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.