Medford council, planners adopt height caps for Boston Avenue corridor

Community Development · Meeting of June 24, 2026

Medford advances Boston Avenue rezoning, capping new buildings at four to eight stories. The City Council and Community Development Board, meeting jointly for a fifth time, adopted the shortest height options studied for all three proposed sub-districts, including a four-story cap near Winthrop Street and seven-story caps near the rail line and North Street. Council President Bears called it "a common sense compromise." Officials also approved a new zoning definition for privately run "purpose-built student housing," requiring at least 150 beds, 24-hour management and annual city recertification, after Tufts University's attorney testified the school itself has concerns about the use.

Resident Angela Murphy told the boards, "I am opposed to having four, six, eight and ten story buildings along the Boston Avenue corridor." The Community Development Board voted 3-2 and the council 4-1 to close their public hearings, with a final recommendation expected at the board's September 2 meeting and council action anticipated around September 15. Staff acknowledged an unresolved "loophole" in the affordable-housing height-incentive formula that consultants will spend the summer trying to fix.

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Source: the Community Development meeting of June 24, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.