkway, a 2.8-acre site that is currently about 80 percent impervious and has no stormwater mitigation, with conditions requiring a detailed long-term operations and maintenance plan, mandatory inspection ports on underground infiltration systems, and review of a stormwater pollution prevention plan before construction starts. The commission also issued a Negative Determination for a 69 South Street driveway replacement, requiring flow-through erosion controls and tree protection for a large oak during construction. An amendment to a 2017 Eversource order of conditions was approved to add approximately 1,500 square feet of bicycle path near the Medford Community Gardens, reconnecting existing Mystic River path segments; DCR representative Sean Grant told the commission that a separate proposed horizontal directional drilling project in the same area is "at least three years away from even being able to put a shovel in the ground" due to required Article 97 legislative approval. The commission also closed out two certificates of compliance, one from 2006 and one from 1992, both processed without original approved plans due to missing records stretching back more than 30 years.